Minor Project Report

on
Advertising Strategy- A Case Study of Liril Soap

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the award of the degree of

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)

Semester-III (Paper Code-BBA 209)
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi

Institute of Information Technology & Management,

New Delhi 110058
2014-2015

CERTIFICATE

I, Mr.Anshul Gupta, Roll No. 11413701713 certify that the Minor Project Report/Dissertation (Paper Code
BBA-209) entitled Advertising Strategy A Case study of Liril Soap is completed by me by
collecting the material from the referenced sources. The matter embodied in this has not been submitted
earlier for the award of any degree or diploma to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature of the Student:

Date:

Certified that the Minor Project Report (Paper Code BBA-209) entitled Advertising
Strategy A Case study of Liril Soap
done by Mr Anshul Gupta, Roll No.
11413701713, is completed under my guidance.

Signature of the Guide

Name of the Guide:Mrs Preeti Sharma
Designation:Assistant Professor
Date:

Countersigned

Director/Project Coordinator
2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep regards to my project guide
Mrs. PREETI SHARMA for her exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement
throughout the course of this project. The blessing, help and guidance given by her from time to
time shall carry me a long way in the journey of life on which I am about to embark.
I take this opportunity to express a deep sense of gratitude to all faculty members for their
cordial support, valuable information and guidance, which helped me in completing this task
through various stages.
Lastly, I thank almighty, my project guide

Mrs. PREETI SHARMA, my family and friends for

their constant encouragement without which this assignment would not be possible.

ANSHUL GUPTA
11413701713

Institute of Information Technology & Management, New Delhi

Assignment No: BBA/209/11413701713
DISSERTATION WRITING: BBA SEMESTER III
Background: University Scheme

As per the syllabi of BBA (Paper Personality Development & Communication Skills code
BBA-209), students at the end of Semester II (during the summer vacation) are to write a
dissertation on a topic assigned to him/her. It is termed as Minor Project Report and
comprises of 6 credits.

The report is to be submitted within Two Weeks of the

commencement of Third Semester.

Objectives
The academic objectives for writing the dissertation are:

(a)

Inculcate the habit of self study.

(b)

Enhance analytical ability by comprehending management concepts through self study.

(c)

Develop research ability by extracting the material from the different sources, compilation and

collating with references.

(d)

Write comprehensive and exhaustive dissertation specific to a topic.

Scope of Dissertation

The title of the dissertation assigned to you is Advertising Strategy- A Case Study of
Liril Soap and the functional aspects to be covered in the body of the dissertation
comprises of (you may exceed these):
a) Concept of advertising
b) Advertising objectives
c) Setting advertising budget
d) Developing advertising strategy
e) About Liril soap
f) Advertising strategy of Liril soap
g) Conclusion
Each student is to collect contents/material related to the topic and the scope as mentioned
above from various sources such as books, journals, magazines, Internet etc. One copy
comprising of minimum 40 typed pages (inclusive of diagrams, references etc) is to be submitted
to the respective guide as per the schedule given in the following paragraph.
Schedule & Evaluation Scheme

To be Completed

Activity

by Date

Marks
Allotted

22nd April 2014

Briefing and allocation of Topics of study.

5th May 2014

Allocation of Topics and Project Guide to each

student.
10th July 2014

Mid-term Review: Submission of work done till date.

10

22nd July 2014

Submission of Draft Report to the respective guides.

10

28th July 2014

Submission of Final Report (One spiral binded copy) to

10

the respective guide.

20th August 2014 BBA (M1) - Viva & Power Point Presentation to the

20

Internal Supervisor.
21st August 2014

BBA (M2) - Viva & Power Point Presentation to the

Internal Supervisor.

22nd August 2014

BBA (E) - Viva & Power Point Presentation to the

Internal Supervisor.

As notified by the

External presentation & Viva before the external

University

examiner.
Total Marks

50

100

Format for Compilation

The dissertation is to be compiled and submitted as per the format laid down in Academic Circular 4/2009
(Revised). All students are to strictly adhere to the format.
Submission

Final dissertation completed in all respects is to be submitted to the guide as per the schedule
given above.
CAUTION: This dissertation is independent work to be conducted by each student
individually. Any previous work or borrowed work will be summarily rejected and in
all cases of rejection the work is to be repeated afresh.

Assignment Prepared by

Project Coordinator

Ms. Preeti Sharma

Dr. Sunitha Ravi

Countersigned
Prof. (Dr.) Rachita Rana
Director
Note: This Assignment Directive shall form part of the dissert.

CONTENTS

S No

Topic

Page No

Certificate

Acknowledgement

Assignment Directive

List of Tables

List of Symbols

List of Abbreviations

Executive Summary

Chapter 1- Concept of Advertising

1-6

10

Chapter 2- Advertising Objectives

7-14

11

Chapter 3- Setting Advertising Budget

15-20

12

Chapter 4- Developing Advertising Strategy

21-29

13

Chapter 5- About Liril Soap

30-32

14

Chapter 6- Advertising Strategy of Liril Soap

33-39

15

Chapter 7- Conclusion

40-41

16

References/Bibliography

42

LIST OF FIGURES

Firure no.

Title

Page No

1.1

Popular Advertising Campaigns

2.1

Objectives of Advertising

2.2

Logo of Johnson & Johnson

2.3

Logo of Apple Pro

12

2.4

Logo of Coca-Cola

14

3.1

Logo of liril soap

30

LIST OF SYMBOLS

S No

Symbol

Nomenclature & Meaning

Percentage

At the rate

Dollar

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The word advertising is a Latin word which means to turn attention of people to a specific
thing. It is a paid publicity. According to Oxford Dictionary the word to advertise means to
make generally or publicly known, describe publicly with a view to increasing sales.
Objective of advertising is to inform its targeted audience/customers about introduction of new
product, update or changes in existing products or product related changes, information
regarding new offers and schemes. Informative advertising seeks to develop initial demand for a
product. The promotion of any new market entry tends to pursue this objective because
marketing success at this stage often depends simply on announcing product availability. Thus,
informative advertising is common in the introductory stage of the product life cycle.
To be successful, advertising should carry messages that appeal to the customers when they
want to buy and reach them through the media they use. It's amazing how many ad campaigns
are based on trying to resolve a business problem -- i.e. clearance sales designed to reduce
inventory using such slogans as "Everything Must Go" or "Must Reduce Overstocks."
Persuasive advertising is highly competitive when there are similar products in the marketplace,
and products are competing for their share of the market. In this situation, the winning product
will differentiate itself from the competition and possess benefits that are superior to, or compete
strongly with, the competition. Comparative approaches are common place, either directly or
indirectly.

An advertising strategy is a campaign developed to communicate ideas about products and

services to potential consumers in the hopes of convincing them to buy those products and
services. This strategy, when built in a rational and intelligent manner, will reflect other business
considerations (overall budget, brand recognition efforts) and objectives (public image
enhancement, market share growth) as well. As a business begins, one of the major goals of
10

advertising must be to generate awareness of the business and its products. Once the business'
reputation is established and its products are positioned within the market, the amount of
resources used for advertising will decrease as the consumer develops a kind of loyalty to the
product. Ideally, this established and ever-growing consumer base will eventually aid the
company in its efforts to carry their advertising message out into the market, both through its
purchasing actions and its testimonials on behalf of the product or service.

CHAPTER 1
CONCEPT OF ADVERTISING
Advertising is as old as trade and commerce. Starting as agents for newspaper the advertising agency diversified
in to other services such as copy-writing and playing the role of consultants to advertisers. The decade 19601970, ushered in a creative revolution in advertising. Outstanding personalities like David Ogilvy, Leo Burnett
and Bernbach etc. emphasized the creative side of advertising and developed campaigns that stood out for the
creative brilliance. `
In India, advertising as a means of sales-promotion, was accepted hardly three decades ago. This delay is hardly
attributable to its late industrialization. But today, India too has emerged as an Industrial country, giving boost
to advertisements that appear regularly in national and local newspapers, magazines, periodicals, TV etc.
these days people use advertising in various walks of life. Manufacturers use large scale advertising for
impressing people with the utility of the products. Business men advertise inviting individuals to invest money
in their concern. Employers advertise for applications for various vacancies in their companies for selecting the
best of the applicants. The unemployed persons advertise their readiness to serve. In this manner advertising
has become indispensable in modern life.
11

The present era is of mass production and mass distribution. Similar products are taken to the market. This
involves stiff competition amongst the producers. Many forms adopt the vigorous means to maintain their
existence in the market, as there are many substitutes in the market. This tendency is a struggle for the producer
for their survival in the modern business world. All the business man aims to make profit by increasing their
sales at a remunerative price policy. When we manufacture good quality products or offer expert services, these
must be known to the public. For this mass communication is needed as the population is greater and the market
area is wide. We can adopt sales promotion and advertising as tools to mobilize the market machinery. In the
present business world, suitable publicity is done through advertising, which is adopted by commercial and
industrial undertakings and almost all types of concerns. Therefore advertisement is a method of publicity.
The advertisement has a prominent place amongst the techniques of mass education and persuasion on the
public. It is not a modern origin. It has been used from immemorial periods, advertising was displayed in the
form of sign boards, writing on historical buildings or inscriptions on stones, stone-pillars, stone-walls etc. the
development of printing has greatly boosted the ideas of advertising through newspapers, magazines, handbooks etc. in earlier periods, it was used only in a limited manner. The evolution of printing technologies and the
changes of the marketing policies have been greatly utilized and many are benefited from advertising. Now,
manufacturers, business men, employers, institutions, new shop owners, marketers etc. are benefited greatly by
displaying advertisement. Increasing literacy, modern techniques of printing, stiff competition etc. add to the
necessity of advertisement.

Advertising Meaning and Definition

12

The word advertising is a Latin word which means to turn attention of people to a specific thing. It is a paid
publicity. According to Oxford Dictionary the word to advertise means to make generally or publicly known,
describe publicly with a view to increasing sales.
Advertising is thus, a mass communication tool, which is essentially in paid form by a firm or an individual and
the ultimate purpose of which is to give information, develop attitudes & induce action, which are useful to the
advertiser.
Advertising presents and upholds the ideas, commodities and services of a recognized advertiser, which
provides as a communication link between the producer and the potential buyers. It gives the information to the
would-be buyers who are interested in seeking the information about a product and the manufacturer.
Advertising may be taken as the most efficient means of reaching people with product information. Advertising
presents a mass persuasion apart from disseminating information to the prospective buyers about the product
and the producer. While creating awareness and popularity, it seeks to persuade. It is a more effective and
extensive and less expensive way of creating contacts.

From the above definitions, it is clear that:

Advertising is message to large groups.

It is in the form of non-personal communication.
It persuades the general public to purchase the good and services, advertised.
It is paid for by advertiser to publisher.
Advertising messages are identified by the advertiser.

It is that activity by which visual or oral messages are addressed to the general public. Its purpose is to inform or
influence them in order to increase the sales of the advertiser. It is done with the view to sell the goods or
services, offered by the advertiser. It may also draw the readers or viewers to act favorably towards the ideas of
institutions featured. It is paid for by a seller (sponsor). The seller or the advertiser has to pay for the space (or
time) through which the message (advertisement) appears. The aim is to persuade people to buy more.
13

Advertising creates desire for new products. The success of advertising greatly depends upon effective
advertising program. An effective advertising necessitates mass production, thereby reduces unit cost by
lowering the price of goods in favour of consumer.
Nowadays, advertisement is the tool which many companies and enterprises use to inform prospective
customers about their products and services. Tough advertisement agencies often present only the best side of
product; I think that advertisement tells us about new items that may be good for our lives. The other
importance of advertisement has been summarized below;
First, advertisement educates people about new products and their uses. Advertising message about the utility of
a product enables the people to widen their knowledge. It is advertising which has helped people adopting new
ways of life and giving-up old habits. It has contributed to the betterment of the standard of living of the society.
As an example, pharmaceutical companies use advertisement to present their new drugs. Those drugs which are
the result of new researches are more effective to cure diseases like malaria and so on.
Second, advertisement facilitates consumer choice because of the wide information he has about products. It
enables consumers to purchase goods as per their budget requirement and choice. For example to choose
between the wide ranges of communication network available, customers refer to the price and quality given in
advertisements.
Finally, advertisement informs the buyer about the benefits they would get when they purchase a particular
product. The benefit can be a discount on the price of goods. It helps buyers save money for other uses. The
benefit can also be the more effectiveness of a product compare to others.
In short, advertisement is a good way to present new devices and items from which buyers can benefit. It also
helps us in making responsible choices. Therefore buyers obtain good quality products and save money.

14

Popular advertising campaigns attract customers attentions and can help generate sales.

Fig 1.1 Popular Advertising Campaigns

15

CHAPTER 2
ADVERTISING OBJECTIVES
Personal selling and other forms of promotions are supported by advertisement. It is the main objective. The
long-term objectives of advertising are broad and concerned with the achievement of overall companys
objectives. Companies have a lot of objectives when investing in advertising. Each one typically relates to the
company's stage of business or product evolution and its current position in the marketplace. The key for your
business is to pick a specific, quantified and measurable goal that aligns with your business and marketing
objectives.
The real objective of advertising is effective communication between producers and consumers with the purpose
to sell a product, service, or idea. The main objectives of advertising are as follows:

16

OBJECTIVES

INFORMATIVE
PERSUASIVE
REMINDER
Informative

Fig No. 2.1 Objectives of Advertising

Objective of advertising is to inform its targeted audience/customers about introduction of new product, update
or changes in existing products or product related changes, information regarding new offers and schemes.
Informative advertising seeks to develop initial demand for a product. The promotion of any new market entry
tends to pursue this objective because marketing success at this stage often depends simply on announcing
product availability. Thus, informative advertising is common in the introductory stage of the product life cycle.
The idea is to give the ad the look of an official article to give it more credibility. Also, informative ads tend to
help generate a good reputation.
In some circumstances a business might be required to run informative advertising as part of resolving a law
suit. Tobacco companies are one of the more notable examples of this.Alcohol producers have been running
advertisements with the general message being don't drive drunk.
Informative advertising is often used when launching a new product, or for an updated or re launched product.
The objective is to develop initial demand for a good, service, organization, or cause. It is used when a new
product is put on the market on when an old product has been re-launched or updated.
17

Informative advertising will tell the consumer and marketplace about the product, explain how it works, provide
pricing and product information, and should build awareness for the product as well as the company. The image
of the product and the company should be compatible and complementary. There should be enough information
to motivate the consumer to take some sort of action.Pharmaceutical companies like Johnson and Johnson use
the informative advertising.

Fig No. 2.2 Logo of Johnson & Johnson

Persuasive
Objective of advertising is to increase demand for existing product by persuading new customer for first time
purchase and existing customers for repurchases. Persuasive advertising attempts to increase demand for an
existing product. Persuasive advertising is a competitive type of promotion suited to the growth stage and the
early part of the maturity stage of the product life cycle.
Once customers are aware of your brand, the next step is to persuade them of the values of your products or
services relative to the competition. This may include instilling positive beliefs about your product quality or
unique attributes, service capabilities, wholesome values or low cost. For established companies who have
experienced negative publicity or misconceptions, this objective is used to change consumer attitudes from
18

negative to positive. Microsoft focused heavily on changing attitudes followings its rampant state-based antitrust lawsuits in the early 21st century.
Marketers use persuasive advertising to increase the demand for an existing good, service, or organization. The
idea is persuade a target audience to change brands, buy their product, and develop customer loyalty. After the
purchase, the quality of the product will dictate whether or not the customer will remain loyal or return to the
previous brand.
Persuasive advertising is highly competitive when there are similar products in the marketplace, and products
are competing for their share of the market. In this situation, the winning product will differentiate itself from
the competition and possess benefits that are superior to, or compete strongly with, the competition.
Comparative approaches are common place, either directly or indirectly.
One of the more effective approaches to persuasive advertising is to focus on specific benefits of the product.
While those same benefits may also be found with competing products, the idea is to convey that a given
product provides that benefit in a way that is hard to find elsewhere.
For example, advertising for a given shampoo may note that the product contains ingredients designed to
nourish dry hair, leaving the hair shiny and manageable. Even though other products contain similar ingredients,
this particular shampoo gains a reputation for being ideal for people with hair that is dry and brittle, and thus
attracts a specific sector of consumers.
It is important to note that persuasive advertising does not actually state that if the consumer uses a given
product, the effect illustrated in the advertising will automatically take place. The idea is to convey the
perception that there is a good chance that the consumer will experience some type of benefit that is similar to
what is portrayed in the print ad or the television commercial. In fact, some examples of persuasive advertising
go as far as to include a disclaimer that the situation displayed in the advertising is only an example, and not the
only possible outcome. This approach is often used in advertising for legal firms, in that the disclaimer notes

19

that the advertising does not imply that the services provided by the firm are necessarily superior to those
provided by other legal firms. Apple has been a great user of persuasive advertising

Fig No. 2.3 Logo of Apple Pro

Reminder
The objective of advertising is to remind customers about existence of product, and ongoing promotional
activities. Reminder advertising strives to reinforce previous promotional activity by keeping the name of a
product before the public. It is common in the latter part of the maturity stage and throughout the decline stage
of the product life cycle.
Reminder advertising reinforces previous promotional information. The name of the product, testimonials of
past customers, public response, and sales techniques are repeated in the hopes of reminding past customers and
20

garnering new ones. It is used to keep the public interested in, and aware of, a well-established product that is
most likely at the end of the product life cycle.
A marketing

strategy typically

consisting

of brief messages sent

with

the objective of

reminding

a target consumer group about a product or service or of introducing a new theme into an existing marketing
program. Reminder advertising might be used by a business that has already invested considerable resources in
initially promoting their product or service and still wishes to maintain its competitiveness.
Reminder advertising tries to keep the products name before the public. It is useful when the product has
achieved market domination. Here, the advertiser may use soft-sell ads that just mention or show the name as
a reminder. Reminder advertising may be thought of as maintenance for a product with the leadership position
in the market.
Brief messages designed chiefly to keep a product in the mind of the consumer once the product is already
familiar. Reminder advertising usually follows an extensive advertising campaign, and therefore does not
elaborate on the reasons to buy the product. Common examples of reminder advertisements are those found on
matchbooks and pencils and in skywriting, as well as the more traditional media vehicles.
Advertising designed to remind consumers of the benefits of a product or service, or of their current need for
those benefits. For instance, the XYZ Company may seek to remind consumers of their need for XYZ antifreeze when the weather begins to turn cold. Coca-Cola has been a user of reminder objective of advertising.

21

Fig No. 2.4 Logo of Coca-Cola

CHAPTER 3
SETTING ADVERTISING BUDGET
22

Having determined the advertising objectives, the next important managerial task is to determine the advertising
budget. The amount set aside exclusively for advertising is known as advertising budget or appropriation. The
firm may be spending the amount in order to achieve the sales goals. The question raised in this respect is how
much amount can a producer or a manufacturer spend on advertising? The financial manager has to tackle this
problem. But it is a difficult task to be solved. Generally every year, an estimate will be made to calculate the
amount for advertisement. Mainly PLC (Product Life Cycle) states have to be looked upon. Here, the emphasis
is given to the basis or methods available for determining the advertising budget or appropriation. They are
briefly discussed below:
1. Affordable Method:
Under this approach, a company, to determine the advertising appropriation, is to find out what the
company can afford. It can spend for advertising as much the funds permit. From the name its clear that
the affordable amount set apart for advertising, is known as affordable method. It means that the
advertising expenses may vary from year to year. Under this method the weakness may be (1) the
opportunities of advertising are overlooked, (2) it is difficult to plan long-term marketing development.
2. Percentage Sales Method: here the budget amount is decided for advertising as a percentage of sales,
i.e. relationship advertising expenses and sales venue. For instance, a company may allot Rs. 5000 which
is 2% of the preceding years past or forecast or anticipated sales i.e. Rs. 2, 50,000.
Merits:
This method is simple in calculation.
A clear relationship exists between sales and advertising expenses.
Advertisement wars can be avoided.
Demerits:

Past figures may be incorrect for the future.

Declining sales reduce the advertising expenses and is not a dynamic method. But, when sales

decrease, advertising must be increased.

This system takes advertising as a result of sales. But it shud be the cause of sales.
3. Competitive Comparison Method: A company sets its budget solely depending upon the basis of
competitors expenditure. This is under this method; the advertising appropriation is decided on the basis
23

of spending for advertising by the competitors. For this the company has to collect the relevant data
about the competitors. They will do simply what others have done.
Merits:
This is an easy approach for companies with predictable sales patterns.

Demerits

It assumes that the industry average applies to all businesses in the marketplace. Companies may
ignore local market forces -- and miss opportunities to increase market share -- if they stick
rigidly to this figure rather than boost spending.

4. Objectives and Task Method:

this is also known as research-objective method. The amount is et aside on the basis of objectives to be
achieved and tasks to be involved. Under this method, three questions are involved: (1) what does the
company wants to accomplish? (2) what is necessary in order to accomplish this? (3) What will it cost to
do this?
Merits:
Advertising objectives are achieved.
It is flexible.
A clear advertisement program can be drawn.
Demerits:

The cost of objectives may not be estimated exactly.

It is more rational.

5. Return on Investment Method:

24

Here the advertising budget is consider as an investment, thereby expecting a certain return as profit. A
clear study is made by emphasizing the relation between advertising and sales. Sales are measured with
advertising and without advertising. That is, the profit obtained by advertising is compared with the cost
of advertising.

The advertising budget of a business is typically a subset of the larger sales budget and, within that, the
marketing budget. Advertising is a part of the sales and marketing effort. Money spent on advertising can also
be

seen

as

an

investment

in

building

up

the

business.

In order to keep the advertising budget in line with promotional and marketing goals, a business owner should
start by answering several important questions:
1. Who is the target consumer? Who is interested in purchasing the product or service, and what are the
specific demographics of this consumer (age, employment, sex, attitudes, etc.)? Often it is useful to compose a
consumer profile to give the abstract idea of a "target consumer" a face and a personality that can then be used
to shape the advertising message.
2. What media type will be most useful in reaching the target consumer? These days, a small or mid-sized
business will not only consider print, radio, and television ads, but -- more importantly, perhaps -- the Internet as
a way of reaching customers.
3. What is required to get the target consumer to purchase the product? Does the product lend itself to
rational or emotional appeals? Which appeals are most likely to persuade the target consumer?
4. What is the relationship between advertising expenditures and the impact of advertising campaigns on
product or service purchases? In other words, how much profit is likely to be earned for each dollar spent on
advertising?

25

Answering these questions will help to define the market conditions that are anticipated and identify specific
goals the company wishes to reach with an advertising campaign. Once this analysis of the market situation is
complete, a business must decide how best to budget for the task and how best to allocate budgeted funds.
Budgeting for Advertising:
To be successful, advertising should carry messages that appeal to the customers when they want to buy and
reach them through the media they use. It's amazing how many ad campaigns are based on trying to resolve a
business problem -- i.e. clearance sales designed to reduce inventory using such slogans as "Everything Must
Go" or "Must Reduce Overstocks." The U.S. Small Business Administration advises businesses that the main
ingredient for successful advertising is to pitch your products or services to resolve a customer's problem. Given
this, the SBA suggests that your advertising budget should be based on the following criteria:

Time your ad campaign for when the customer wants to buy, not based only upon when you want to sell.
Advertise items that will be popular with customers, instead of basing this decision on what items you

want to get rid of.

Ads should be written to tout customer benefits.
Choose your advertising medium based on the ability to reach prospective customers.
How Much to Budget on Advertising

Figuring out how much to spend on advertising should begin with your sales revenues. The cost of advertising
will be paid for by sales and increasing sales is your goal of an ad campaign. Therefore, there are two formulas
that the SBA recommends small businesses use when deciding how much to spend on advertising:

1. How much money do you need to promote the sale of a certain product at a given price? The SBA uses the
example that if you spend $10 of the selling price of an item that cost $300 on advertising, then you should be
willing to spend $3,000 in advertising to sell 300 units and generate $90,000 in sales.

26

2. The other way is to set aside a flat percentage of your total projected sales revenues for advertising. So if you
plan to dedicate five percent of your revenues and you expect to bring in $100,000 in sales that year, you would
spend $5,000 on advertising.

CHAPTER 4
DEVELOPING ADVERTISING STRATEGY
An advertising strategy is a campaign developed to communicate ideas about products and services to potential
consumers in the hopes of convincing them to buy those products and services. This strategy, when built in a
rational and intelligent manner, will reflect other business considerations (overall budget, brand recognition
efforts) and objectives (public image enhancement, market share growth) as well.
A campaign developed by a business to encourage potential customers to purchase a good or service. An
advertising strategy is generally tailored to a target audience perceived to be most likely out of the population to
purchase the product. Today, most advertising strategies focus on achieving three general goals, as the Small
Business Administration indicated in Advertising A Business: (1) promote awareness of a business and its
product or services; (2) stimulate sales directly and "attract competitors' customers"; and (3) establish or modify
a

business'

Advertising strategies include elements

such as

image.
geographical location, perceived demographics of

the audience, price points, special offers, and what advertising media, such as billboards, websites, or television,
will

be

used

to

present

27

the

product.

ELEMENTS OF ADVERTISING STRATEGY

As a business begins, one of the major goals of advertising must be to generate awareness of the business and its
products. Once the business' reputation is established and its products are positioned within the market, the
amount of resources used for advertising will decrease as the consumer develops a kind of loyalty to the
product. Ideally, this established and ever-growing consumer base will eventually aid the company in its efforts
to carry their advertising message out into the market, both through its purchasing actions and its testimonials
on behalf of the product or service. The elements are:
1) Target Audience/ Consumer:
The target consumer is a complex combination of persons. It includes the person who ultimately buys the
product, as well as those who decide what product will be bought (but don't physically buy it), and those who
influence product purchases, such as children, spouse, and friends. In order to identify the target consumer, and
the forces acting upon any purchasing decision, it is important to define three general criteria in relation to that
consumer, as discussed by the Small Business Administration:
1. DemographicsAge, gender, job, income, ethnicity, and hobbies.
2. BehaviorsWhen considering the consumers' behavior an advertiser needs to examine the consumers'
awareness of the business and its competition, the type of vendors and services the consumer currently
uses, and the types of appeals that are likely to convince the consumer to give the advertiser's product or
service a chance.
3. Needs and DesiresHere an advertiser must determine the consumer needsboth in practical terms and
in terms of self-image, etc.and the kind of pitch/message that will convince the consumer that the
advertiser's services or products can fulfill those needs.

28

Your value proposition must be relevant to your target audience. This means your target audience must be
clearly defined. Its not uncommon for a business to have to refocus and revisit their targeting, especially if it
was not clearly identified in the beginning stages of business.
It is necessary to find the right balance when defining your target audience in a way that causes your audience to
recognize that you are talking specifically to them. This often requires companies to narrow down their target
customers. After doing this it is most important now to reach to that target market that you have created. But
which advertising platform offers this today.
It does not matter what your Brand mission is. Identifying and gaining the devotion of your target audience is
the necessary means to reaching those objectives.
To achieve your brand marketing goals it is important that you know your target market inside and out. This
requires conducting a market analysis. This market analysis must be as in-depth as possible; providing you with
all the data you need to reach your target effectively. By knowing your target audience you will be more
confident in the steps to take to connect with that audience.
Most brands out there have already gone through all this and yet are unable to reach to their target audience due
to the fact that no advertising companies are able to do this. Most if not all advertising companies are mass
advertising. Old media (TV, Print Media, and Radio) always charged their advertisers according to their number
of users or readers not bothering whether it reaches your target market or not. Social Media companies
(Bloggers, Banner Advertising, Online Ads) are as much the same if not worst compared to old media as the
way they calculate readers are based on a 15 30 minutes interval. This means that the same reader who reads
the same blog twice in a day is calculated as two different people. What advertisers are paying for is actually
one fifth of the reach and about only five percent from that are their target market.
2) Product Concept

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The product concept grows out of the guidelines established in the "positioning statement." How the product is
positioned within the market will dictate the kind of values the product represents, and thus how the target
consumer will receive that product. Therefore, it is important to remember that no product is just itself, but, as
Courtland L. Bovee and William F. Arens stated in Contemporary Advertising, a "bundle of values" that the
consumer needs to be able to identify with. Whether couched in presentations that emphasize sex, humor,
romance, science, masculinity, or femininity, the consumer must be able to believe in the product's
representation.
The product concept proposes that consumers will prefer products that have better quality, performance and
features as opposed to a normal product. The concept is truly applicable in some niches such as electronics and
mobile handsets.
Two companies which stand apart from the crowd when we talk about the product concept are Apple and
Google. Both of these companies have strived hard on their products and deliver us feature rich, innovative and
diverse application products and people just love these brands.
One problem which has been associated with the product concept is that it might also lead to marketing myopia.
Thus companies need to take innovations and features seriously and provide only those which the customer
needs. The customer needs should be given priority.
In the past several of Microsofts products have been brought under the hammer with people feeling more and
more disgruntled with the operating systems because of lack of innovation and new features. Each Microsoft
operating system appears almost similar with just few tweaks. On the other hand, innovating too soon becomes
a problem. Several innovative products are marked as experimental in the market instead of being adopted as a
result of which these products have less shelf life and might have to be taken off the market.
Thus companies following the product concept need to concentrate on their technology such that they provide
with excellent feature rich and innovative products for optimum customer satisfaction.

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3) Communication Media:
The communication media is the means by which the advertising message is transmitted to the consumer. In
addition to marketing objectives and budgetary restraints, the characteristics of the target consumer need to be
considered as an advertiser decides what media to use. The types of media categories from which advertisers
can choose include the following:

Printprimarily newspapers (both weekly and daily) and magazines.

AudioFM and AM radio.
VideoPromotional videos, infomercials.
World Wide Web.
Direct mail.
Outdoor advertisingBillboards, advertisements on public transportation (cabs, buses).

After deciding on the medium that is 1) Financially in reach, and 2) Most likely to reach the target audience, an
advertiser needs to schedule the broadcasting of that advertising. The media schedule, as defined by Hills, is
"the combination of specific times (for example, by day, week, or month) when advertisements are inserted into
media vehicles and delivered to target audiences."
In nature, evolution occurs most rapidly when competition for resources is intense. The same process is now
occurring with promotional media. All traditional media channels are now saturated, and competition for
consumer attention is intense. At the same time, the impact of any one medium is becoming diluted. There are
many more TV and radio channels, consumer have the ability to skip adverts and free information is now much
more accessible. As a result, companies are becoming increasingly innovative in their approach to
communications and a host of new media channels have emerged. As a result, media choice is becoming a tricky
task, which is why detailed segmentation is so important - it's no use starting a Twitter campaign if none of your
target market are regular users of the site.
Highly targeted communications often lead to better results. You can usually expect a response rate of less than
1% for a relatively generic mass mailing. However, personal letters to a handful of your most loyal customers
would lead to a dramatically increased rate of return. When deciding which media to use consider the reach,
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frequency, media impact and what you can expect for your budget but most of all, ensure your target customer
will see the message in the first place.
Media choice is a matter of compromise between volume of people versus the personalization of the message.
4) Advertising Message:
An advertising message is guided by the "advertising or copy platform," which is a combination of the
marketing objectives, copy, art, and production values. This combination is best realized after the target
consumer has been analyzed, the product concept has been established, and the media and vehicles have been
chosen. At this point, the advertising message can be directed at a very concrete audience to achieve very
specific goals. Hiam and Schewe listed three major areas that an advertiser should consider when endeavoring
to develop an effective "advertising platform":

What are the product's unique features?

How do consumers evaluate the product? What is likely to persuade them to purchase the product?

How do competitors rank in the eyes of the consumer? Are there any weaknesses in their positions?
What are their strengths?

Most business consultants recommend employing an advertising agency to create the art work and write the
copy. However, many small businesses don't have the up-front capital to hire such an agency, and therefore need
to create their own advertising pieces. When doing this a business owner needs to follow a few important
guidelines.
Once you have made the audience aware of your brand, work doesn't stop there. The customer needs to be
guided through the purchasing process. This means identifying the key stages in the customer journey and
ensuring communications messages are personalized and relevant.

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To get the best response from your target market, you need ensuring the message is relevant and clear once
you've managed to gain the valuable attention of your customer the last thing you want is for them to be
confused about what you're saying. Determine the objectives of the advert and ensure these aims are addressed
clearly. Think about the next steps you would like the audience to take, whether this is visiting a website,
ringing a number, or being able to recall your brand when they are next in the shops.
5) Copy
When composing advertising copy it is crucial to remember that the primary aim is to communicate information
about the business and its products and services. The "selling proposal" can act as a blueprint here, ensuring that
the advertising fits the overall marketing objectives. Many companies utilize a theme or a slogan as
the centerpiece of such efforts, emphasizing major attributes of the business's products or services in the
process. But as Hiam and Schewe caution, while "something must be used to animate the theme, care must be
taken not to lose the underlying message in the pursuit of memorable advertising."
When writing the copy, direct language (saying exactly what you mean in a positive, rather than negative
manner) has been shown to be the most effective. The theory here is that the less the audience has to interpret,
or unravel the message, the easier the message will be to read, understand, and act upon. As Jerry Fisher
observed in Entrepreneur, "Two-syllable phrases like 'free book,' 'fast help,' and 'lose weight' are the kind of
advertising messages that don't need to be read to be effective. By that I mean they are so easy for the brain to
interpret as a whole thought that they're 'read' in an eye blink rather than as linear verbiage. So for an advertiser
trying to get attention in a world awash in advertising images, it makes sense to try this message-in-an-eye-blink
route to the public consciousnessbe it for a sales slogan or even a product name."
The copy content needs to be clearly written, following conventional grammatical guidelines. Of course,
effective headings allow the reader to get a sense of the advertisement's central theme without having to read
much of the copy. An advertisement that has "50% Off" in bold black letters is not just easy to read, but it is also
easy to understand.
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6) Art Work and Layout

Small business owners also need to consider the visual rhetoric of the advertisement, which simply means that
the entire advertisement, including blank space, should have meaning and logic. Most industry experts
recommend that advertisers use short paragraphs, lists, and catchy illustrations and graphics to break up and
supplement the text and make the document both visually inviting and easy to understand. Remember, an
advertisement has to capture the reader's attention quickly.

Chapter 5
About Liril

Fig 3.1 Logo of liril soap

The soap was manufactured by Hindustan Lever Limited in India. Most of their ads are woman bathing in rains or under
a waterfall. Liril launched a blue variant called Icy Cool Mint in2002. It also tried launching an Orange variant , called
Liril Orange Splash in India in 2004.Neither of these variants created much splash in the market. The company even
changed agencies handling the brand, from Lowe to McCann Erickson before going back to Lowe. Lirilhas been having a
static market share for quite some time now. Majority of their sales happen during summer. Preity Zinta, among others, has
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advertised for this product. LIRIL, the well-known HLL brand captures 2.5 % of the market share. Since decades
anybody watching the advertisement for Liril soap could see only a girl romancing with water which was considered tube
a sign of freshness. That was how Liril has being positioned since ages in the minds of the consumers. The lime concept
of Liril had made home in the minds of the consumers. More or less everybody felt that this soap was mainly for the
ladies and that too the working segment.
The main theme of the advertisement was freshness which revolved around lime.HLL wanted to launch new fragrance in
Liril however it was very difficult for the company to break this image in the minds of the consumers. The lime concept
of Liril was strongly built in the minds of the consumers and changing this brand image was something that was really
changeling for HLL when it thought of venturing into other areas. One is not aware let me tell you that Liril is now
offered to the consumers in Orange ,another containing Aloe vela and the shape of the soap also has been modified,
which is much similar to that of the Dove. With all these changes the company somehow had to change the commerical
so that the brand image also gets changed. Finally HLL with the help of Lintas hasmade this. Gone are the days were
one could just see a girl dancing. The company has now decided to introduce a girl and a boy just to ensure that the
brand image of lime for the Liril gets changed in the minds of the consumers. By incorporating all these changes HLL
expects to increase the market share from 2.5 % to 5% by the end of 2005.
The first Liril girl, Karen Lunel, brought in the freshness appeal. Her carefree cavorting under the waterfall
(incidentally shot at the Pam bar Falls in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu), was seen to be synonymous with the
womens liberation taking wings in those times. There were several others who followed her over the years Aneesha
Dalal, Pooja Batra,Hrishita Bhat, Tara Sharma, Deepika Padukone, Divya Palat, and Preity Zinta too. The brand also saw
the introduction of quite a few variants Icy mint, Orange Liril, etc. Now, Liril is in an almost unrecognizable avatar
of Liril 2000. Gone is the lone girl enjoying her Liril moment, and in comes a family (with a decidedly
international look and in an international home setting)sharing their intimate moments of togetherness. The latest TVC,
currently on across channels, has-been conceptualized by Lowe Lint as India. The TVC speaks about the 2,000 sensitive
points in our body that Liril refreshes and rejuvenates

35

There are about 2000 parts in the body that are sensitive to touch, but only if the skin is clean, fresh
and full of life!
New Liril 2000 makes every part of your skin come alive with freshness. Its combination of lime
extracts and tea tree oil freshens and cleanses skin. Liril keeps skin germ-free and so beautiful that
you cannot resist touching it.
New Liril 2000 for fresh, touchable skin. For all your 2000 body parts so you keep germs away and
loved ones close.

KEY FACTS
One of the oldest soap brands in India
A brand that has been consistent in bringing alive freshness
A brand that has managed to create breakthrough advertising over the years

CHAPTER 6
ADVERTISING STRATEGY FOR LIRIL
To frame marketing strategy to increase the market share of Liril brand (HUL) from 1% to 3% in
India byte end of 2012.
LIRIL:
Liril is a popular brand of soaps owned by FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). It
basically caters to a premium market where customers prefer a high quality bathing soap providing
freshness.
A] Industry dominant economic traits Market Size:
Market for toilet soaps in India is currently estimated at about 9,000 Cr.
Toilet soap industry is one of the oldest Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industries in India. It
is among the highest penetrated category within FMCG sector reaching an estimated 98% urban and

36

70% of the rural households. In volume terms, the toilet soap market in India is estimated at
approximately 13 million MT (metric ton).
B] Rising input costs:
Most FMCG companies use palm oil for their soap, which needs to be imported from countries like
Malaysia. Vegetable oil prices have increased significantly in the past one year due to surge in
consumption demand for bio fuels and shift in acreage in favor of corn and wheat. This is likely to
impact margins of various FMCG players, especially HUL and Godrej.Increase in Excise Duty has put
further pressure on the margins of big players. The hike in customs duty on diesel and petrol, coupled
with a 5% increase in the import duty on crude, will negatively impact the transportation and
packaging costs, thus affecting the entire FMCG sector.
C] Growth Drivers:
The soap market is expected to grow moderately at 4.5-5% in the near term. Some of the major
growth drivers are:
Growing consumer demand:
Rising income levels and growing aspirations, coupled with lower penetration levels, have fueled a
strong demand for Lifestyle and Value-added products. Sales are volume driven and not value driven.
Rural India driving incremental growth:
FMCGs are seeing a volume growth of just 6-7% in metros, their growth in rural markets is over
20%. Rural income levels are on the rise, driven largely by a continuous growth in agriculture for four
consecutive years and the Government's continued focus on rural development initiatives, fuelling a
fresh demand for FMCG firms.
New Product launches:
In a bid to garner a higher market share and sustain long-term growth, most FMCG companies have
launched new products, largely in the form of variants/extensions of their existing brands, to boost
growth.
Segmental Shift:
Over the years, the popular' segment has witnessed rapid growth and has been the category driver.
Consumers shift from the premium segment as and when they see better value in the popular category;
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at the same time, consumers upgrade from the economy segment due to increased aspirations and
affordability.
2. Competitive forces (Porters five forces analysis)
A] Threat of Intense Segment Rivalry
Penetration level of soaps is around 92% and therefore, price-wars and promotional schemes are almost
frequent in this industry. The market is littered over with several, leading national and global brands
and large number of small brands, which have limited markets. There are many established players
likeGPCL, Nirma, ITC, P&G, Wipro Ltd. etc. going aggressive about their target markets.
B] Threat of New Entrants
Entry in this industry is fairly easy due to which a large number of players with good
distributionnetworks have entered. ITC has already made headway with its premium brand Fiama di wills.
Companies like Marico, Kopran, and Anchor are likely to launch soaps in the
premium category. There are a large number of smaller/regional players who are also eating away the
market share of biggies.
C] Threat of Substitutes
A major threat comes from the use of products like body wash and face wash. Due to high costs
associated with such soaps, Body wash and Face wash may make use of soaps less frequent. Also, the
consumption of Liril may not pick up because customers may be down-trading to popular category
soaps.
D] Threat of bargaining power of Buyers
To a large extent, Premium Soap is a price sensitive market. Of late, there has been an increasing
trend towards down-trading. This has forced the manufacturers to lower the prices or offer temporary
discounts to woo the consumers who are either down-trading from the popular segment or graduating
upwards from carbolic soaps. The buyers, even in the rural area, are subjected to the media invasion
and are well- informed about the basket of products available in the market and thus take a rational
decision.
E] Threat of bargaining power of Suppliers
The major input for the soap manufacture is vegetable oil(constitutes around 80% of the raw
materials).They are not available in India and thus have to be imported from countries like Malaysia,

38

Indonesia and China. There are only few players who export palm oil from these countries and these
exporters have more bargaining position.
3. Change drivers and their Impact
A] Value consciousness:
The penetration level of soaps is ~92 per cent. With increase in disposable incomes, growth in rural
demand is expected to increase because consumers are moving up towards premium products. However,
in the recent past there has not been much change in the volume of premium soaps in proportion to
economy soaps, because increase in prices has led some consumers to look for cheaper substitutes.
B] Increasing aspirations:
Continued income growth coupled with increased willingness to spend will see consumers up-trading,
creating demand for higher priced and increased functionality (real or perceived) products. The size of
this segment will be large.
C] Evolving categories:
Many consumers will move up the ladder and will shift from basic need to want based products.
In addition evolving behavior and emphasis on beauty, health & wellness will see increased
requirements for customized and more relevant product offerings.
Product Line Strategy:
They should discontinue the variants like Orange Splash since they dont fit the freshness
appeal of brand. Icy Mint should be relaunched with different shapes.

Branding Strategy:
1.Brand Positioning:
They should position the brand as a provider of Freshness and cool bathing experience. Brand
shouldrevolve around the core benefits of a unique bath. The brand would stand for aspiration of
women aged15- 40. It would reflect as the self-expression for these women who would like to make a
point. Also, thebrand stands for individual freedom and happiness.Liril has extremely high brand recall
in Urban markets due to which it has sufficient levels of recall inthe rural markets as well (trickle
down). However, the imagery that was used in the urban marketscannot be replicated in rural markets.
The new imagery should highlight how fresh fragrance of lime canact as a confidence booster .
2. Brand Image (Brand Personality):
Cheerful, Energetic, Lively, Fun-loving, Self-expressive, Modern, Progressive.The brand image should
be signifying the confident female youth of rural areas and small towns.
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3. Brand Communication:
They should revive the waterfalls, the lime baths and the sizzling Nymphs who sanglaah-la-la-laah
.Liril should be shown as pioneer brand providing the original and classic way to feel fresh while
bathing.Also, the Lime factor should be projected (Other than soothing bath, Lemon will also provide
necessarynutrients to skin). HUL should stress on the fact that Liril keeps the skin healthy and lively.
The originaltagline of Come alive with freshness can be revived to stress on the core of this brand.
4.Brand Extension:
Liril brand can be extended to Deodorant category. HUL can launch the deodorant in spray form, for
thesame target segment. The deodorant will be communicated as an add-on for freshness at occasions
otherthan bathing.
5. Monitoring & Review:
The efficiency of communication programs can be reviewed through the Reach, Frequency & Impact
analysis of Ads. Market Research should be done by a reputed firm to ascertain the favourable change
inconsumer preference towards Liril brand. Also, projective techniques and free-association tests can
beused to understand the brand associations throughout the PLC by during market research.

CHAPTER 7
CONCLUSION

Our society needs to look deeper at what is happening in the field of advertising. Through my research it is clear
that parents and the communities (schools, businesses and families) need to take action for our kids. It is not a
positive environment for a kid to grow up staring at ads. Our society is so consumer based that we need to look
at how much damage it is doing to kids self-images and self-esteem. Kids today rely heavily on what they see
on TV to define who they are. Kids buy things to define their beliefs. Yes, it is true in reality that advertising is

40

probably a necessity to our society because of how consumer based we have become. Our society at this point
could not go with out advertisements.
Within American culture we need to look deeper at the role of television and advertisements and access why
they hold such a valuable presence. With the Internets role in our society we need to figure out what can be done
about spam and popup as well as just basic ads on the screen. The future for advertising seems so out of control
of the parents reach.
There is no ideal ad for our society, what should be done is that companies should use realistic tools for selling
their products fairly. Advertisers shouldnt use unfair tools against children and should think about what affects
this will have on future generations.
Together parents, communities, and the economic world should work together. Just because products stop being
advertised doesnt make it suddenly so there will be less of a need. Yes, some people won't buy as much but
many people will still continue to buy the products they need. The difference will be the impact that this has on
children. If we can avoid these ads from flooding are kids lives their self-esteems will be higher because they
wont constantly be comparing themselves to the people they see on TV. Our kids norms will be in place they
will realize that not every person is an upper middle class person in a nice home. Our kids will understand
differences and not be forced to fit inside gender roles that they see in ads. Overall they will be able to
experience who they are and will not let things from TV advertisements define who they are

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
WEBSITES

http://wikieducator.org/CONCEPT_OF_ADVERTISING, 04-07-2013
http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/aims-objectives-advertising-2567.html, 06-07-2013
http://www.liril.com/m/about-us, 09-07-2013
http://mediapanther.co.in/branding/liril_soap/, 12-07-2013
http://www.digitalimpulse.in/insights/liril-soap/, 12-07-2013

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