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Marketing Report: Unilever’s Lifebuoy

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Marketing Report: Unilever’s Lifebuoy

Introduction

Unilever’s Lifebuoy soap is the world’s competition resilient and number one hygiene

soap brand. Since its launch in 1895, lifebuoy has staggered the evolving soap market to

establish a sustainable brand value across India and the world at large. To enhance Lifebuoys

market success, Unilever has been implementing a Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)

campaign that create a transformational change to human hygiene. Although Lifebuoy

promotions have habitually leveraged on global handwashing days, where they have addressed

the importance of maintaining hygiene through basic hand washing practices; tides have

significantly changed with the outbreak of coronavirus. Currently, lifebuoy campaigns target

tackling the coronavirus pandemic by advocating for the use of the lifebuoy range of

antibacterial products as advised by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Lifebuoy has overtime sustainable a significant global customer base and brand loyalty,

however, the brand has been registering a decline in turnover, hence the increased initiatives to

reach out to more people. While this draws up a comprehensive overview of Lifebuoy, the

current report examines Lifebuoy’s brand values in India and by extension the global market.

The paper also explains how Unilever has managed to keep the brand relevant across the globe.

Consequently, Lifebuoy’s current Covid-19 global marketing or brand activities are analysed.

Essentially, the paper reports if they have offered good and ethical marketing strategies. The last

aspect covered in the report regards the issue of “doing well by doing good”, where it offers an

opinion on whether brands should buy the idea or not.

The Key Brand Values of the Lifebuoy brand in India and the Global Market
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Lifebuoy literally means a life-saving buoy (float) provided to almost drowning persons

at sea. It is from this background Lifebuoy promotes itself as a solution to the puzzling human

health, particularly in fighting disease-causing bacteria. Lifebuoy launched in 1895 in India as

one of Hindustan Unilever Limited’s (HUL) significant brand and health-based solution. Since

its launch in the United Kingdom in 1894, Lifebuoy found a safer landing in India, where it has

been a successful product for decades and still maintains a strong brand recognition following its

key brand values. Hygiene is a critical aspect of human wellness and Lifebuoy commitment to

changing hygiene behaviour by offering health solution in the market explains its brand value in

the Indian as well as global markets. In this case, the sequential brand value of cleanliness,

hygiene, health and a healthy and active lifestyle remains the brands key values since its launch

(Unilever, n.d). In driving these values in the Indian market, Lifebuoy initially targeted the

Indian blue-collared men and promoted anything sporty. However, they later restructured to

focus on children and women making it an effective disinfectant for the whole family.

Focus on hygiene allowed Lifebuoy to build strong brand recognition across the Indian

market and later in the global marketplace. During the nineteenth century, hygiene caused a great

industrial revolution by causing massive diarrhoea-related deaths. Across Britain and the United

States, there was a dire need for cost-effective sanitary solutions that could help people

overcome life-threatening bacterial diseases. Therefore, Lifebuoy launch with the promise of

good health through basic handwashing practice shaped their global brand value. In various

markets, philosophies such as “Cleanliness is Godliness” thrived giving Lifebuoy a buoyancy to

establish a strong brand value among the consumers. In the Indian market, cleanliness defined

society and was often associated with masculine attributes. Therefore, the consequent lifebuoy

integration with the cultural values of the Indians reinforced its success in the market. For
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instance, the brand’s famous promotion jingle, “tandurusti ki raksha karta hai hygiene” presented

lifebuoy’s personality values of energy, vital, and aggression meant to redefine the Indian

hygiene market by building on the masculinity attributes of the Indian society. In this case, the

red chunky soap was significantly synonymous with masculine health benefit embraced in the

product. Literally, the campaign carried the healthy and active lifestyle values of the lifebuoy

soap.

With significant changes in family standing, the brand campaigns changed making it

appeal to the women and children with the promise of good health and hygiene following the

increased decision making changes among the Indians. In this case, Lifebuoy’s unique

formulations made it a strong brand in the market, especially among women and children. In

particular, the anti-bacterial ingredient in all of its products makes it a superior soap when

compared to ordinary soaps. The brand boasts of 99.99% anti-bacterial efficacy making it more

efficient in fighting various disease-causing virus and germs. This is a key product attribute

commensurate with the brands' active lifestyle or sporty lifestyle associated with good health.

With these key brand values, lifebuoy has managed to position itself as a nimble and a good

citizen brand of India.

How Unilever Kept Lifebuoy Brand Relevant Globally for 126 Years

Lifebuoy came into being as a simple antibacterial soap with a strong fragrance targeting

middle level male consumers. However, changes in demographic and technology have seen the

brand expand into various products to cover different family sets and segments cutting across the

low, middle, and upper-income earners. Despite the brand expansions and overall success,

Unilever has strived to maintain the Lifebuoy brand relevant and acceptable across the globe for

126 years. The company has employed various strategies to realize this critical 126 years
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mileage. The first strategy towards this achievement is the continued exploitation of Lifebuoy’s

root strengths; effective disinfectant, affordable and accessible hygiene. Irrespective of the

changes in technology and lifestyle transformations, lifebuoy has staggered the history of

effectiveness, affordability, and accessibility to remain relevant health solutions across the globe

(Sachitanand, 2020). With this outstanding root strength, the re-launch of the brand in other

markets, especially during the demand spike has been hastened. As a result, lifebuoy continues

supporting human generations to lead lives free from hygiene anxieties and fear of devastating

health consequences by staying true to its “healthy life” brand essence.

Access to consumer insights through market scanning has also shaped Lifebuoy’s long-

term brand existence. Initially, the brand targeted the middle-level male populations that often

embraced the sporty look. However, continued brand building enabled Unilever to change and

re-position the lifebuoy as a family product, but with a major focus on women who largely

contributed to health decision making at home. Precisely, the company referred to women as

home doctors following their expertise in home hygiene after training. Analysis of consumer

insights enabled Unilever to differentiate the Lifebuoy market into segments for longer brand

sustainability. As a result, Unilever has been launching variations of the lifebuoy soap and

related products that targeted certain groups. For instance, Lifebuoy International in plus and

gold improvements were launched to serve the upper class, while the new Lifebuoy variant was

directed to the discerning housewives with an advanced inclusive family appeal. Largely, the

new Lifebuoy variant targeted the middle-class market with little to do for beauty and lower

class segments.

Broad and extensive awareness campaigns have successfully propelled Lifebuoy into the

future by presenting it as a prevalent brand in the hygiene segment. Through key campaigns such
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as "Help a Child Reach 5", lifebuoy has continually showcased its closeness and concern for

human wellness making it a resilient and more relevant brand in personal hygiene. In India, over

1500 Unilever staff volunteer to help educate school-going children on the essence of hygiene

through comical child-friendly techniques such as songs, games, and rewards. The adoption of

such visible and meaningful social responsibility programs driven through the hand washing

concept reinforces lifebuoys commitment to sustainable human life (HUL, 2012). Moreover,

Unilever continued to focus on women and children as a foundation for the future Lifebuoy’s

clientele (Kureshi & Thomas, 2019). As a result, Lifebuoy has managed to connect to their

customers perpetually while cutting across all the generations and decades. This coupled up with

the educational campaigns about hygiene often occurring during the healthcare pandemics and

handwashing festivities have stamped the perpetual existence and relevancy of Lifebuoy.

Through the establishment of a positive working relationship with the customers, the word

Lifebuoy was once synonymous with soap.

The use of superior technology has also contributed to the longtime existence of

Lifebuoy. In this case, Unilever has been installing new and superior technologies that give them

a competitive edge in the market without compromising the root strengths of the Lifebuoy brand.

With the new technology marrying the initial Lifebuoy brand market stamp and acceptability,

Unilever has successfully seen Lifebuoy exist beyond a century (Unilever, 2020(c)). The use of

technology has largely contributed to Lifebuoys unique formations that combat lifestyle

transformations, and not necessarily comprise the original anti-bacterial Lifebuoy market stamp.

Lifebuoy’s Global Marketing/Brand Activity during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Lifebuoy hygiene sensitization practice span from its inception, when it significantly

contributed to the Cholera outbreak in England. Before, the pandemic, the Lifebuoy
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handwashing campaign had reached out to over 450 million individuals in the recent decade,

where it aimed to tackle the outbreak and spread of rotavirus and typhoid which tend to spread

through hands. With the Covid-19 outbreak, Lifebuoy was ushered to an expansive market as

well as a philanthropic opportunity to continue promoting a behaviour change programme that

encourages handwashing. During this period, Unilever positioned Lifebuoy as an effective brand

of hygienic disinfectant through various marketing activities that also promoted handwashing as

a mechanism to fight the deadly virus (Unilever, 2020(a)). In India, Lifebuoy utilized integrated

multichannel techniques to educate citizens on the need to adopt hand washing during the

pandemic as well as underpinning its status as a market leader. For instance, the company

released a rap song "Lifebuoy Karo Na" which literally translates to "Do the Lifebuoy" as a

sensitization strategy. With the song registering over a billion impressions on social media

TikTok, the company indeed reached out to a broad population (Sachitanand, 2020).

Globally, Unilever partnered with the United Kingdom government’s Department for

International Development to reach out to over a billion people with Covid-19 handwashing

messages. The company donated £50 million to aid the sensitization campaign and ensure that

people were changing behaviour by washing hands regularly with soap as well as disinfecting

surfaces (Unilever, 2020(b)). With a broad range of hygiene products, Unilever’s support and

marketing messages across the UK and developing countries were timely and good marketing

activity. The company effectively utilized its strategic market positioned and global presence to

augment the UK government response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The present sensitization drive and hygienic product contribution represent a cultural

behaviour enshrined in the Lifebuoy brand. With the outbreak of Covid-19, hand hygiene

became sacrosanct across the entire world and Lifebuoy campaigns effectively and ethically
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seized the precious marketing campaign moment. The brand ensured a consistent flow of

sensitization hence it ignored competition by also marketing its competitor brands. For instance,

it named rival products such as Lux, Dettol and Godrej No 1 in India as top-ranking antibacterial

soaps (Sachitanand, 2020). In this regard, Lifebuoy sought to ensure the collective promotion of

handwashing culture, rather than pushing for its profit agenda. In a move to defecate misguiding

advertisements, Lifebuoy sued Reckitt Benckiser Limited (RB) for immediate advertisement

injunction. In this case, Lifebuoy protested about RB’s commercial that depicted Lifebuoy as an

ineffective disinfectant amid a ravaging virus (Rana, 2021). This demonstrates Lifebuoy’s

commitment to good and ethical marketing during the corona crisis. Collective support is very

crucial during a pandemic, and the commitment and willingness demonstrated by Lifebuoy in

stopping the spread of the disease across the globe define its ethical considerations for a better

and healthy world.

“Do Well by Doing Good”

The success of Lifebuoy in the corona pandemic critically supports the assertions that

doing good could stimulate good performance. In a short spell, the persistent handwashing

programmes conducted by Lifebuoy seem to have stimulated demand for Lifebuoy soap and

other related hygiene products that consequently ignited an abrupt market expansion and new

product development. According to Evans, (2020) Unilever’s sales grew far beyond the target

following the strong demand for Lifebuoy soap and other hygienic products. While the change

could be associated with an immediate spike in demand, Lifebuoy’s chief finance officer Mr

Pitkethly argues that "the bigger brands like Lifebuoy have been at an advantage because they

were more available and able to keep service levels high relative to smaller brands”( Evans,

2020). In this case, Pitkethly associates the continued good deeds from multinationals as the
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power behind the quick thrive. Therefore, companies should emulate the “Do well by doing

good” philosophy owing to its benefiting contribution to the performance of a business.

Conclusion

Overall, the Lifebuoy brand has been successful. The sequential brand value of

cleanliness, hygiene, health and healthy, and active lifestyle have been instrumental in the long

term survival of Lifebuoy in India and the global market. For 126 years, Unilever has also helped

Lifebuoy retain a global relevancy test by ensuring that it sticks to its found root strengths before

being supported by extensive marketing campaigns, market research and technological

advancements. Despite the outbreak of corona, Lifebuoy has maintained good and ethical

marketing activities and equally supported governmental initiatives geared towards preventing

corona spread. The success of Lifebuoy has also demonstrated that doing good could inspire

good performance. As such, organizations should embrace good deeds to grow their expertise in

readiness for better performance.

References

Bartlett, C. (2017). Unilever’s Lifebuoy in India: Implementing the Sustainability Plan. Harvard

Business School Case, 9-914.

Evans, J. (2020, October 22). Unilever sales growth beats expectations as demand for hygiene

products booms. Financial Times. Retrieved March 27, 2021, from

https://www.ft.com/content/63098583-28c6-4bd6-9dbe-c562b39a2153

HUL. (2012). Lifebuoy leads pledge to help children reach their fifth birthday. Retrieved March

27, 2021, from https://www.hul.co.in/Images/lifebuoy-leads-pledge-to-help-children-

reach-their-fifth-birthday_tcm1255-463910_en.pdf.

Kureshi, S., & Thomas, S. (2019). Saving Lives Through Lifebuoy’s “Help a Child Reach 5”

Social Marketing Campaign. In Social Marketing in Action (pp. 257-269). Springer,

Cham.

Rana, Y. (2021). What the Lifebuoy v. Dettol Dispute Meant for a COVID-Tormented India.

Science Wire. Retrieved March 27, 2021, from https://science.thewire.in/health/covid-19-

lifebuoy-dettol-ip-dispute-disparagement-public-panic/

Sachitanand, R. (2020, November 23). For Unilever, pandemic provides new purpose for brand

Lifebuoy. Campaign India. Retrieved March 27, 2021, from

https://www.campaignindia.in/article/for-unilever-pandemic-provides-new-purpose-for-

brand-lifebuoy/465042

Sachitanand, R. (2020, November 23). For Unilever, pandemic provides new purpose for brand

Lifebuoy. PR Week. Retrieved March 27, 2021, from

https://www.prweek.com/article/1700761/unilever-pandemic-provides-new-purpose-

brand-lifebuoy
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Unilever (2020, April 6 (b)). Covid-19 handwashing campaign to target a billion people

worldwide. Retrieved March 27, 2021, from https://www.unilever-ewa.com/news/news-

and-features/2020/covid-19-handwashing-campaign-to-target-a-billion-people-

worldwide.html

Unilever. (2020, May 7 (a)). How Lifebuoy scaled up to save lives. Retrieved March 27, 2021,

from https://www.unilever.com/news/news-and-features/Feature-article/2020/how-

lifebuoy-scaled-up-to-save-lives.html

Unilever. (2020(c)). Handwashing for life https://www.unilever.com/planet-and-society/health-

and-wellbeing/handwashing-for-life/

Unilever. (n.d). Lifebuoy. Retrieved March 27, 2021, from

https://www.unilever.com/brands/personal-care/lifebuoy.html