Marketing Communication College - Case Study Example

As a member of the skin care and hygiene product market, Dermacare experiences rigid competition from other industry leaders including Proctor and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, and Revlon. What has been our P/Cost ratio Are we enjoying market growth Why or why not L'OREAL, the world's largest cosmetics company, is jointly owned by Gasparal (France) (51 per cent) and Nestle (Switzerland) (49 per cent). It markets Ambre Solaire through its Laboratories Garnier division. L'OREAL has interests in most sectors of the global cosmetics and toiletries markets.

In addition to its Garnier Division, L'OREAL operates through three divisions in the UK: Salon, Perfume and Beauty (e.g. Cacharel, Armani, and Helena Rubinstein) and Active Cosmetics (e.g. Vichy). Ambre Solaire had previously been associated with oil formulations (as opposed to creams and gels) for deep tanning and self-tanning products. L'OREAL is very active in research and development and is perceived by customers as inventive and at the forefront of technology. Boots is one of Britain's major high street retailers and has interests in both the retailing and manufacturing of sun care products.

In 2008, Boots was by far the largest retailer of sun care and other toiletry products. Its Soltan brand accounted for about 40 per cent value share in its 1,100 outlets. Soltan benefited from Boots' skin care and pharmacy heritage, and was especially strong in the after-sun sector, with roughly a one-quarter share by value. The strength of Boots was highlighted in March 2006 when it introduced a star-rating system that indicated how much protection a product provided against UVA rays in proportion to the amount of UVB protection offered.

While its introduction created some uncertainty in the industry, virtually all manufacturers accepted the new system.Avon Cosmetics LtdA subsidiary of Avon Products, Inc., Avon Cosmetics is the oldest beauty company in the USA and one of the world's four largest cosmetics companies. It entered the UK market in 1957. Avon sells its cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances to individual consumers. The bulk of its business comes from its sales representatives ('Avon Ladies') selling to women in their homes and workplaces.

Avon employs some 100,000 representatives in the UK alone. In the 1980s it increased its market share in line with the growth of home shopping; however, its sales in the early first decade of the new millennium have been sluggish owing to its inability to match retailers' product-ranges and prices. Nevertheless, Avon accounts for around 11 per cent of all sun care sales.NiveaA well-established global brand developed by the German manufacturer Beiersdorf in the early nineteenth century. The company had developed a number of line extensions across its range of skincare products that competed directly with Dermacare in a number of sub-categories.

While its traditional market strength was in continental Europe the company's products enjoyed a high degree of loyalty and recognition in the UK market. Ciba Consumer ProductsCiba Consumer Products is a subsidiary of the Swiss chemicals giant Ciba-Geigy. Ciba's core consumer business was in over-the-counter (OTC) health care. In the UK toiletry sector, its main product was Piz Buin, the number five sun care brand.Warner-LambertWarner -Lambert's Hawaiian Tropic