La Roche Posay

La Roche Posay

We all must agree that marketing and advertising plays a very important role in influencing consumer’s perception towards a given good or product. How well consumers believe in the strength of a product is greatly ingrained in the way the manufacturer, suppliers or sellers of that product present and packages it to the consumers. Haven’t you heard that the first impression is the lasting impression? When a good is introduced to la market for the first time, it is always important to have in mind some consumer psychology tactics so as to be able to easily penetrate the market and leave  lasting impact.  With many companies doing all they can to market their products effectively in the market so as to leave a lasting impact, it goes without saying that a lot of research is needed in order to establish what it is exactly that a market is looking for before it can finally agree to identify with a product. In other words, what is the opinion that the market hold of the given product?

This is the basis and the questions that led to this study of the poor penetration of the La Roche Posay skin care product in Hong Kong. This was despite the fact that it was launched in the year 1975, has been in use in over 50 countries then, and is recommended by over 25,000 dermatologists! However, despite this publicity in the western world, La Roche Posay was not well received in Hong Kong until the year 1998. What could have been the cause of such poor reception in the market? Where could have the marketers gone wrong with the market? And what strategies could they have borrowed from other markets to influence the market positively? What is being done to ensure that the product, now that it has finally penetrated the market, is not overtaken by other skin care products that may be developed in the days or years to come?

Seeing to it that customer opinion, perception and perspective of any given product or service is crucial in determining sales, there was a need in the process of carrying out this study to have a one on one discussion with the concerned clients of the products to find out what they had to say about  La Roche Posay.  In addition, it was necessary to get author’s reviews on what they had to say about the relationship between marketing and sales.  This is what would form the basis of the literature review section, that would later on contribute a great deal to the analysis and conclusion section. To facilitate a comprehensive approach to this study, this paper is divided into five chapters, each of which is aimed at handling the key concepts in greater detail; bring out the real problem, an analysis of the same and an approach to dealing with the same.

According to Meyer R. Rosen in the book ‘Delivery System Handbook for Personal care and Cosmetic Products’, every marketing effort is geared towards making the product in question more desirable, appealing and different from those others that it competes with. In so doing, it is believed that the product will have a large market base and will be an item for recommendation within and without the consumer network. It therefore goes without saying that the tagline of any product or service for that matter that is to sell amicably has to be one that will linger on in the minds of many for a long period of time.

Marketing has its advantages as well as a fair share of disadvantages, especially where caution is not taken to bring out the desired effects within the first few seconds of an advert.  David Kurtz in the book ‘Contemporary Marketing’ goes on to tell us that there are crucial aspects to consider while marketing for a product. This is for example segmentation, which falls into different categories. They include psychographic segmentation, product-related segmentation, market segmentation and demographic segmentation. Just to have a closer look at what segmentation refers to, let us have a closer look at demographic segmentation. This is the categorization of the target market according to some basic demographic factors like age, gender, income, education levels and household size and composition.  However, this factor of segmentation has its own fair share of negativities that can lead to rise of a non responsive market. This is for example when a product gives rise to stereotyping. Just to cite an example, a product advert shows a young girl attending a job interview, which unfortunately does not secure her the much envied position of a cabin crew. A friend advices her to use a certain skin care product to make her look more appealing, which she does, and within four weeks her skin complexion is seen to have changed. She reapplies for the job, goes for the interview and not only does she get the job, but also wins herself a young handsome man who works for the airline as well. In my view, doesn’t this lead many young and naïve girls to think that it is only when they have light complexioned skin that they will be able to acquire good jobs? What are we saying to the dark-skinned people? In other words, marketing should be aimed at passing a positive message to that whole target group without making others feel left out.

Segmentation by Gender

It goes without saying that some products are purely for men while other are purely for women. However, a majority of products in the market are cross-gender, meaning that they target both men and women in equal ratios. Segmentation by gender can sometimes prove to be a tricky affair, what with the changing and quickly customized trends of the female gender playing some male roles and vice versa? We nowadays have men who go for pedicure and manicure, wear earrings and apply cosmetics, habits that were mainly a preserve for women. What of women who are nowadays obsessed with certain types of vehicles like power trucks, which were in former days associated with the power in men? No wonder we now have adverts done by one gender, but which leave the audience feeling as though the advert was best suited for the other gender. A certain skin care product has recently launched products for men, though it initially focused on skin care products like lotions and deodorants for women and children only.

It has come to the attention of many researchers that many products are changing face in terms of the target market, and with the changes comes a change of the tagline in order to be able to capture the attention of both males and females. A tagline like ‘covered by men, admired by women’ is both non-discriminatory and non selective and would do well for a product aimed at reaching out to both men and women.

Segmentation by Age

It is a rather obvious assumption that there are products that are designed to serve a certain age group and not another. This category of segmentation comes with a relative degree of ease because it does not require rocket science to distinguish between baby food and adult food for example. However, with some products, changes in roles of specific age groups are affecting advertising campaigns as many marketers are torn between which age groups to target. For example, while baby aspirin was previously marketed targeting parents with small infants, it has now become important to target even the larger population, with the discovery that the tablets can help prevent heart diseases in adults.

The age segmentation comes with various other sub factors which nevertheless can go a long way in helping marketers to establish consumer behavior of people in that age group.  Each age group is faced with certain life-changing events that determine how they respond to certain market products. Just as an example, research has shown that school-going age children have their eating habits greatly influenced by adverts they see on television. As such, the food industry experts should aim for adverts that are nutritious, bearing in mind the obesity levels in these age groups, as opposed to advertising for junkies.  Teens commonly referred to as generation Y, on the other hand are greatly influenced by adverts in technology, new fashion trends and entertainment joints. As such, advertising to this age group will require a lot of creativity and style. Remember that they also run out of interest in an item quite fast, hence advertising should be renewed as frequent as possible if interest is to be maintained.

Generation X, which is the age group between 25 and 40 are people who are staring to face new life challenges; they just got their first jobs, are thinking in terms of paying rent, servicing a mortgage, car maintenance and saving for their children’s education. As adverts are done, the financial constraint this age group faces should be considered and as such an advert should aim at showing them the affordability, advantages and sustainability factors of acquiring the said product. Anything less of this will tend to put a majority of them off. This group of people is best reached out to by asking them directly what it is that they would like to have in the market.

The other groups are the baby boomers and the seniors, who also have their own set of characteristics that would play a very significant role in establishing their consumption habits.

Segmenting by ethnic group

Different ethnic groups have different perceptions towards different products in the market. It is therefore crucial to understand the spending habits of different groups, so as to b able to know what products to target them with effectively. Furthermore, use of language really counts in advertising. For example, a really captivating and well meaning advert may go to waste when it targets a French speaking community, when it is done in English or vice versa. However, collection of ethnic information will sometimes depict some negative notions, especially on the organization collecting the information.

Segmentation by family life cycle stage

The family formation process affects greatly the type of product a family in a given life cycle stage may want to buy. This is to say that, at different stages of family life, families become inclined towards particular products. For example, while a young unmarried person may be inclined towards buying a home and furnishing it, an older couple with grown up children may be thinking of planning for a holiday. Disposable income for a couple with school going children is spent on a tighter budget than for a couple who do not have children yet.

Segmentation by income and expenditure patterns

It is always a plus for marketers to be able to establish the marketing power of their target market. The market power can be determined though the geographic areas known to be occupied by high income earners, or by the household type mentioned earlier on.   It has been established that (again through research) as a household’s disposable income increase, a smaller percentage of that proportion goes into food, while expenditure on housing, household facilities and clothing remains the same. Expenses that seem to increase are those that have to do with other non-basic items and services. For example, the money allocated to recreation and entertainment seems to go higher. On this last statement, it would therefore be in order to say that as the income of a household increases, it is in a perfect position to ‘indulge’ in products that it had not considered before. This should form a strong basis for the target market for marketers introducing a new product. Marketers can also come up with other segmentation criteria that will help them to get the best desired results in their marketing strategies.

Another factor that should help marketers to establish the reaction of the target market towards their product is the media of communication used to reach out to them. This is because there are those channels of communication that appeal more to consumers than others. For example, a product advertized over the internet or television has a stronger market appeal that one advertized over the radio. Consider the example given earlier on about children’s eating habits in relation to adverts they see on TV. No matter how convincing a food advert may be, it may not be much effective in influencing that child’s eating habits when it is done over the radio where the child cannot see the animations and probably identify with the characters in the advert.

Further literature review shows that effective marketing is based on the art and science of satisfying customers. Without this in mind, the process of advertising is all in vain.  This art and science calls for strategic planning, creation of an effective marketing plan as well as establishing the most favorable marketing channels and supply chain management strategies, bearing in mind that there are global markets at stake. However, all this would go to the drain without creation of promotional decisions that relate to public relations and customer relationship management.

Strategic planning

Strategic planning refers to the process of taking into account the criteria for making daily organizational decisions, which are backed up with a formula for evaluation on a periodic basis. It is through these day-to-day decisions that the management of an organization are able to envision the future and hence are able to encompass procedures and operations that direct them towards achieving that future. Strategic planning goes a long way in providing a framework for employees to work towards achieving similar objectives based on a shared set of values and understandings. Strategic planning hence helps an organization to achieve a clear and straightforward path for the direction of an enterprise, a clear set of priorities, a comprehensive channel of communication that allows for sound decision making as well as a platform on which the performance of the overall organization improves because teamwork and innovation is enhanced.

Effective marketing plan

An effective marketing plan involves staff at all levels of operation, starting with the topmost management structure. The process involves formulating a market strategy, implementing the strategy and then gathering feedback from the target market to establish how effective the strategy is.

Drawing a marketing plan starts with defining the company’s mission(s), which will form a basis upon which the firm will evaluate itself to see whether it achieved the desired goals through the marketing strategy. The mission statement may change from time to time depending on factors such as changes in operational environment and managerial philosophies. However, a mission should clearly specify what the firm or company hopes to achieve within a specified period of time. For example, with the La Roche Posay marketing firm, one of its mission statement could have been ‘to have a market base of 2million clients in Hong Kong by 1990’. This would have been a good basis for their evaluation to gauge themselves with by the year 1997, so that they would know what went wrong and what they needed to change about their marketing strategies, based on the factors of segmentation discussed earlier on.  

Marketing also calls for creativity and critical thinking. Critical thinking literally means that marketers have the task to establish the authenticity, the accuracy, relevance and worth of the information they intend to pass to their target market. They should be able to formulate their own opinion regarding the information and not merely assume that anything they come up with at the first attempt is correct and appealing. Critical thinking requires an analysis of what could have gone wrong with the information generated. This is probably one of the tasks that the La Roche Posay product company should have looked into to give it a deeper market penetration.

Marketing can also be boosted by the improving and rapidly advancing technological innovations. Technology has brought a revolution in the way business people relate and has broken the barriers that existed earlier on as far as market boundaries were concerned. David quotes an example of how technology has affected markets and says that it has now become possible for the African continent to become part of the global market due to the innovation of the mobile phone, which is very true. Farmers no longer have to trek for long distances to sell their produce or negotiate prices because they can now do so over the phone and agree on the price before delivery of goods. With technological revolution has come interactive marketing.

This implies a combination of computers and telecommunications resources which enable users to find information online without assistance from the marketers of the product in question. This way, they are also able to give feedback on the product and marketers can take advantage of this to do a product review and see where it is that they need to improve in terms of quality or quantity for that matter. However, interactive marketing is consumer-dictated, in that the consumer regulates the amount of information that they can receive from marketers. With a keen analysis, marketers can be able to tell which information about the product is pleasing or attractive to the consumer and hence capitalize on it as they work on the weak areas that receive a negative publicity.

While at this, it is necessary to note that in marketing, the opinion of key opinion leaders really counts. In other words, if a product is associated with let’s say for example a celebrity figure known to all, the product tends to sell more than the other products in competition. This is because opinion leaders tend to give a firsthand feedback on their experience with the product. There are no general opinion leaders but there are specific ones for specific products. Their opinion could be biased or not, depending on their knowledge of and interest in the product.  This is why in this study we aimed at establishing what opinion leaders have got to say about the product, and this was mainly done through an online review of La Roche Posay. In the next chapter we look at the methodology that was applied in data collection in order to arrive at an analysis of the findings and a brief discussion of the same.

CHAPTER THREE- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research is the definite and purposeful search for knowledge that implies an investigation geared towards establishing some facts in relation to a given subject. Methodology has been defined as the systematic process through which data is collected and analyzed with a specific study agenda in mind. The study is aimed at finding answers to a specific inquiry and it follows a set standard of principles and procedures. (Ranjit Kumar). There are many methodologies that can be applied in research, but each has its own fair share of advantages and disadvantages. Regardless of the methodology applied, a few considerations must be made in the choice of the methodology. The method used must be;

Rigorous

Rigorous here implies that the methodology must be relevant, appropriate and can withstand and testing, in other words, can be justified. A method which lacks these characteristics is deemed weak and unconventional. However, the degree of rigor varies depending on the method and the discipline for which it is being applied.

Systematic

The procedures used in the research process must follow a certain laid out order if they are to achieve uniform results in similar situations. Procedures must not follow a haphazard manner but a coherent and well outlined sequence.

Valid and verifiable

Whatever results the methodology applied come up with must be able to be justified, not only by the person carrying out the research but also by other people. In other words, the method must hold ground and be able to withstand every test and trial.

Empirical

A research method must be able to link the results to hard evidence gathered from observation or real-life experiences.

Critical

Any research methodology applied must have the ability to scrutinize the results to the very core. The process of investigation must leave no loopholes that will leave one guessing what the result really was. It also leaves no room for manipulation of data.

Some of the research methods applied in research requires that a research does something known as sampling. Sampling is the selection of a few samples from a general population, and this sample is believed to posses some characteristics that represent the total population. These characteristics are important in realizing the objectives of the research this means that a sample should be drawn from only those subjects that possess the desired characteristics. In out study here for example, the methodology applied was focused group discussions (FGDs). A sample was drawn from a population of women, some with sensitive and non-sensitive skin, with the age bracket of 25-35. The age factor was important to consider because this is the age group that is string to become aware of the changing skin condition as they age and are doing the best they can by using products that can fight deteriorating skin shape, including fighting wrinkles!

Sampling has many different approaches to it which are divided into two broad categories of probability sampling and non-probability sampling. Probability is further divided into simple random, systematic, cluster sampling, stage sampling, and stratified. Non probability sampling on the other hand is divided into convenience sampling, voluntary, quota, purposive, dimensional and snow ball sampling. For the purpose of this study, probability stratified sampling was used. This is because; the focus group discussion would comprise 8 to 10 participants, all carefully selected depending on their skin type and their habits as far as the use of the La Roche Posay skin care products were concerned. In terms of usage of the product, the participants were grouped into 3; those who are regular users of the brand in question, those who use other selected brands and those who use Derma cosmetic brands. This grouping was essential so as to be able to collect feedback from the participants on what they feel makes a product appealing to a targeted market, and what marketers can do to improve on their marketing strategy. The sampling was also an avenue through which bias would be eliminated to the maximum. The study was aimed at establishing marketing differences between marketers of 3 different skin care brand products and probably even the differences in the composition of the products that make some more favorable than others for people with different skin types.

To regulate the responses and to form a basis for comparison an analysis, the questions used in each of the different group of respondents would run uniformly across all the groups. The study aimed at establishing how La Roche Posay marketers could overcome the disadvantages that come with a flooded market with a particular product and as such be able to apply some strategic planning approaches. On the other hand, it is always essential to get consumers’ perception regarding a given product or good. This not only builds a company’s image but also improves the relationship between the buyer and the supplier, not to mention that an improved company image also means potential growth and expansion through attraction of new customers, as well as retention of already existing ones. Information collected was hoped at assisting in development of a strategic planning tool that would help the product penetrate the market, attract, retain and maintain consumers, as well as place the product well above its competitors.

Focused group discussions are aimed at collecting qualitative data as opposed to quantitative dat. In other words, data formulated is aimed at improve service delivery at the already targeted numbers as opposed to enlarging the consumer base through use of numbers as a strategic tool.

 RESULTS AND FINDINGS

Focused group discussions are a research method that brings a set of people with similar interests or characteristics together and they hold a discussion about a specific topic. The groups are mainly comprised of 8-10 people, as it is considered that less than this number is not very effective in terms of view generation, and a number larger than this is seen to be cumbersome. However, some researchers still other formats of focused group discussion by holding these discussions over the internet or the telephone, collecting the view and coming up with an analysis.

The research method was settled for because it is known to be an effective tool of collecting information as pertains to a new product in the market. FGDs come in handy because they are interactive, mind-provoking, challenging and they provide immediate feedback. Furthermore, a researcher is able to collect non-verbal cues from respondents during the discussion unlike in a research process where questionnaires are sent out to respondents.  This method was also preferred because, the respondents, having had a hands-on test on the different skin care products, were in a position to exchange notes among themselves. More so and more importantly, FGDs enable researchers to only pick what they need to hear from respondents and present it to the participants in form of a summary to establish whether what is captured in the summary is exactly what the respondents meant to communicate. As such, the method provides room for immediate polishing up of gathered information as opposed to questionnaires where one is left to fill in the missing links in trying to maintain some level of consistency.

The first thing that the FGD sought to establish is whether there is a relationship between marketing and sales and if there is, what kind of a relationship it is.  Does marketing positively influence a person’s buying habits or does it worsen it. From the respondents that were at that time using La Roche Posay as a skin care product, a majority of them attested to the fact that continuous and prolonged marketing of the product had finally influenced then to but the product, even though initially just as an adventure to explore new products in the market. However, with continued marketing, they eventually got convinced that this was a product that was meant for their skin. This finding can be backed with a research that was conducted in US by Yankelovich Company. The report, as published, shows that consumers generally have some degree of cynicism towards a new product that has just hit the market, but this cynicism seems to melt away with continued promotions and adverts. Negative sentiments were seen to have slightly improved and turned into warm embrace for products that were earlier on looked down upon. Sheth and Sisodia(2006) have reported a growing warmth in consumers towards companies that market their goods. However, a whooping 60% of respondents still have some cynicism towards advertising. Those with positively changing attitudes towards advertising were reported to being attracted to adverts due to the fun in it, creativity, humor and adverts done by attractive people. On the other hand, those with negative connotations towards advertising reported factors like deception, deceit, lies, exaggeration, manipulation and gimmicks that are portrayed through some adverts. These are some of the factors that were brought out in the FGDs. A respondent who uses the derma branded skin care products was quoted as having wondered out aloud how this new product in the market could claim hold the solutions to her skin requirements, while it did not even have an idea what type of skin hers is. The tagline for the product, ‘taking your skin seriously’ even seemed to annoy her the more because she wondered what using ‘unknown’ products would help her with if she was to seriously take care of her skin.

Consumer manipulation and deceptive advertising

Check around and be observant of the skin care products adverts done nowadays. Most of them seem to be preaching the gospel of instant skin transformation. Remember the example of the advert where a girl secured a job after four weeks of using a particular skin product? This brings us to the point that marketers need to carefully consider their adverts. Does the way the advert is present appear to be a big joke to the audience? Is the only thing that makes an audience glued to the television the beauty star who is advertising the product, and not really the product itself or the information being passed? This is why we earlier on in the introduction bit suggested that marketing should be done based on segmentation of various factors. A product targeting the Y generation for example, should steer away from manipulation and probably poses done by nearly half naked models.

On the issue of manipulation and deception as the young respondent in our FGD retorted, who is responsible then to ensure that advertising standards are maintained and not violated in the name of drawing customers? Marketers should ensure that they correspond with regulatory bodies which will give them the go ahead to post their adverts in media stations, or to modify them to suit the audience. Such regulatory bodies are guided by a code of ethics that clearly spells out that adverts should not mislead, manipulate or cause harm to viewers. If many marketers observed these standards, then they would avoid a lot of losses and criticism that comes with sub-standard adverts.Some adverts can also sound too good to be true that instead of attracting they repel consumers. Does the old adage ‘when the deal is too good think twice’ ring a bell in your mind? It goes without saying that when marketers present too much of a good deal to consumer without even warning them or giving the a hint of possible side effects, the likely hood is that consumer will tend to back off even if for a while to see what reaction the product might just receive from the consumers. This was the case for yet another respondent who says that the product in question seemed to come with a fully packaged solution for all types of skin, regardless of where one came from, what skin condition they might have suffered from, or what information they may have had about that product before. For example, in some adverts done online, one says that the product is a daily skin care formula for people with all types of skin conditions, be they oily, dry, photosensitive or flabby. This leaves a consumer with the question, ‘just what is the combination of ingredients in the product, such that it is able to cater for same many varieties of skins in the same specifications?’

Deception and manipulation in adverts should always be kept at bay if a product is to thrive in any given market. We have all heard of products that have been scrapped off from the market as a result of being discovered that the do not contain the ingredients they claim to contain, or in the converse, contain ingredients they claim not to contain.

Consumer culture

Consumer culture refers to a standard set procedure of doing things that consumers have adapted and would therefore feel uncomfortable changing. It refers to for example buying habits, which is influenced by certain triggers, or a mode of doing things that is deeply ingrained in the mind of the consumer. Decisions that consumers make to either buy or not buy a certain product is influence by three key factors and these are

a) Cognitive factors. Here is where a consumer critically makes a decision to spend in a particular manner. The decision is rational, considers the cost analysis, the benefits derived from the product, alternatives they may want to consider to the product and future benefits of sticking with the product if any. The decision made based on these considerations becomes so ingrained in the mind of the consumer that settling for another product, no matter how similar it may seem to be to the original one becomes incomprehensible. However, some consumers do not necessarily make this conscious decision to buy a product and this is how new products in the market benefit from impulse buying. However, Beatty and Smith report that counted number of consumers do not necessary search for any tangible information before purchase of items.

Consumer culture could also be explained by generations and generations of families who believe in a specific brand of product and would settle for nothing less. These buying habits are cognitive because such people tend to buy what they can identify with comfortably, even tracing it to their family lines. This explains why for example, a family will stick with a particular brand of toothpaste for generations and generations. Cognitively, this is the conscious decision that has been made on their behalf by generations before them and is passed on as a ‘mark of identity’. It is especially hard to change spending habits when they have been learned or passed down form generations.

b) Reinforcement

The theory of reinforcement suggests that is a person is rewarded for doing a certain thing whether good or bad, the consequence is that they are likely to keep up with that same habit. This goes for products as well, it consumers feel some sort of positive attachment coming from a company whose products they buy, they are likely to remain loyal to that one company and change of mindset will be near to impossible. Many of the participants especially those who buy the derma products confessed that there are those benefits they enjoy just by being loyal customers to their respective suppliers. A positive feedback here for La Roche Posay is that those participants using the product also confessed that they enjoy VIP treatment just for the fact that the product has been recommended by over 25, 0000 skin care experts. This makes them feel that they enjoy some psychological benefits even though not physical.

Reinforcement is a very effective way of modifying a consumer’s spending habits. And this is a point that La Roche Posay can learn from. Probably not many consumers will be able to identify with psychological reinforcements, but would rather feel much more appreciated and as part of the bigger team simply by being given some physical tangible benefits.

Dealing with habitual purchasing may also call for a scrapping off of adverts to promote a new product, and instead offer free sample, something that the Nivea Company did when it was trying to establish itself in the African market, and look where it stands today. Unbelievable but true.

c) Habit

Some habits of purchase are so deeply ingrained in the minds of consumers that having them think otherwise about the products they buy would do them great harm. Learnt purchase habits are stimulated by certain triggers in their environment, but the good news is, all learnt behavior, according to sociologists can be unlearned. The habit model f purchase is closely linked to the cognitive model, but the big difference is that in the habit model, planning rarely occurs before purchase. The purchase is most of the times based on impulse buying. Although habitual buying comes with some degree of satisfaction, it has been established that it is not always the best solution to a need.

If marketers therefore could study such buying habits and be able to streamline themselves towards these consumer habits, them marketing would no longer be necessary because assimilation of the new product into the market would not be so hard. Marketing that targets consumer culture of habitual purchase should be structured in such a way that it disrupts the habits and sends the mind into a thinking mode of what consequences impulse buying has on the lifestyle of the consumer.