INTRODUCTION

Lakm is an [[India] brand of cosmetics, owned by Unilever and run by CEO Anil Co!ra"
Lakme started as a #$$% subsidiary of &ata Oil 'ills (&omco), !art of te &ata *rou!+ it was
named after te ,renc o!era Lakm, wic itself is te ,renc form of Laksmi, te -oddess of
wealt, also renowned for er beauty" Indian cosmet Lakme was started in #./0, famously
because te ten 1rime 'inister, 2awaarlal 3eru, was concerned tat Indian women were
s!endin- !recious forei-n e4can-e on beauty !roducts, and !ersonally re5uested 267 &ata to
manufacture tem in India" 8imone &ata 9oined te com!any as director, and went on to become
its cairman" In #..: &ata sold off teir stakes in Lakm Lever to ;LL, for 6s 0$$ Crore(</
million U8=), and went on to create &rent and >estside" Even today, wen most multinational
beauty !roducts are available in India, Lakme still occu!ies a s!ecial !lace in te earts of Indian
women"
Lakme also started its new business in te beauty industry by settin- u! Lakme ?eauty
8alons all over India" 3ow ;UL (;industan Unilever Limited) as about ##$ salons all over
India !rovidin- beauty services" Lakme@ as been ranked as <At most trusted brand in India
by &e ?rand &rust 6e!ort &e com!any is te title s!onsor for Lakme ,asion >eek(L,>) a
biBannual fasion event wic takes !lace in 'umbai"
&is cosmetics and !ersonal care industry as been -rowin- at an avera-e rate of 0$ !er
cent for te last few years" &e -rowin- Indian cosmetics market offers !romisin- !ros!ects for
international brands" &e -rowt rate in te cosmetics market reflects an increasin- demand for
beauty care !roducts in India" 1erfumes and fra-rances, skin care, and air care !roducts are
some of te ma9or se-ments wit !romisin- !ros!ects for U"8" com!anies"
1enetration of most cosmetic and toiletries is very low in India" Current consum!tion of
many !roducts is well below tat of many countries in Asia" &e low market !enetration of
many cosmetics and !ersonal care !roducts offers room for -rowt" &e Indian toiletries market
is well develo!ed and dominated by ma9or multinational com!anies and a few lar-e Indian
!layers"
&e urban !o!ulation wit increasin- !urcasin- !ower is te ma9or force drivin-
demand for cosmetics and toiletries" India is a very !riceBsensitive market and massBmarket
!roducts constitute te ma9or !art of te cosmetics and toiletries market" IndiaCs im!ort of
cosmetics and toiletries and intermediate raw materials is around U8= #0$ million, of wic
te U"8"
Market Overview
&e current siDe of te Indian cosmetic market is a!!ro4imately U8= :$$ million" Of tis,
te fastest -rowin- se-ment is cosmetics, accountin- for around U8= :$ million of te market"
Industry sources estimate a ra!id -rowt rate of 0$ !ercent !er annum across different se-ments
of te cosmetics industry reflectin- an increasin- demand for all kinds of beauty and !ersonal
care !roduct" *rowt as come mainly from te low and mediumB!riced cate-ories tat account
for .$ !ercent of te cosmetics market in terms of volume"
Even wit a 0$ !ercent avera-e -rowt rate, te !er ca!ita consum!tion of cosmetics is
very low in India" Current !er ca!ita e4!enditure on cosmetics is a!!ro4imately U8= $":E cents
as com!ared to U8= F:":/ in oter Asian countries" ;owever, wit can-in- lifestyles, i-er
dis!osable incomes, increasin- advertisin-, !enetration of satellite television, awareness of te
western world and -rowin- im!ortance of beauty !a-eants, tere ave been si-nificant can-es
and use of cosmetics is on te rise" Also, wit te boom in te Indian fasion world and te
-rowt in te television industry, tere as been a rise in demand for !rofessional beauty care
!roducts" Cosmetic com!anies in India are !lacin- increasin- em!asis on market researc and
tar-etin- new market se-ments suc as teena-ers, men and youn- women" Cosmetics constitute
te i- -rowt se-ments" 3ail enamels and li!sticks account for around :/ !ercent of total
color cosmetic sales in India" Lakme, a brand ori-inally introduced by te &ata -rou! of India,
now bou-t over by ;industan Lever (;LL) of te Unilever -rou!, &i!s G &oes, anoter
domestic !layer, and 6evlon dominate te U8= :$ million color cosmetics market"
'ultinationals, 6evlon of te U"8" and L@Oreal@s 'aybelline as a dominant sare of te small
!remium li!sticks and nail enamels market" 'assBmarket !roducts account for a ma9or sare,
wile te !remium se-ment accounts only for a mere . !er cent in li!sticks and / !er cent in
nail enamels" Li!sticks account for nearly a tird of te market at U8= 0# million, wile te
market for nail enamels is estimated at around U8= 0F million" &e color cosmetics se-ment is
very com!etitive and as a i- !enetration level of E$ !ercent" 'ost oter cosmetic !roducts
are estimated to be used by less tan <$ !ercent of te consumers"
Market Trends
Cosmetics are not 9ust te domain of women any lon-er and Indian men too are
increasin-ly takin- to te use of more and more body s!rays, !erfumes and oter cosmetics"
>it risin- demand from men, te Indian market is -ettin- enlar-ed and many !layers are
comin- out wit cosmetic !roducts es!ecially skin care !roducts for men"
Import Market
Costs for im!ortin- !roducts are muc i-er tan !roducin- it in te country" India
allows entry of im!orted cosmetics witout any restrictions but te avera-e im!ort tariff on
cosmetics !roducts is currently very i- at F."0 !ercent" &is makes im!orted !roducts very
e4!ensive for most consumers" 'ost forei-n cosmetics com!anies sellin- !remium brands ave
ad a difficult time develo!in- te low volume !remium market in India" 'any ad to reBwork
!rice strate-ies towards te mass se-ment" 1rice is not te only reason res!onsible for teir
!roblems" 1oor assessment of te siDe of te u!!er middle and i-Bincome -rou!s, and !rice
sensitivity even witin tese -rou!s, ad added to teir !roblems"
Objective of the Project
&e !rimary motive is to understand te brandin- strate-ies and of
tecom!any to !romote its 3o" # in cosmetic"
&e secondary motive is to understand ow te com!any overcomes te
callen-es !ut forward by te rival com!anies on com!etition !romotion and marketin- strate-ies
of its !roduct

RESEARCH METHOO!O"#
&e researc is based onHB
1rimary 7ata
#)Iuestionnaire
8econdary 7ata
#"Internet0"Com!any 6e!orts G ?roacersF"'a-aDines<"3ews!a!ers Articles G 2ournals7ata is also
-atered by talkin- to te res!ondents (&ar-et Audiences,understandin- teir beauty needs, wat as!ire
tem to -o for te brand"Also te level ofHB#)?rand awareness0)1rice level,F)Jisibility of
brand !ersonality<)E4!ectancy of communicationAll tese factors were te !rime criterion for selectin-
(wic brand), sort listin-and rankin- (level of trustwortiness or most favoured) wic ad el!ed us
foridentifyin- te winner in cosmetics industries
Research esi$n
&e researc desi-n is te s!ecification of metod and !roducers for ac5uirin- te
information needed" It is te framework, wic determines te course of action toward te
collection and analysis of re5uired data" &is framework is to ensure tat te relevant data are
collected accurately in an economic manner"
ata Co%%ection & Primar' ( Secondar')
7ata was collected from bot !rimary and secondary sources" ,or collectin- !rimary data
consumer survey as conducted in yderabad city wit te el! of a !redetermined
5uestionnaire" Kee!in- in view te nature of study, 5uestionnaire metod is found to be most
effective"

!IMITATIO*S
L
It was im!ossible to -ater te current sales of MLakmeC and te currentbrandin- strate-y
a!!lied by te com!any because as a !art of secret information of te com!any tey ave not
disclosed it"
L
It was also not !ossible to know te to! !osition in te sales of cosmeticstis year, as te com!any
as still not come u! wit its facts and fi-ures