Marketing Face Wash

History

Soap has been used in many basic forms for hundreds of years. In very early times a plant known as ‘soapwort’ was crushed to release the soapy sap, which was then used for washing. Later on, whale blubber was rendered down to produce a crude soap. Today, face washes are part of a huge industry. Face washes are cosmetic products, which are regulated by the Cosmetics Product (Safety) Regulations. To find out more about these regulations, visit www.ctpa.org.uk/legislation.

Some face washes are packaged in composite containers which are made up of three parts – the base, body and top assembly, others are sold in tubes. The attractiveness of the packaging leads the consumer to recognise the product and so be more likely to purchase it. Marketing the product is a psychological exercise based on consumer information and statistics.

The Marketing Cycle

- Is the product meeting customer needs? - Is the product a flop? - Will the product need to be modified? - Will the product need to be replaced? - Is the after sales service ok? - Are we meeting sales targets? - Is the product profitable?

Finding out what the customer wants

- Testing - Pricing - Packaging - Branding - Type and number of outlets - Local, national, or international - Transport - Managing the sales operations - Advertising - Publicity and PR - Sales promotions

Once produced, the product now needs to be promoted. This can be done in a variety of ways:

Unique Selling Point

All marketers are always searching for a Unique Selling Point (USP). The right message has to be created that appeals to the market segment. Messages usually fall into one of two types:

Under the emotive selling points above are the psychological aspects of the message. In the case of a face wash this looks at the need to be attractive and targets the questions (if medicated), ‘Will this get rid of my spots quickly and make me look good?’. It also targets the sex drive in that it suggests that by using the product it will make the user more attractive to the opposite sex.

Shelf Appeal

Most major retail outlets (shops), use computer-generated store merchandising plans (planograms) into which all the store’s display requirements are programmed. Similar types of products will be grouped together, so that shoppers can easily find what they’re looking for. The position of the product on the planogram is based on its sales potential, and also to make the display as eye-catching as possible. This means that the prime position on-shelf is usually at eye-level, to have instant impact and maximise sales. If this leads to an impulse buy, then the merchandiser has been successful.

It is important to get the timing right, so that the product hits the shelves in time for the promotional campaign. The supplier pays additional fees for the extra space needed to feature their promotion in store, for periods of 3 or 4 weeks. Promotional displays are usually located in the centre of the shelves or at the end of the aisle, along with an introductory offer or price discount, such as ‘3 for the price of 2’, to drive sales.

The packaging designers will have made the product look as appealing as possible, using a variety of techniques to draw the eye to the packaging, e.g. clear bottles with fresh looking contents (blue or pale green to indicate a fresh, healthy product), bright colours to attract the eye, the use of the brand or manufacturer’s logo positioned boldly on the package thereby using the reputation of the company, as well as creating an image that can be reproduced in the media advertising campaign. (See the example diagram below.)

To find out more about ‘INCI’ names (as shown in the ‘ingredients’ below), visit www.ctpa.org.uk/labelling

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