Marketing Communication Plan: Lynx Deodorant

Marketing Communication Plan: Lynx Deodorant

 

Introduction

            Lynx is Britain’s most popular men’s deodorant. It is a product under the Unilever. The antiperspirant/deodorant market has been a low-profile category, never generating the same excitement in terms of product entries and market battles such as what shampoos have. However, recently with the growing number male concerning about their grooming and how they look, deodorant market has increase reasonably.

            Currently, the UK deodorant market is worth £300 annually. It is a highly competitive market dominated by one major manufacturer, Unilever, who account for over 60 per cent of all sales. In spite of these figures presented, the Lynx deodorant still faces tight competition with the other parallel products. Although the product is growing relatively in the past years from its launched in the market, it is critical to ensure its sustainability.

The fact that consumer products are continuously growing in number, it is important for the product to continuously to sustain competitive advantage over the competitors. This plan focuses on the marketing strategies to which the product is proposed to implement to gain its sustainable customer awareness in the market and product positioning.  

 

Product Background

Lynx is marketed by Fabergé which in turn is owned by Unilever one of the largest consumer-goods companies in the world. Lynx is also marketed under the brand name Axe in some countries.

Lynx was first launched in France in 1983 where it is known as Axe. In 1985, Lynx was first launched in UK by Elida Gibbs Ltd. Lynx is the first body spray to be launched as a stand alone brand and not part of a wider range of products. It was available in three different fragrances: “Amber”, “Musk” and “Spice” and was packaged in distinctive black with silver lettering, giving it strong associations with maleness and sexual potency. 

In 1987 a new fragrance was introduced called “Orient”. 1988 followed with the introduction of Lynx shower gels, which matched the four body spray fragrances. Free mini pack samples of the shower gel were sold with Lynx body sprays. In 1989 two new products were launched – a “Marine” fragrance for the body spray range as well as the Lynx aftershave. 

According to an article of (2003), boys and young men, ages 8 to 18, are spending more and more time in front of the mirror, styling and colouring their hair. Now, youth-oriented body washes and sprays are being fielded with the most high profile. Grooming for boys and young men is on a social factor trend toward equal opportunity sex appeal. Boys and young men are continuously been anxious with how they look and how they smell.  

Body odor is primarily generated in the area under the arms where there is a high concentration of sweat glands. While sweat from these glands is initially odorless, it contains natural oils, called lipids that provide a growth medium for bacteria living on the skin. These bacteria interact with the lipids, converting them into compounds that have a characteristic sweaty odor. Isovaleric acid, for example, is one chemical compound that gives sweat its smell.

There are two primary types of products used to control body odor. The first, deodorants, reduce body odor by killing the odor-causing bacteria. These products do not affect the amount of perspiration the body produces. Antiperspirants, on the other hand, inhibit the activity of sweat glands so less moisture is produced. In addition to avoiding unpleasant wetness, these products also decrease odor because there is less sweat for the bacteria to act upon. While deodorants are considered to be cosmetic products because they only control odor, antiperspirants are actually drugs because they affect the physiology of the body. Although the exact mechanism of this physiological interaction is not fully understood, theory has it that antiperspirant salts form temporary plugs in some of the sweat gland openings so that moisture is not secreted. While this moisture reduction is not severe enough to interfere with normal body metabolism, it does noticeably lessen underarm wetness.

Lynx is Britain’s best selling men’s deodorant. The Lever Fabergé-owned brand targets young men in their late teens and early twenties. A central plank of the brand’s marketing strategy is the annual launch of new variants. The aim is to emulate the world of fine fragrances to keep the brand fresh and maintain consumer interest. Lynx variants are developed for the company by leading perfume houses and each reflects that year’s particular fine fragrance trend.

Over the past decade, Lynx has gone from strength to strength. It was re-launched under a new brand strategy which encapsulated in the endline ‘The Lynx Effect’. Previously, Lynx advertising had revolved around the concept of attraction. This worked well for a while, but by the early Nineties the brand was starting to lose its edge. A new strategy was proposed that refocused its target market and identified a common truth: those young guys are preoccupied with the opposite sex, but often lack the confidence to do anything about it. The new campaign portrayed women finding Lynx users irresistible.

Lynx dominates the male deodorant market with a 52% value share. Last January Lynx launched its latest fragrance, Dimension supported by TV, radio, outdoor, and a text messaging sales promotion with Sony Playstation 2 as prizes.
Lynx are launching Longer Lasting Formula which contains lasting effectiveness against body odour. The new formula comes in a sleek new can with improved directional control and unique spray system. The brand will be supported by a summer long sales promotion where consumers can win the chance to see top dance music artists perform in Ibiza.

Lynx deodorant has been a UK youth icon for 17 years. Used by ¾ of 15-24 men, it has a higher penetration than Coke or the Internet and an estimated value of 5 times Own Label's equivalent. Lynx depends on its connection with youth culture and sexual mores. Advertising has been the critical lever in long term success, fast enough to continually reconnect the brand with new youth cohorts in their own changing languages.

 say that their deodorant brands hold a 72% market share in the category. The deodorant category is worth a total of €43 million, it says, showing an annual growth rate of 15%, with  Ireland as a whole growing at 22% per year.  say that the deodorant market is split into several different applicator types, in which Female aerosols represent 31% and Male Body Sprays 28% of the market.

 says that its Lynx body spray brand is the dominant brand in the male sector of the category with a 59% market share. It has launched a new fragrance, Pulse, and says it is the biggest product launch ever in the Lynx portfolio, with TV, outdoor advertising, in-store activity, PR and sampling all planned.
According to , Lynx is 13% bigger than the combined size of all of the other male deodorant (body spray and anti-perspirant) brands, and that the top 6 Lynx body spray skus are the top selling skus on the male fixture. Over 650,000 men in Ireland use Lynx body spray in Ireland every year. More than 8 million men use a Lynx deodorant at least once a week.

The Lynx portfolio will be further extended by the launch of Lynx Dry, a new range of anti-perspirant products, which  says will ensure that older consumers will remain loyal to the Lynx brand, as well as attracting new users. The new Lynx Dry anti-perspirant range will be available as an aerosol (175ml) and roll-on (50ml) in the Pulse, Dimension, Africa and Gravity fragrances.

Lynx men like surprises and keenly anticipate new products. They won’t be disappointed – in 2005 saw the launch of the exciting Lynx Unlimited range. The range offers ‘unlimited powers of seduction’ as the new fragrance promises sensual and warm woods base notes infused with masculine, clean freshness.     

 

Objectives

            In a highly competitive market, establishing and distinguishing a product name among the other parallel products are challenges that are not easily meet. The importance of carefully planned communication marketing in achieving these ends can not be underestimated.

            Awareness of the objectives is the key in planning a successful plan. It is only with this information that decisions can be made on identifying the audience that you are trying to reach, what message you hope to deliver to them, and how you can best accomplish this.

            Lynx deodorant’s objectives are to create sustainable brand awareness among the existing and potential customers. Brand means giving a product or a business name a distinct identity. Brand image is very important in marketing, not only because consumers can recognise it worldwide but because many brands can make the consumer ‘look cool’ because the brand names are widely recognised.  A lack of awareness and recognition of the product among the customers are a dreadful situation for existing products. It is important that the product or brand can establish as presence in the marketplace to let the customers know the benefits they offer.

            Equally important objective of the product is getting the message heard by the audience or the targeted market. It is important that the company take into account that the product delivers timely information on the new launch of new product development in order to create awareness.

            Another objective of Lynx deodorant is to create brand positioning in the hearts of the customers. Positioning is how the product appears in relation to other product in the market. Brand positioning is identifying where the specific brand is placed within the marketplace and its relationship to competitive brands. It is determined by defining the brand’s benefits to the consumer, opportunities for which the brand is best suited, the brand’s target audience and who are its main competitors are.

           

 

Competitor Analysis

In the growing market of antiperspirant or deodorant, various competitors of Lynx deodorant have been emerging with all its competitive offers.

Old Spice’s new Red Zone of Procter and Gamble comes in four different scents, which claim to last longer than any other leading spray. The scents include Pure Sport, Aqua Reef, Glatial Falls or Metallic Ink. Old Spice has added several new products to enhance the Old Spice line, which, according to the company, has made Old Spice the No.1 antiperspirant/deodorant for guys.

On the other hand, Colgate-Palmolive offers men continuous protection with the Speed Stick 24/7 Non-Stop Protection, claiming that it’s the first and only men’s antiperspirant deodorant with new revolutionary Micro-Absorber Technology. According to the company, this formula contains polymer beads that can absorb up to 100 times their weight in wetness. The product comes in antiperspirant gel and deodorant sticks in four fragrances: Fresh Rush, Clean Blast, Cool Fusion and Icy Surge. They retail for $3.99.

In addition, Ban Intensely Fresh was created to take care of sweat and odor and has developed a patented technology that keeps consumers three times fresher than before. The claim to be the first to discover two distinct types of stress related disorders which includes spicy odor and s-order (which gets its name from pungnet sulfur characteristics.   Ban Invisible Solids, with kihada extract and silver cancrinite, claim to uses this technology to eliminate these odors. Ban Intensely Fresh claimed to deliver what consumers are looking for at the end of day, smelling and feeling fresh.

 

Market Segmentation

Currently, there is an increase in gender segmentation in the antiperspirant/deodorant market. In the antiperspirant/deodorant market, segmentation is driving sales higher. In fact, men’s deodorants in general have experienced incredibly strong growth in recent years.

Men are increasingly concerned with their image and the image of their products is equally important. According to Euromonitor, men represent a particularly attractive demographic because they already purchase these products, though few brands target them directly. A growing number of men are said to be especially image-conscious and are particularly interested in the approval of their peers. Though deodorants are a staple item, men’s interest in grooming and physical appearance creates opportunities to target them with products that specifically address their issues, whether they are tangible, like alluring fragrances, or more ephemeral, like the projection of image through brand identification. As more firms seek to target these younger consumers with age-specific products, new opportunities for value creation exist, noted Euromonitor.

Boys significantly contribute to the drive of teen personal care products now more than ever. According to Mintel, the teen years are an age where appealing to the opposite sex is extremely important and they may be more inclined to try products that claim to make them look cool, attractive or athletic.

“Currently, teenage males are driving the majority of growth,” said Ms. Sonstelie. She explained that from 2000-2005, value sales of men’s deodorants grew 65.6%. In 2005, men’s deodorants made up around 50% of the deodorant market. This is the only men’s grooming sector, aside from those that are shaving related, where the men’s market rivals the women’s market.

“Men today face fierce competition to be the best at everything they do, whether it’s sports, career or personal life,” said John Kooyman, general manager, Colgate-Palmolive U.S. Personal Care.

According to Euromonitor International, Chicago, IL, the U.S. Ap/Deo market in 2005 approached $2.2 billion—with sales almost evenly split between men and women’s products. Euromonitor forecasts an increase to more than $2.2 billion in 2006 and $2.3 billion in 2010, with the men’s sector accounting for more than $1.1 billion (2006) and $1.1 billion (2010).

            “More and more deodorants are becoming age- and gender-specific as brands compete for the spending dollars of growing market niches, particularly men and teenagers,” said Jennifer Sonstelie, research analyst for Euromonitor. “Several new products in 2005 that targeted males helped drive sales. Manufacturers are creating a need for consumers to buy products specific to their age and gender.”

            In this case, Lynx deodorant are particularly, targets it production of Lynx products to boys and young men from ages 13 -18 years and with men who are particular with their grooming.

In addition it is also important for Lynx deodorant to consider products that are suited to the lifestyles of their consumers. It should be considered that the products that cater the different preferences of their consumers. Generally, consumers want products that keep up with their hectic schedules.

Product Strategy

             Since Lynx deodorant is in a highly competitive market, it is important for the product to have a sustainable marketing communication that would appeal the interest of the existing consumer and the interest of potential consumers. An effective communication strategy could be an important strategy that the company would put into account with Lynx deodorants.

            Since Lynx deodorant has already gain its awareness in the minds of the consumers, the important aspect in this plan is that the product gain sustainable awareness and impact to the targeted audience which includes the boys and the young men. 

 

Brand Positioning

             Unilever has position their Lynx brand as a male grooming range rather than just a deodorant has several advantages for the company. Brands exist for the long-term. They establish trust in consumers’ minds. They are a company’s most valuable assets and they should be treated very carefully. Every change to the logo design should be viewed in terms of its long-term impact on consumers. Positioning your product or service is defining who you are in the mind of your customer. The process of writing a positioning statement helps you to become very clear about how your product or service is different from your competitors, and how to communicate this uniqueness to your customers.

            With Lynx deodorant, it has successfully position its product with the concept of attraction. Their advertisements focus on the fact that young men are preoccupied with the opposite sex but often lack the confidence to do anything about it. The Lynx products portrayed Lynx users irresistible to women. Generally, the concept of Lynx deodorant are focused on attraction which the product has positioned itself in the minds of the users of this product.

 

Marketing Communication Strategy

            Consistent with the objectives of this plan to create sustainable awareness and brand positioning, marketing communication strategies are identified to the advantage of the said product.

According to (1973), any business has two basic requirements: marketing and innovation. Marketing assumes the task of guaranteeing the conditions of communication and information that allow demand for need fulfillment to be met through production of goods and services. Ultimately, it is customers which include buyers and users who determine the nature of the businesses that can operate.

Integrated marketing actions, when applied to meeting the needs of consumers and buyers can generate profits and other corporate results through customer satisfaction. This matching of corporate and customer interests requires the parties to communicate. This communication can be spontaneous and ad hoc, but experience shows that careful management of marketing communication can add value for all involved.

The idea of 'marketing' first appeared in the economics literature at the end of the nineteenth century and was developed as 'merchandising and selling' in the scientific management of   1929). The concept became widely applied in the middle of the twentieth century. Promotional communication gained emphasis with the emergence, initially in the USA, of national product brands with widespread distribution ( 2001).

The management practice of marketing has emerged as a coordinating function or discipline that acts as a bridge between the needs of the provider to stay in business and to prosper, and the needs of buyers and consumers for access to desirable value-for-money products, and other stakeholders in a society that has normative, expressive, cognitive, as well as instrumental institutions

Marketing communication is concerned with effectively and efficiently providing information about the business and the products to chosen customer groups. Marketing communication is no different to other forms of human communication.

Consumer behavior is what people do as consumers as they seek to live their lives, including exchanging some things for value products or services that satisfy their needs - this includes processes of browsing such as 'window-shopping', reading magazines, and watching television, and selection, purchase, use, evaluation and influencing others, and disposal.

As managers, we are concerned with where and when we can cause representations of ourselves and our products to enter the minds of relevant buyers and consumers. Consumption is communicative and requires human interaction for it to make sense. Consumption is derived through communication.

Essentially, we need to consider how people react to marketing communication actions. Although, at this point, we are mostly looking at marketing relationships from the perspective of the provider, we should not forget that both marketers - the provider and the buyer/consumer - may initiate communication situations.

In the case of Lynx deodorant, it s proposed that integrated marketing communication and advertising strategies can be implemented to attain the mentioned objectives of the product.

 

Integrated Marketing Communication Strategy

Traditionally, marketing management is viewed as focusing on the market as an object. In the recent time, networks and interactions are at the core of the new marketing paradigm (1999). Relationship marketing is more communication intensive than traditional transaction-based marketing

On the other hand, integrated marketing communication is a shift towards more personalized, customer-oriented, technology-supported marketing systems. This is managed by a brand-level, cross-functional team to integrate marketing and marketing communication activities. Brand management requires integration of systems of communication, especially when, as we saw in chapter twelve, a relationship-marketing strategy requires that customers are treated differently to prospective customers.

Internal and external communicative activities/actions communicate whether or not they are done with the intention of communicating. Thus, planning for the comprehensive use of a range of activities that provide communication opportunities and coherent messages recognizes that consumers and buyers do not see discrete advertising, public relations, and sales promotion.

The adoption of a true integrated marketing strategy requires, in many cases, a redesign of the business system to ensure that the making of promises and efforts to keep promises are coordinated.  (1993) proposed that any model of marketing communication should analyze what happens with the customer rather than starting with the marketer. Thus a model of IMC is built around the customer at the focal point.

 

Table 1. The total communication system from the marketing perspective

Point of interaction between provider and consumer/buyer or other stakeholder

What is it that can communicate?

Customer service

Telephonist and receptionist, reception area, brochures, security clearance, sales office and telephone line

Sales force

Brochures, appointments, manuals

Retail merchandising

Display and shelf-facings, point-of-sale materials

Dealer/distributor

Brochures, manuals, training

Production

Quality assurance, training, quality management

Brand management

Standard-setting, after-sales service

After-sales service

Manuals, training, brochures, online information sources, helpline

Internal communication

Newsletters, briefings, team-working, grapevine

Corporate identity

Design and policy, logo, signage, livery, uniforms, letterheads, business cards, gifts, annual report, packaging, office location and ambience

Advertising

Messages, information content, style, vehicle

Distribution

Location of outlets, vehicle condition, driver courtesy and safety, packaging

Pricing

Value-for-money relative to competitors - quality and status

Products

Quality consistent with price and advertising messages

People

Attitude, behaviour, orientation, and preparedness of sales, technical, delivery and reception staff

Processes

Technology and methods of product and co-production, convenience, reliability, safety

Market research

Hearing what customers, consumers, and buyers want and like/dislike

Complaints, comments, and requests

Access to responsible, responsive people

Public relations

Sponsorship, events, information sources, public profile of people and products, corporate performance

Source: 1997

The classification of buyer awareness levels

Communication goals must be set if the activities and resource usage of the marketing department are to be best deployed in contributing to corporate business goals. Figure 15.4 outlines a number of goals from which the two priorities of an integrated marketing communication program should be selected. This concentrated effort will ensure that goals can be accomplished and overstretching of limited resources avoided. The wider marketing campaign may have social-change goals (1982):

• cognitive change: to inform about, or increase recognition of, a cause

• action change: to call for demonstration or petition-signing against some behavior or action of others

Table 2. Marketing communication goals

 

Build brand equity

Communication activities are used to reinforce brand values and identity. This encourages stronger band preference and can strengthen trading relationships in a competitive situation

Provide information

Detail product uses, availability, incentives for purchase, technical specification, and so on

Manage demand

Stimulate demand for new and innovative products, boost sales of mature products, or dampen demand for out-of-stock items

Differentiate and position

Emphasize significant factors of difference, and position relative to competing offers

Influence attitudes and behaviour

Promote favourable thinking about a product and encourage some resulting action

 

Advertising Strategy

Advertising campaigns and budget allocations should be a subsidiary part of the marketing communication strategy. Leiss et al. (1986) identify two basic approaches to the use of advertising:

1.    Hard sell : provides a reason to buy, suggests a unique selling proposition, appeals to fear, and may offer a tie-in; this rationalistic process is designed to persuade

2.    Soft sell : stories of consumers consuming as mini 'soap opera', testimonials, strongly emotive and creative; this irrational process is designed to suggest and appeal to the consumer/buyer

 

 

According to  (1997), marketing communications in general and advertising in particular are now seen as a major, and possibly the major source of competitive advantage in consumer markets. As the brand image has come to represent a dynamic and enduring source of consumer interest and company revenue, the ways in which brands can be portrayed and their image controlled have become central to the concerns of brand management.

Advertising alone does not make the brand but the successful consumer brand is, nevertheless, inseparable from its portrayal in advertising and other marketing communications media. The multiplication of media channels through new technology and regulatory change has meant that most aspects of brand marketing management have become tinged with a concern for the potential impact on brand communications and the integrity of the brand personality.

Decisions on pricing, design, packaging, distribution outlet and even raw materials are taken with one eye on the brand’s core values and how these might be perceived in the light of media coverage of the brand. It is mistaken to argue that communication is all there is to brand marketing ( 1993), and it is a truism that advertising and marketing communications have assumed a key importance in the destiny of brands and their producing organizations.

Advertising, and the work of advertising agencies, lie at the centre of this rapidly evolving integrated marketing communications field. Marketing communications do not simply portray brands: they constitute those brands in the sense that the meaning of the brand cannot be properly understood in separation from its brand name, logo, advertising and other communications associated with it. Whether brand a is better designed, more attractive, easier to use, or more useful than brand b is rarely something that can be decided finally and objectively. It is usually to some degree a matter of opinion. This is where advertising acquires its suggestive power. It occupies a realm in which consumers are actively seeking suggestions to layer consumption with new social significance.

Advertisers offer us material to engage our imagination and open up new possibilities for consumption experiences. Consumers are not passive dupes being sold on exaggerated claims. Advertising is so powerful because, as consumers, we are actively complicit in our own exploitation. To put this another way, in a decidedly non-trivial sense, advertising gives us what we want. Both damning advertising as lies and puffery and defending it as an essential economic function oversimplify the complexities of understanding advertising. Advertising communication frames the way consumers engage with and understand marketed brands. It is the advertising, rather than the more tangible aspects of marketing management, that symbolically realize the marketing ideal of giving the consumers what we want.

In addition, another important reason why advertising is a useful subject of study is because it lends itself to examination from many differing disciplinary perspectives and therefore offers means of linking those perspectives through multidisciplinary studies. The boom in the quantity of advertising to which we are exposed on a daily basis and the intriguing sophistication of many creative executions has generated lively popular interest. In its most high-profile manifestations advertising has almost become a branch of showbiz, with ostentatious televised award shows for the best ads, lavish conferences in Cannes and, for the most innovative film producers, frequent career movement between the advertising and movie businesses.

Through this profile and exposure advertising intrudes frequently on typical personal experience, which offers a point of departure for the wider study of the topic both as a management discipline and as a subject of consumer and cultural studies. The edgy tone of many advertisements, the popular attention advertising attracts in national press and TV media and the massive budgets allocated to it by brand marketing organizations make it a topic of intense interest among many commentators.

If a brand fails to engage its audiences, or fails to keep pace with the changing nature of its audiences – it will not survive. It’s no coincidence that those brands that manage to strike the right balance between adapting their offering to stay relevant to customers, without changing so significantly that they become unrecognisable, are the ones which live the longest.

As part of everyone’s everyday life, advertisement on television can engage audiences with brands over long periods of time. Some of the most successful brands have been built and maintained on the basis of their long-term TV relationship with customers.

Advertisements on TV can be used to periodically revitalise a brand’s appeal, so that it can connect with each new generation of consumers. Lynx deodorant has maintained its status as a ‘youth icon’ for 17 years. In a market where other once popular brands have long since failed, more 15-24 year old men use Lynx than drink Coke, surf the internet, buy trainers, or own a Play station - an impressive achievement given Lynx has to re-recruit its entire 15-19 year old user base every five years.

In the world of brands, staying alive means staying top of mind - and TV’s ability to consistently remind consumers of brand presence cannot be underestimated. Whilst it’s possible to use a variety of media to underpin a brand’s position in a market, there is no other which engages its audience so fully, with such frequency as TV advertisement.

 

 

 

 

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