SANDEEPKUMAR.V NAVEENKUMAR.T.

TOPIC: soap products in rural india

An excavation of ancient Babylon revealed evidence that Babylonians were making soap around 2800 B.C. Babylonians were the first one to master the art of soap making. They made soap from fats boiled with ashes. Soap was used in cleaning wool and cotton used in textile manufacture and was used medicinally for at least 5000 years.

Making soaps
Soap making history goes back many thousands years. The most basic supplies for soap making were those taken from animal and nature; many people made soap by mixing animal fats with lye. Today, soap is produce from fats and an alkali. The cold process method is the most popular soap making process today, while some soap makers use the historical hot process.

History of Soap in India During the British rule in India, Lever Brothers England introduced modern soaps by importing and marketing them in India. However, North West Soap Company created the first soap manufacturing plant in India, which was situated in the city of Meerut, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. In 1897, they started marketing cold process soaps.* During World War I, the soap industry floundered, but after the war, the industry flourished all over the country.

Marketing Soap is primarily targeted towards women, as they are the chief decision-makers in terms of soap purchase. Medicated positioning like germ killing and antibacterial are marketed to families.

About 75% of soap can be bought through these different types of outlets: Kirana Store: This is the most common source for buying soap, which usually forms a part of the months grocery list (which is purchased from these Kirana Stores).
Pan-Beedi Shops: These are really small shops, almost like handcarts, and they are primarily set up to dispense cigarettes and chewing tobacco. However, one would find such a shop at every corner and they are the main sources of soap purchase for the lower socioeconomic classes. These kinds of shops exist by the dozen in rural areas.

Department Store: In India, there are very few department stores and the Indianised version of department stores are called Sahakari Bhandars.

Soap manufacturers originally targeted their products to the lowest income strata in urban as well as rural areas, positioning their brands as a way to remove dirt and clean the body. For some brands, that positioning persists even today with a focus on removal of body odor and keeping the user healthy. However, soap positionings are moving towards skin care as a value-added benefit.

The Need Our customers are looking for soap that is differentiated from the competition. Whether it is performance-based or visual or both, Bradford's track record spans a host of market-leading products, including many developed with proprietary technologies.

Price is the most important factor which effects the buying behavior of consumer, by which a consumer goes for the various segment of soap like premium, popular, sub-popular and carbolic which are basically decided by the cost factor and fat content in the soap. The buying frequency is either monthly that is done by the families or in case of bachelors it is more than once in a month. The occasions when premium soaps are purchased are usually when there are festivals and ceremonies. Moti Soaps are usually presented during festivals and occasions for presents and gifts. The promotional techniques help to boost sales. Various tactics like the price offs, buy one get two free, free gifts and other schemes help boost sales in short run and also help in clearing stocks Men normally make purchase decisions in rural areas. Hence the marketer has to adopt different strategy for such a market.

QUINTESSENCE LETAP VENTURES PRIVATE LIMITED Marc Soap Industries JSR Laboratory Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting Ltd Hindustan Unilever Ltd Godrej Consumer Products Ltd

Beauty - Lux Freshness Liril, Cinthol Natural Medimix, Margo Baby Johnson & Johnson, Doy Cream Dove, Doy Care (moisturizing) Medicated Dettol, Savlon, Glycerin Pears, Emami

When it comes to Rural Area, People are more interested in Offers and Schemes, so it would be a good move for the company to come out with offers and schemes regularly. There is always a sense of fear in minds Of Rural people , so companies can take advantage of this and advertise the Product Eg: HUL did it with their Swastya Chetna Programme for their Soap Lifebuoy and gained market share from this move. If the companies need to taste Success in Rural Markets, they have to come out with Separate Campaigns in rural Areas, an entirely new Campaign in Rural Market. Example: Godrej came up with Project Dharti for their Godrej No: 1 Soap and they have gained market share out of it. There is Rise in Demand for Medicated Soaps in the market ,so it would be good for companies to introduce medicated soap as their new Varient.

In the December quarter, HULs Lux and Lifebuoy were Indias leading soaps with a market share of 14.4% each, while Santoor had 8.8% and Dettol 7.8%, according to Nielsen data. Dettol is owned by Reckitt Benckiser India.

The product strategies to be followed in rural market: Newly/ Modified product Utility Oriented product Avoiding sophisticated packaging Application of Value Engineering Small unit packaging Example: Induce rural customers to buy and try the new product i.e trial by low unit packs, Sachets(HLL),Cavin Care -Chik, P&G-Vicks Vaporub, Godrej with 6ml sachet

The Pricing Strategies to be followed in rural market Large volume- low emerging Overall efficiencies and passing on benefits to the consumers Low cost/value for money products Low volume-low price Example: Low cost products i.e Clinic-plus in 50 paisa, one rupee, two rupee pack, Colgate at Rs. 50 /HLL derives 50% of its revenue from rural areas, sells Lux shampoo in a four milliliter sachet priced at 50 Paisa and six-milliliter sachet priced at one rupee

The distribution strategies to be followed in rural market: Segmentation Covering of villages having population above 2,000 Distribution to feeder market or mandi town Direct contact with rural retail. Example: Samsung van displays all the products, the company has tied up with local distributors to showcase the Samsung range in local melas. Promotion: Promotion aspects always create a challenge in rural areas as they have a very thin population density but are spreaded in the large remote area.

The promotional strategies to be followed for promotion in rural market TV Radio Print media Cinema Hoarding Example: 1. Films on products like Vicks, Lifebuoy, Colgate and Shampoos are shown in rural cinemas halls. 2. LIC and Private insurance companies have been showing short movies in rural theatres to create awareness about life insurance