Bodyshop Brand and Branding Essay

1.Brand OverviewThe consistency stock is famously knget for its honour suitable approach to business, h wholenessst trade, 100% vegetarian products and macrocosm against animate being testing (the carcassshop.co.uk, n.d.). The confederacy believes in following(a) their five fondness honours which are to support community bewitching trade using small medium sized suppliers, defend military man rights create an awareness of domestic dispute and child ab determination, against fleshly testing, get off self-esteem looking after their customers and their employees and lastly nourishing the planet trim back CO2 levels, electricity, gas and water (the consistencyshop.co.uk, n.d). The dust thieve has also created their own charity, The corpse shit foundation that was launched in 1990, emphasising on their 5 core value.1.1. Brand HistoryAnita Roddick, a human rights activist and environmentalist founded the follow in the United Kingdom in 1976. The origin store was undecided in Brighton the store was on a small scale and solely change 25 different products. A spirit of environmental attachment dominated the mail by encouraging its customers to recycle this philosophy would stick its motto till present (thebodyshop.co.uk, n.d.).The Body mark experienced quick growth early on and its first everyplaceseas store was introduced in Belgium in 1978, by 1982 its growth gaind to a rate of devil stores opening per month. In 1984 the company entered the stock market and its shares grew in value at a very high rate, being nicknamed The shares that defy solemnity (Entine J, 2007).In 1985 the company sponsored posters for Greenpeace, starting its own campaign save the weal a year later also for Greenpeace. In 1990 The Body stigmatize Foundation was introduced that funded human rights and environmental groups (The Body Shop International plc, 2012). These activities went to throw out establish its reputation as an environmentally conscious comp any, already cemented by its prohibition of animal testing on its products and successfully making animal testing illegal in the UK in 1998.By 1990 the company first opened in the United States, it had already expanded to 39 countries and had 2500 applications for a franchise. In 1994 the company launched its hire selling section, The Body Shop at home, expanding to other territories in later years. In 2006 the company was purchased by LOreal for 652.3 million, the company was no longer independent, but managed to maintain its operation separately from the company. (The Body Shop International plc, 2012).1.2.Product categoryThe Body Shop sells a collection of 900 lifelike steady products with the inspired by nature motto (The Body Shop, n.d.). The Body Shop has a range of products, meeting various(a) demands of customers. Products, which organise up this range for women are, genuflect financial aid, posit-up, hair products, fragrance and body care, i.e. body butters. Mens p roducts consist of body care, skincare, fragrance, shaving and deodorant. The following cogitation will be focusing on The Body Shops body butter, as some whitethorn regard the shuffling for being most famous for there body butters. The product category, which most suits The Body Shop as a brand, is wellness and beauty. A reason wherefore The Body Shop gained such(prenominal) Brobdingnagian success in the health and beauty market since it began could be the reasoning of 100% vegetarian products that are quit from animal testing (thebodyshop.co.uk, n.d).Other products, which are included in their portfolio, are seasonal products, for example, winter make-up products and limited addition Christmas body butters which move fragrances such as ginger and cranberry. The brands online store indicates that the body butters are among their best sellers (thebodyshop.co.uk, n.d). The Body Shop is classified as a high pass retailer rather than a luxury brand retailer lieu their stores in town centers, along with other high street retailers in beauty and cosmetics such as Boots, Superdrug and The perfume Shop. Competitors that pose a direct threat to The Body Shop are brands that promote environmental values such as, Origins, LOccitane, Space, Molton Brown and turbulent.2.Brand Owning OrganizationThe Body Shop was sold to LOreal in 2006 for an estimated centre of attention of 625 million (BBC, 2007), The Body Shop would right away work with the chairman of LOreal himself. Annual financial reports and forecasts would be presented as part of the LOreal annual reports alongside other businesses that the company owns. By LOreal having ownership of The Body Shop it has questioned the brands identity on the foundation of their values, and this has affected the performance of The Body Shop which has been evidenced in LOreals 2012 annual report, In June The Body Shop had a fall of 2,781 stores crosswise the domain this had consisted of stores direct in Western Euro pe, North the States and new markets (loreal-finance.com, 2012).Looking into the sales that The Body Shop have make in 2012, in the first half of 2012 they had made 373.9 million, however in the second half they have performed substantially lower that previous, totaling to 193.5 million (loreal-finance.com, 2012). The operating Profit of The Body Shop has come to a total sum of 11.6 million in 2012 (loreal-finance.com, 2012). Having shown the general financial performance of The Body Shop from the previous year to the present, The Body Shop has shown some indication of escape of performance with a decreased sum of sales and profits.3. Brand encourage PropositionThe Body Shops strategy has remained intact since the LOreal take everywhere in 2006 unexpectedly considering LOreal is not associated with toilsome natural credentials. The Body Shop adopts a multi channel strategy which spans across stores, online and direct selling, prides itself on being Green and has five core valu es, against animal testing, using community intermediate trade, to activate self-esteem, defend human rights and protect the planet (thebodyshop.co.uk, n.d.). The Body Shops customers are more dyed to women and to the under 25s and the 45 54s, who agnisek natural and healthy products. (Mintel.co.uk, 2008)Body care products such as the famous Body Butters are promoted to give functional benefits such as 24-hour hydration, leaving skin softer and smoother and providing a scent for the skin. Benefits of using their products on an emotional level could be your input to helping the environment, supporting communities in third world countries, moisturizing your skin with natural ingredients, which are good for the skin, and the idea of using a product, which is more exclusive than a brand such as Nivea.The overall perceived brand value of The Body Shop however differs from their brand identity, if you consider The Body Shops competitor Origins, they use potent plants, organic ingredi ents and 100% natural oils (Origins.co.uk, n.d.). LOccitane uses ingredients sourced from local farming communities and sustainable development programs and uses packaging materials, which are the least polluting or already recycled (LOccitane.com, n.d.). Lushs green message seems ingrained in everything the company does, reflected in the minimizing packaging (Guardian.co.uk, 2011). This research shows that the body shop is not doing anything its competitors arent, the packaging the company uses is not recycled and the products are not as natural as they make out with artificial smelling scents and packaging which has not previously been recycled.The body shop is an established brand, being the first company to introduce fair trade to the beauty industry and prohibit testing on animals and has kept up(p) many of its loyal customers. The Body Shop doesnt undertake huge publicise campaigns and promotions are narrowed to the retail outlets and online. The Body Shops essence or aura c ould be defined as beauty with a heart they pride themselves on their values being at the heart of everything they do. (Bodyshop.co.uk, n.d.) The word ethical would describe what The Body Shop stands for as it represents the brands values and identity.4. Brand Communications AuditThe Body Shop in relation to its body butter product line currently makes use of a list of conference theory channels, which are both internecine and immaterial in nature. The audit will now list the key confabulations with an indication of the detailed considerations underpinning the methods employCorporate Website* The main internal communication for the body butter range may be seen as the corporeal website. Here the communications are aimed at driving web-based sales as well as providing product information to both external customers and internal staff. Key information includes the features and benefits of the product ingredients used and tips to maximising the benefits of the product. The websi te also allows customers to proclaim with one another sharing reviews and tips. In addition, the website also features a number of key marketing campaigns which are aimed at driving awareness of the brands ethical values and policies as opposed to sales revenue. (thebodyshop.co.uk, n.d).Social Media Communications* unmatched of the core communications to be used by The Body Shop in recent years is those, which take place through loving media communication channels. In this case The Body Shop makes use of tetrad major channels including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Tumbler. Product communities launched at bottom Facebook have provided significant communications of the brands underlying values associated with ethical sourcing and production. In addition, the method also encourages electronic word of mouth communications (EWOM) to take place (Belch and Belch, 2012), with consumers being able to share reviews and information about key product lines such as the body butter range. In this case, again the communications method used may be seen as adopting an integrated approach to communications (Yeshin, 2006) with societal media channels being linked to the companys website and vice versa. tv set Advertising* To date, Body Shop has maintained a policy of minimising goggle box advertising, partly due to the underlying beliefs of the founder of the business who believed that such advertising came into conflict with the ethical message of the brand (Rusch, 2012, Marketing Week, 2010). This may however be an element, which changes in the future since the acquisition of the Body Shop on the behalf of LOreal, a company that uses significant levels of television advertising.Key communication campaigns have seen the use of an integrated approach to marketing with the use of a mixture of in store advertising material and outdoor printed materials such as poster hoardings and billboards. Such communications mix was adopted in the recent love your body campaign, which aimed to tap into the public debate on the issue of female self esteem and the perception of the physical body. In this case, the underlying message was designed to encourage consumers to enjoy life regardless of physical appearance (Thumped, 2012).5. Product Category AuditThe table preceding(prenominal) shows the market value sales of body care within UK. As you can see from the chart above the market for body care has declined since 2010 and a further decrease is expected in 2012 by 2.1%, which makes it 326m pair to 2009 figures (Mintel, 2011). However the prediction for the market is bright as you can see the sale figures are due to increase by 2017 reaching 346million. The weaken sales of the body care market could be due to serious economy and slowing of disbursal, it also seems as though consumers would substitute spending on body care for beauty products seen as more necessary such as facial care, hair care and especially make up (Mintel, 2012).The Body shop is a spec ialist cosmetic and toiletries brand and the market share for body shop within this market is 6.4% which makes them tail largest within the market behind Superdrug, The Perfume Shop and Savers H&B. The Body shop is not only a body care brand, so within the 6.4% of the market share they offer many different kinds of products such as hair care, facial care, fragrances and more. The latest method The Body Shop used in an aim to increase their market share was partnering with Sephora in order to increase brand awareness within the market. (Mintel, 2011)Since LOreal took over The Body Shop as a brand, it has shown no growth within the market, suggesting LOreal fails to show any devotion to make The Body Shop a leading or major player within the health and beauty market. The Lily Cole Cruelty Free Makeup pull togetherion is one of the latest developments of The Body Shop, which they are hoping can give them an edge over their competitors. The Body Shop has also recently introduced a loy alty lineup scheme in order to maintain their competitiveness in the market.The increase in ethical consumerism has resulted in rising environmentally friendly brands unveiling market therefore customers are expecting more from companies who are ethical. The change that may affect the market in coming years is technology because companies such as Boots are already adapting to the changes for example a Click and Collect where the customer can purchase a product online and collect it from a store of there choice free of charge (Boots.co.uk,n.d.).