Post Graduate Diploma in Management
Batch 2012-14: Chennai
Empirical Study Progress Report - I
Title of Project: The right Marketing Communication Mix that can help L’Oreal increase its Shampoo Market Share in the rural market.
Abstract of the Study (500 words): This paper aims at devising the right kind of Marketing Communication Mix for L’Oreal, that can help it to increase its market share in the rural market, both effectively and efficiently. L’Oreal Group is the world’s largest cosmetics and beauty Company. Its headquarters are located Paris suburb of Clichy, France. It entered India in 1997, at a time when there was no proper hair care facility there. They have their salons located in the top 100 cities of India, of which 20% contribute to 40% of their total revenue. Their policy is to provide the best quality and experience to the customer, without reducing price ever. But with the saturation of urban market, the emergence of the rural market and increasing cut-throat competition from other cosmetics and beauty giants, L’Oreal will have to take a step into the rural market, in order to increase its market share in India as a whole. Its market share, reported as of now, is 41.5 per cent share of the market in India for hair conditioner, around 20 per cent for hair coloring products, and 6.5 per cent and 4.6 per cent for the skincare and shampoo markets respectively. It is also the leading player in the salon products sector.
The rural market is gaining importance day by day. Over 70% India’s one billion plus population lives in around 627,000 villages in rural areas and its growth rate is still high. With a simultaneous increase in the purchasing power of the rural people, as a result of increased income, there has been an increase in demand of cosmetics and other beauty products. It has been termed as the “woken-up sleeping giant” by many MNCs and they would do well than to ignore it completely, lest they