Page 154 - DMGT506_CONSUMER_BEHAVIOUR

Unit 11: Culture and Consumer Behaviour

Hamam is a natural soap. Although many reports put this brand as a herbal soap, Hamam Notes
is more of a natural soap than herbal. The brand has a market share of about 9-10 percent
of the 4000 crore Indian soap market. The brand has a huge market share (more than 25%)
in the Tamilnadu market.
When HUL implemented the Power Brand strategy, Hamam survived the axe because of
the strong equity it had among the consumers. Hence the axe fell on Rexona which was
also a natural soap with the same positioning as Hamam.
Hamam was positioned initially as a complete natural family soap.The brand was built on
the Trust factor. The earlier ads typically showed Mother and child with mother explaining
the meaning of Trust using the example of Hamam.The brand may have acquired this
quality from its original creators TATA.
Although the brand was able to manage the PLC, it had its share of problems. At one
point, HLL was facing the competition from Herbal/ayurvedic soaps. HLL tried to position
Hamam as a herbal soap by changing the composition by adding Neem ingredient and
reducing the TFM. But that reduction of TFM disqualified Hamam as a soap and the brand
lost many of their loyal customers.
2005 saw HUL repositioning the brand by adding more ingredients. The brand now talks
about having a Perfect Balance of Neem, Tulsi and Alovera Extracts. The packaging also
has been made more contemporary and the shape of the soap has been made oval. 2006-07
saw a change in the communication of the brand. The brand no longer talks about trust but
now positioning itself as a beauty enhancing soap. The brand has now come out with a
variant that contains green gram, turmeric and sandal .The color of the soap also has
changed to sandal from the traditional green color. This move is a marked deviation from
the age old positioning of the brand as a natural green soap.
Hamam for years has been able to sustain its market position because of the strong brand
loyal customers .The brand now wants to be relevant to a new consumers (younger
generation). The brand also faces stiff competition from a plethora of brands offering the
same ingredients and benefits. The latest repositioning exercise is aimed to keep the
brand relevant and also leverage the brand equity it had built up over these years.
Question
Do you think Hamam lost the race because it couldn't adapt itself to the changing consumer
values?
Source: www.marketing.blogpsot.com

11.4 Summary

Culture has been defined as the complex whole that includes knowledge, belief, art, law,
morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by humans as members of
society.
Culture not only influences consumer behaviour but also reflects it. It is a mirror of both
values and possessions of its members. Some cultures are relatively resistant to change
than others but cultures do change gradually and continuously.
Cultural values are enduring beliefs that a given behaviour is desired or good. Values are
so deeply ingrained that most of us are not really consciously aware of them and individuals
often have difficulty in describing them.
Value system refers to the total set of values and the relative importance culture places on
them. At the broadest level are global values that represent the core value system and are
very enduring and strongly held.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 149