Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College

(Autonomous Institution Affiliated to Anna University of

Technology Coimbatore)
Vattamalaipalayam, NGGO Colony Post
Coimbatore - 641022

Department of Management Studies

Marketing Management

10DC201

Term Paper
On

SOAP INDUSTRY-AN ANALYSIS

Submitted by

R.VIVEK
1091060

Date of Submission: 29.11.2010

10

Marks
Signature of the Student Faculty Sign

Marketing Strategy Of Hamam

-An Analysis
INTRODUCTION
Hamam is one of the oldest soap brands in India. The brand came into
existence in 1934 and over this 73 years has successfully built a space for
itself in the consumer's mind.The brand has successfully fought the
competition and the changed environment. Hamam is a brand of soap made
in India and marketed by Hindustan Unilever, the Indian unit of Unilever.
The name comes from the Arabic/Persian/Hindi word Hammam which refers
to a public bathing establishment in the middle-eastern countries. It was
launched in 1934 and is a leading product in its category.

The hamam is a pure and gentle soap for a family to use. This is an ordinary
soap, which has not much features or qualities, but it is very soft and gentle
soap, which serves best. This soap is an ideal soap even to use it for kids, as it
does not contain strong chemicals and strong colors. This soap is the choice
of all our family members. We normally don’t change the brand of the soap,
which we have been using since a long time and for us the Hamam soap is
the best choice. The cost of this soap also fits in our monthly budget and
gives the best results
The brand was owned by Tata Oil Mills ( TOMCO) and later became the
HLL brand when HLL acquired TOMCO.
Hamam is a natural soap .Although many reports put this brand as a herbal
soap, Hamam is more of a natural soap than herbal. The brand have a market
share of about 9-10 percent of the Rs 4000 crore Indian soap market.The
brand has a huge market share ( more than 25%) in the Tamilnadu market. It
was launched as a ‘mild, family soap’, Hamam soon drew a large natural
following long before it was trendy or fashionable. Perhaps the only Indian-
made natural soap at the time, Hamam was embraced by mothers and doctors
alike, for its purity and safety on skin.
Only Hamam brings alive ancient time-tested skincare rituals that have been
perfected over generations in convenient and contemporary formats.
The three variants of Hamam - Sampoorna Snaan, Hamam Scrub Bath and
Abhyanga Snaan embody traditional skin care practices.
Hamam can best leverage this due to its heritage and natural ingredient
legitimacy to claim purification of the body and spirit.
When HLL implemented the Power Brand strategy, Hamam survived the axe
because of the strong equity it had among the consumers. Hence the axe fell
on Rexona which was also a natural soap with the same positioning as
Hamam.

HAMAM SOAP has been in India for a long time. Its infact very popular in south
esp. Tamil Nadu. Hamam is a herbal skin care soap enriched with Tulsi, Neem &
other natural ingredients.

ABOUT THE BRAND:

• Assurance of being a soap which is “safe on skin”
• Manufactured in modern soap plants
• Contains polyols-Good moisturizers
• Made from a blend of vegetable oils
• Palm oil and coconut oil mixed in the right proportion
• Gives lather which is stable and can effectively remove oil, dirt
from the surface of the skin.
TOTALLY SAFE :
• Toxicologically cleared by, the Safety and Environment
Assurance Center, (SEAC) Unilever
• Meets all requirements mandated by IFRA (International
Fragrance Association)
• Satisfies all the requirements of Toilet Soap Grade II as per
Bureau of Industrial Standards of India (IS 2888: 2004)
MICRO AND MACRO ANANLSIS:
MICRO ANANLYSIS:
COMPETITORS
 Margo
 Johnson & Johnson
 Dettol
 Medimix

CUSTOMERS
 Most of the Customers are Casual Buyers.
 Women’s were more influenced customers.

INTERMEDIARIES:
 Whole salers
 Retailers
 Distributors

MACRO ANALYSIS:
Political environment:
The uncertainities in the political environment has the direct impact over the
production and distribution of hamam soaps.
Social and cultural factors:
The company has to be very careful in the implementation of its promotional
campaigns,since the social cultural environment of India is very conservative and
any suggestive advertisements usually face a lot of negative reactions on the part
of the consumer.

SWOT ANALYSIS:

STRENGHTS:
✔ Strong Market Research (door to door sampling is done once a year in

Urban and Rural areas)

✔ Strong sales and distribution network backed by HLL.

✔ Strong brand image
✔ Effective advertising, Free publicity
✔ Continuously evolving the campaign
✔ Strong emotional touch

WEAKNESS:
✔ Involved marketing risk
✔ Copy by the competitors
✔ Undermining the aspiration of consumers
✔ Sustainability of campaign in long run
OPPORTUNITIES:
✔ Soap industry growing by 10% in India.
✔ Maintain better standards of quality
✔ Unified advertising throughout the globe
✔ Continuous innovation.
✔ More promotions like price-offs and samples
✔ Retentive strategy required as the soap segment is in the mature stage of its
product life cycle
✔ Line extension – probably with more variants catering to the beauty segment
like natural, herbal soap etc

THREATS:
✔ New entrants/local competitors/MNCs would increase the
competition(Camay, P&G)
✔ High internal competition – medimix and dettol also catering the health care
segment
✔ Excessive dependence on beauty segment makes Hamam vulnerable to
changing customer tastes.

MARKET SHARE:
✔ HLL is proud of Hamam’s strong presence in Tamil Nadu having a
share of 25% in T.N.market.

✔ Only 400 crore Herbal soap brand in the personal care segment
✔ 26% market share in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu

HAMAM’S MARKETING STRATEGY

MARKET SEGMENTATION

GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION :
 World region: Asia
 Country: India
 Cities: All cities of India

DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION:
 Age: 5-50+
  Gender: Female and Girl Children
 Family size: 2, 3-4, 5+
 Income: Rs.5,000+

Age:
They have different soaps positioned for different age groups for e.g. they
have Hamam Sampoorna Snaan for women. They have Hamam nallangu
maavu for the teenagers, Hamam Abhyanga Snaan for adults.

Gender:
They had earlier focused their brand only on women and children. Later they
repositioned their brand by including products for men and the family as a
whole. They have lifebuoy skin clear.

Income:
The income factor plays a major role in buying decision of the consumer.
Now they know that in rural areas people will not prefer shower gels and
hand washes because their purchasing power permits them to satisfy only
their basic need of having a bath. So soap prices are the least among their
range of products which are really affordable. Whereas a person from urban
or semi urban area will have the purchasing power to buy shower gels and
hand washes.

BEHAVIOURAL SEGMENTATION :
  Benefits: Herbal and Natural soap.
 User status : Regular user

PSYCHOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION :
It means segmenting a market into different groups based on social class,
lifestyle, or personality characteristics.

Hamam is being segmented on the basis of Social Class (middle-lower,

upper lowers, middle class and upper class).

It caters to different classes with different sizes of it. As people belonging to

lower-lower class do not make a more profitable segment so they are not
being considered much.

 Social class: Middle & Lower class.

 Lifestyle: Outdoor-Oriented.

TARGETING:
Targeted towards the young women who are much
concerned about their beauty.Its main focus is on the
housewives of the middle class families.
POSITIONING:
Hamam was positioned initially as a complete natural family soap.The brand
was built on the Trust factor. The earlier ads typically showed Mother and
child with mother explaining the meaning of Trust using the example of
Hamam.The brand may have acquired this quality from its original creators
TATA.

REPOSITIONING STRATEGY:
Although the brand was able to manage the PLC, it had its share of problems.
At one point, HLL was facing the competition from Herbal/ayurvedic soaps.
HLL tried to position Hamam as a herbal soap by changing the composition
by adding Neem ingredient and reducing the TFM(Total Fatty Matter). But
that reduction of TFM disqualified Hamam as a soap and the brand lost many
of their loyal customers.
2005 saw HLL repositioning the brand by adding more ingredients. The
brand now talks about having a Perfect Balance of Neem, Tulsi and Alovera
Extracts. The packaging also has been made more contemporary and the
shape of the soap has been made oval.2006-07 saw a change in the
communication of the brand. The brand no longer talks about trust but now
positioning itself as a beauty enhancing soap.The brand has now come out
with a variant that contains green gram, turmeric and sandal .The color of the
soap also has changed to sandal from the traditional green color. This move is
a marked deviation from the age old positioning of the brand as a natural
green soap.
Hamam for years has been able to sustain its market position because of the
strong brand loyal customers .The brand now wants to be relevant to a new
consumers ( younger generation). The brand also faces stiff competition from
a plethora of brands offering the same ingredients and benefits. The latest
repositioning exercise is aimed to keep the brand relevant and also leverage
the brand equity it had built up over these years.
MARKETING MIX:
PRODUCT
PRICE
PLACE
PROMOTION
PRODUCT:
Form: Solid Handmade: Yes Transparent: No
Medicated: No Ingredient: Herbal Main Ingredient: Other
Feature: Basic Brand Name: Olive
Place of Origin: Turkey
Cleaning Secret

Pure and gentle soap for family use. This is ordinary soap which has not
much features or qualities,but it is very soft and gentle soap which serves
best.It is an ideal soap even to use it for kids,as it does not contain strong
chemicals and strong colours.It is the choice of all family members.

The product length will include the various fragrances that

From our range

Hamam Sampoorna Snaan

Hamam Scrub Bath

Hamam Abhyanga Snaan

ELEMENTS
✔ Product involved some elements which are Variety, Quality, shape
&Brand Name.

Variety:
✔ Hamam soap available in all 4 variants which are given as under.
✔ Hamam Sampoorna Snaan, Hamam Scrub Bath,Hamam Abhyanga
Snaan,Hamam naalangu maavu.

Quality:
✔ Hamam’s quality is very popular among the people.
✔ Since the soap has undergone numerous product quality
improvements to offer best hygiene results.

Shape:
✔ Hamam soap's has a classic green colour shape

Brand Name:
✔ Hamam soap is a strong brand of UNILEVER.
✔ Due to this name people consider Hamam soap as a valuable brand
while buying it.
PRODUCT LEVELS:

 Core product: Core benefit that a customer

expects from a Hamam product is to keep them clean.

 Expected product: Customer buying Hamam

product expects that the products they use must be skin friendly
and not in any form harm them and the environment.
 MARKETING MIX:
PRODUCT
PRICE
PLACE
PROMOTION

PRICE:
The hamam soap is priced at Rs.17.50(100g).it is a affordable price for
middle class families.
 • Hamam • Rs.20 for 125gm
Sampoorna
Snaan

• Hamam Scrub • Rs.17.50 for

Bath 100gm

• Hamam • Rs. 15 for 100gm

Abhyanga Snaan

PRICING STRATEGIES

PRICE MIX:

Market penetration: Hamam extensively uses market

penetration for its sales of products. All the products that Hamam sells are
affordable by one and all.Hamam products are mainly targeted towards
middle class and hence the prices are quite high when compared to other
soaps.

MARKETING MIX:
PRODUCT
PRICE
PLACE
PROMOTION

Place:
Hamam soap mainly concentrates over tamilnadu. Highly region specific
brand.The brand reaches the consumer either through direct selling or
through distributors.

PLACE MIX

VARIOUS CHANNEL LEVEL

1. Zero level: As a brand of HUL, Hamam also follows zero

level channel,where it conducts door-to-door selling, where it gives
free samples of a new product launched.
 2. One level: Hamam follows one level of channel very
effectively. Here the manufacturer supplies the goods to the wholesaler
who may also act as a retailer and sells to the ultimate customer.

3. Two level: Hamam follows this channel where it follows a

traditional channel. Where the manufacturer supplies the goods to the
wholesaler, who supplies it to the retailer and ultimately to the
consumer.

4. Three level: Hamam’s, major aim is to cover the untapped

rural market for which it needs to have more number of intermediaries
to take the goods from the place of production to the place of
consumption. It uses these channel level when the manufacturer passes
on the goods to the sole distributor, who gives it to the wholesaler who
gives it to the small retail shops in the rural areas where the customers
can have easy access to the goods.

TYPE OF INTERMEDARIES
Intensive distribution: HUL the company extensively uses intensive
distribution . Hamam the product is made available at all possible outlets,
may it be the rural ,semi-urban r the urban areas. The manufacturers make
sure that the product is available as and when demanded hence making it
available where ever possible.

CHANEL OF DISTRIBUTION:
A distribution channel can be as short as being direct from the vendor to the
consumer or may include several inter-connected (usually independent but
mutually dependent)intermediaries such
as wholesalers, distributors, agents, retailers. Each intermediary got the items
at one pricing point and moves it to the next higher pricing point until it
reaches the final buyer also called channel of distribution or marketing
channel.

MARKETING MIX:
PRODUCT
PRICE
PLACE
PROMOTION

Promotion:
✔ The brand is mainly promoted through advertisements in television and
in print media.
✔ It also does promotion through TV and print campaigns.
✔ Provides many offers to their customers.

PROMOTION MIX
Hamam uses all the promotion tools available for selling it’s product.

Advertising :
Hamam uses advertising extensive for the sale of it’s product ,
they use advertising in all the stages of the product life cycle .
they modify the advertisement as the product reaches the
concerned stage.

Modes of advertising
  Television: Hamam uses various advertisement on
television which leave a visual impact on the minds of the
customers. These adds value around keeping oneself clean and
healthy just by using a soap.

 Banners/Posters : Several banners and posters are put

out across the city.

PERSONAL MARKETING

 RETAIL STORE SELLING: Hamam soaps are

available at all the possible retail outlet around the nation. Here the
retailer is the direct seller who is personnally selling the product to the
customer.

SALES PROMOTION
Hamam uses sales promotion in several ways to targets it’s desired
audiences Hamam being a consumers. And hence consumer promotion tool is
extensively used.

 Coupons: Coupons in newspaper are a common see where

Lifebuoy products go. Recently the coupons printed was on a
purchase of a Lifebuoy handwash 250ml u get a Lifebuoy soap
absolutely free.
  Price packs : Most of the Hamam soaps are sold with
price packs. It’s generally always buy 2 get 1 freeoffer that is
available.

 Offers: Hamam Grihapravesham offer was given to the

customers.

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE:

Introduction Stage:
 This is a brand that was launched in 1934.
 Hamam was positioned initially as a complete natural family
soap.The brand was built on the Trust factor. The earlier ads
typically showed Mother and child with mother explaining the
meaning of Trust using the example of Hamam.

Growth Stage :
 The growth stage is a period of rapid revenue growth.
  Sales increase as more customers become aware of the product and
its benefits and additional market segments are targeted.
 When competitors enter the market, often during the later part of the
growth stage, there may be price competition and/or increased
promotional costs in order to convince consumers that the firm's
product is better than that of the competition.

Maturity:
 Over Period Of 100 Years , Rached Its Maturity Level.
 Market Share Becomins Almost Stagnent.
 Some Customers Became Loyal While Some Went For New
Products.
 Same Brand Image Limited Consumer Base.

Decline Stage:
 The soap market in India was fairly sluggish in 2001, declining by
9-10 per cent. Lifebuoy's decline exceeded that of the overall
market.
 The decline was partly on account of the sluggish growth in the rural
market, which accounts for 50 per cent of soap demand.
Press releases:
Golden offer from Hamam:
Tuesday, June 05, 2001
CHENNAI: On the occasion of its 70th birthday, Hamam has launched a
consumer promotion called the Golden Offer, in which it is offering 24-carat
gold plated Estelle ear-rings worth Rs 55, free in exchange of 6 wrappers of
the 100 gm packs.
Unique offer:
Saturday, Jun 12, 2004
HAMAM, THE soap brand from HLL, has come out with a unique offer —
collect the words "griha" and "pravesam" from two Hamam wrappers and
call 98407 79880. Every fortnight, one can win a house worth Rs. 5 lakhs,
and everyday, consumer goods worth Rs. 5,001 are given away. The offer is
valid till July 31.

Traditional beauty care business hots up

Nina Varghese
Many cos launch products based on traditional system
AN ADVERTISEMENT hoarding for the new Hamam soap on Mount Road
in Chennai. — Bijoy Ghosh
Chennai , Sept. 4
In the beauty and skincare business, it is back to the roots these days.
Contemporary delivery systems are taking traditional beauty and hair care
products like turmeric (manjal) scrub, shikkakai powder and hibiscus to
national audience.
Hindustan Lever recently launched a variant of Hamam soap, with greengram
flour, turmeric, sandal and milk on the `ubtan' (a traditional ritual) platform,
while CavinKare's Meera Hair Oil comes with five herbs in an inner
perforated tube.
Hamam Grihapravesham offer:
Coimbatore: Hamam soap from Hindusthan Unilever has announced the
Hamam Grihapravesham offer 2010. Wherein Hamam consumers in Tamil
Nadu and Puducherry could win 12 houses worth Rs. 10 lakh each by
sending six wrappers of Hamam along with completed slogan “I Love
Hamam because ……….”.
The offer is open till April 14. During this 12 weeks, winner will be
announced on a weekly basis. Hamam also offers the participants an
opportunity to win 250 gold vouchers worth Rs. 5,000 each, 750 mobile
phones worth Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 10,000 vouchers of Rs. 200 each from
Hindusthan Unilever products. Rajesh Sethuraman, Senior Marketing
Manager, Toilet Soaps of HUL, said that the offer is hosted in association
with Anu Hasan. Interested participants could post their entries to Hamam
Grihapravesham offer 2010, C/O Alpha Data Centre, Post Box No 3904
Girgaum, HPO Mumbai 400 004. Details about the offer could be checked
online at www.hamamgp.com or call 1800-102-4850. First week winners
would be announced on January 25.
REFERENCES:

http://www.projectfever.com/index.php?
main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=79
http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/unilever-soap.html
http://pachatterjee.com/big/hamam1.html
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Hamam-Soap-qpnnltqqt
http://www.scribd.com/opensearch?
language=1&limit=10&num_pages=&page=5&query=hamam+soap
http://www.scribd.com/doc/37276598/Mktg-Assign-on-Hamam-Sales-Study
http://www.scribd.com/doc/39164031/Marketing-Environment-Soaps
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18004677/Marketing-Mix-Product-1