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Summary -----::

Channai-based group is a maverick marketer that got its product and marketing mix just right the company success is reminiscent of Nirma’s in the west company having there great income from south side of country. Its ayurvedic soap medimix rose meteorically from Rs.65crore four years ago to Rs.225crore in 2003.

The soaps are made manually , without the use of power even the bars are cut into cakes with hand-operated hydraulic cutters. However, the company plans to set up a state-of-the-art unit in Goa that that will make 1,000 cases per month and it plans to establish a supply chain to serve the northern market.

Medimix is a story of a home-grown product. Everything-from idea to research to manufacture, packaging, distribution and marketing-was done by a family proprietary, the company managed to develop a brand on its own terms. It all started with Dr. V.P.S. Sidhan ,who focused on finding cures through ayurveda.

So Medimix soap was born. Sidhan’s soap was made with 18 herbs in a coconut oil base in the back ard of his Chnnai Choolamedu house. In 1969 , Sidhan launched Medimix as total skin care ayurvedic soap with just Rs 500 as seed capital and a fraternity of chemists.

Recently, the company increased its advertisement expenditure, both in urban andrural markets. In the urban markets, it is targeting youth by promoting its products on MTV and hoardings in strategic locating in all metro cities. It is playing the herbal game by positioning its products on the nature and health platform. Company want to increase its penetration of rural product.

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Facts and figures ----::

i } Ayurvedic soap medimix rose meteorically from Rs.65crore four year ago to Rs.225crore in 2003.

ii } Medimix got an ORG rating of nine among soap categories on a national basis with minimal advertisement

iii } The group’s six plants make 1.5crore 75mg cakes of soap, and 30lakh cakes of 125gm which is very good and healthy income for company.

iv } Medimix soap was born with 18 herbs in a coconut oil.

v } medimix launched ayurvedic soap with just Rs.500 as seed capital and a fraternity of chemists.

vi } soap was priced at 85 paise at the time of launch and today sell for Rs. 9.50.

vii } According to the July-September 2001 ORG figures of volume in tonnes of the top 25 brands of soap on a national basis. Medimix at 2625.3 tonnes is way above Mysore Sandal, Margo, Nirma, Jai, Cinthol Fresh, Pears, Lux International skin care, Liril and Dettol. In the south zone alone it is the sixth-highest seller with 1,873 tonnes.

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History ----::

Cholayil is one of the most famous and respected Ayurvedic families of Kerala, which has been practicing Ayurveda, the ultimate holistic health care system for many generations. It was Dr.V.P.Sidhan, who successfully converted this traditional wisdom of the Cholayil family found in ancient palm leaf manuscripts with a combination of modern enrichment to give birth to a unique soap, Medimix that is the flagship brand of Cholayil. it happens to be the world’s largest selling ayurvedic soap. The ayurvedic variant is made from 18 different herbs. It is highly effective for skin problems and is available in 3 varieties - the classic Medimix, Medimix with Glycerine and Medimix with Sandal.

The Cholayil logo derives its origins from the lotus form, the quintessential padma, in full bloom, rising from the waters of life.

The lotus symbolizes purity and the attainment of wholeness. It is identified with the epitome of creation, the womb. One of the richest and the most evocative of Buddhist symbols, the lotus also signifies the emergence of purity from the primeval waters of creation. Cholayil creates products that are of the purest form, binding the native elements into the most contemporary forms to deliver products that are essentially pure, naturally inclusive, traditionally rich and ideal for today. Ayurvedic Bath SoapMedimix Ayurvedic Bath Soap was launched in the year 1969 with eighteen powerful Ayurvedic herbal ingredients not only to fight and cure skin disorders but also to maintain healthy and glowing skin at an affordable price. Started with a meager capital, Cholayil has registered an impressive growth of over twenty times its turnover from what it was ten years ago, to become a player to

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reckon with in the Indian FMCG industry. Cholayil came into existence over three decades ago with a global vision rooted in Indian values. Cholayil aimed to touch everyone's life with a range of quality products that enhance the quality of life. Cholayil has business interests in Toiletries, Personal Care and Health Care.

Product Information

Discover freedom from pimples, body odour and skin infections…. with the goodness of the world’s largest selling Ayurvedic Soap.A traditionally hand made soap with a time tested and unique formulation that combines the goodness of 18 herbs, Medimix is clinically proven to act effectively on many kinds of skin problems. The flagship brand of the Cholayil group, Medimix is your complete hair-to-toe-care solution.Hide no more. Seek your freedom with Medimix, now in an all new look.Available in 125gm, 75gm, 45gm, 18gm

Introducing the New Medimix Transparent Green bar with natural fresh fragrance and superior lather, effective for dry skin.Medimix for dry skin contains a unique combination of purest and The Herbal mix

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finest grade vegetable Glycerine and the time tested Ayurvedic formulation of Lakshadi oil. These effectively Moisturizes dry skin making it soft and supple and helps reduce itches and cracks caused by dryness . It is also effective for people with dry skin and for dryness caused by winter and adverse seasons.A traditionally Hand Made Ayurvedic soap to effectively prevent dryness of skin.Available in select outlets only.Available in 125gm, 75gm,

Introducing New Medimix with Sandal and Eladi oils, effective for skin blemishes. Contains a unique combination of Sandal oil and the time tested Ayurvedic formulation of Eladi oil.Works effectively on blemishes, dark spots and other pigmentation marks leaving you with clear, blemish-free skin.This unique combination of ingredients also helps keep your skin fresh and glowing.Luxurious sandal bar with rich fragrance and lather. Traditionally hand made.Available in select outlets only.Available in 125gm, 75gm,

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Current market data ----::

The venerable Medimix soap has been launched in a new packaging after 36 years. The company has made the changes in order to increase the soap's appeal to the younger generation and also to make it amenable to variants and extensions.

In essence, the changes are peripheral and the company has not altered the ingredients or its fragrance. The new pack contains information about the ingredients and its clinically-proven benefits, information that the new consumer does not gather from the old pack.

The company said that research revealed that consumers wanted a change even in a traditional, ayurvedic soap. In addition the packaging had alienated the younger generation of consumers who did not want to be seen using the soap even though it was convinced of its efficacy.

Lux, Lifebuoy, Godrej No 1, Breeze and Nirma are the top five brands in the country that command 51-per cent market share. Medimix sells more in the South and the West.

Cholayil came into existence over three decades ago with a global vision rooted in Indian values. Cholayil aimed to touch everyone's life with a range of quality products that enhance the quality of life. Cholayil has business interests in Toiletries, Personal Care and Health Care.

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Cholayil comprises of :

Cholayil Pvt. Ltd.

Manufacturer of quality products using indigenously developed processes, engineering designs, tools and machinery. The company makes Soaps, Talcum Powder and Pharmaceutical Products under successful brands like Medimix and Cuticura.

Dorcas Market Makers Pvt. Ltd.

DMMPL is the marketing arm of Cholayil with a full-fledged team to market all Cholayil brands all over the world. DMMPL has exclusive divisions to cater to the diverse needs of international and institutional needs.Commitment to deliver quality products that surpass the expectations of the consumers and adherence to business ethics has earned a name for Cholayil and propelled it to become one of the leading FMCG companies in the country.

Cholayil Ayurvedic Health and Research Academy Formerly Sowparnika Ayurvedic Foundation for Research, Health and Education (SAFRHON) renamed as Cholayil Ayurvedic Health and Research Academy

Cholayil Academy (formerly Sowparnika Ayurvedic Foundation for

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Research, Health and Education) was born with the sole aim to develop and provide a better quality of life through Ayurveda. Main objectives of the Foundation is the propagation of the basic principles of Ayurveda to the whole world, to encourage the younger generation to study and practice Ayurveda, the science of life, to give impetus to research activities in the field of Ayurvedic medicine, to conduct seminars and conferences for the benefit of the practitioners, students and researchers of Ayurveda, to bring modern scientific techniques in all possible fields of Ayurveda and to provide free medical treatment to the downtrodden through medical camps.

Cholayil Medicinal Plant Conservation Park

Situated near Uthukottai in Chennai is the Cholayil Herbal Garden, a 120-acre well-developed farm having plain forestland on one side and a 50-acre water reservoir on the other. Apart from orchids and ornamental plants, Cholayil Herbal Garden houses hundreds of medicinal plant species.The Cholayil Medicinal Plant Conservation Park, houses rare and endangered medicinal plant species that are preserved and reared under controlled conditions in the green houses with a view to study their growth pattern for mass propagation. Apart from hundreds of medicinal plant species, Cholayil Herbal Garden also houses orchids and ornamental plants.

SWOT Analysis ---::

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Strengths: attributes of the person or company that are helpful to achieving the objective.

Weaknesses: attributes of the person or company that are harmful to achieving the objective.

Opportunities:  external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective.

Threats:  external conditions which could do damage to the business's performance.

STRENGHT:

1) The strength of Medimix soap is that. It has rose meteorically from 65 crore four year ago to Rs. 225 crore in 2003.

2) It also got an ORG rating of nine among soap categories on a national basis with minimal advertising.

3)Medimix has grown to become a Rs 140 crore brand.The brand was targeted mainly at SEC BC segment.

4)Medicated soap that is 100 per cent handmade is exempt from tax

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Weakness:

1) The weakness of the product is that it has not established itself in normal market well. People of normal market are not much aware of the product.

2) Medimix was marketed heavily in South India.

Opportunity:

1) As medimix is a well known product it has a opportunity to captured the global market.

2) A medimix spends less on advertisement so its saves more.3) The saving can be utilized for improving the quality of product &

capturing more markets.

Threats :  

1) Their financial targets would be to build their organisation to a Rs 1,000-crore entity in the next five years

Q. 1 ) Suggest an effective media mix for rural markets on a budget of Rs.6 crore for one year.

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Analysis :: Medimix has a large user base among the SEC B and C segments and in rural areas in the 30-plus age group. They are trying to widen its usage by bringing the SEC A segment into their fold. They want to make it a mass, urban and young brand. This is because it has takers among rural consumers who have seen through the myth of instant and cosmetic results. They know the long-term benefits of Ayurveda. But this needs to be communicated to a younger audience and they have succeeded in doing that with the recent campaigns.

The company's aggressive communication strategy has been one of the key factors behind the growth.

In recent times, rural India has witnessed a wave of change. Dinesh Malhotra, general manager of Linter land (rural arm of Lintas), points out, “With media exposure and increasing literacy levels, people in rural India are now demanding a better lifestyle.” The educated “rural yuppie” (males in the 15-34 age group) is moving out to work in nearby towns and cities, and sending money home to his family. This has created an indirect increase in disposable incomes and a surge in demand for consumer goods. The rural youth are slowly evolving as “opinion leaders” in influencing brand and product decisions in a market that was swayed by village elders for centuries.

Designing the Campaign

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The results of the research should provide all the information needed: the key practices to target; who the target audiences are; what the barriers, habits, and environment are; and details about appropriate channels of communication. Experienced soap industry marketing professionals can provide expertise and assist with all the activities described in this section.

Applying the Marketing Mix The marketing mix, often presented as the Four P’s –Product, Price, Place, and Promotion – provides a framework for how to design a comprehensive medimix soap program.Changes.1. Price refers to monetary and nonmonetary incentives, such as the

cost of soap. Pricing (e.g., lobbying a government to reduce a sales tax on soap),

2. Place refers to the distribution of products and conveniences, such as availability of soap. place (e.g., soap dispensers in schools).

3. Product refers to the tangible good or service that can facilitate behavior change; it can include environmental

4. Promotion refers to persuasive communication and includes key messages, media channels, and environmental prompts. While this document largely concerns the fourth P, promotion, a country program may also aim to influence product.

Developing the Promotion

Target Audiences and Segmentation Segmentation refers to the process of dividing the target audiences into groups with similar behaviors and needs. Segmentation is done so that promoters can address the needs of each segment of the target audience. Each segment will require different marketing strategies.

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Primary target segments programs include(a) Mothers of children less than five years. Children at school and in other settings.

There are also secondary target segments, audiences that can be expected to support and influence behavior change among the primary group. These might include (a) fathers of children under five years; (b) mothers-in-law; (c) teachers; and (d) healthcare workers. Households or is it focused primarily on urban, rural, or low-income households? Once the campaign target has been identified, a strategy is developed to identify a random sample of persons within the target audience

The Media Mix

Modeling the impact of different communications routes on target audiences is the next step. With finite resources it is essential to work out which mix of communications channels will be most cost-effective. This is a science well understood by industry. Models of media consumption and contact patterns in the target populations are built by professionals. The capacity of TV, radio, and other channels to reach the whole target audience is calculated. Monitoring and Evaluation

The object of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is to ascertain the extent and effectiveness of the program. Monitoring serves to diagnose and help fix problems during program execution. Evaluation is the process of measuring outcomes both during and after theIntervention, to determine how successful the program was. The media mix is revised to give better coverage of target audiences, to reflect what channels reach people, and which channels are most influential. The Herbal mix

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On the budget of 6 crore for advertising then the company must be used some selected media for advertising. 80% sale of medimix soap in south zone so company must spend more in south states. Remaining amount spend on other states. in low budget company must use effective media channel for advertising.

1. TV: Tv has potential to become the primary medium for rural communication with the increasing coverage and increasing TV owners studies reveal that as much as 77% of villeges in India receives TV transmission and 27% rural people actually watch TV. In rural area mostly people seen regional channel like

1. In Maharashtra E TV Marathi, ZEE Marathi.2. In Tamil Nadu Sun TV.3. Asianet in Kerla

So company should be given their advertisement on specific regional channels.

2. Radio: It is well established medium in rural areas. A big expansion in broadcasting facilities has taken place in country over the years. There has been expansion in availability of radio sets. Radio reaches large population in rural areas at a relatively low cost. So company can use radio for advertising.

Q:2) Identify the media vehicle that will be appropriate , taking into consideration non-conventional media.

Analysis ::

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In urban market company is targeting youth by promoting its product on MTV and hording in strategic locations in all metro cities. I would like to suggest a company to promote the product in rural market through AVP vans (audio visual publicity vans ) this method will be appropriate in rural markets AVP is one of the effective tools for rural communication. The van having facilities for screening films, slides and mike publicity. Portable exhibition kit carried in the van and an exhibition of the product could be put up as and when required. During the day the unit is used mike for publicity in which the person gives information by speech about the product. And pasting of posters in public with the help of local dealers, distributors& opinion leaders. Film shows are organized in different villages as per the plan the van reaches in villages at suitable place such as village ground, schools $ panchayat. A song is played to attract the attention of the villagers. The salesperson makes brief talk about the situation about the products and benefits, at the end of the show the distributor handbills and answers queries of the customers.

And there are many non conventional media that company can concentrate to increase its penetration of rural markets

1) GROUP MEETING: group meeting is very convenient media in which company is able to pass on the message regarding

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benefit of the product to a large no of customers. Through meeting.

2) Opinion leaders : villagers place more emphasis on the opinion of others who have used the products to make purchase decision. Doctor could be the best opinion leader who will give the right information about this type of products.

3) Melas : India is a country of mela and it is estimated that over 200000 melas are conducted every year.the no visitors to melas is very high the melas can be successful used to give information about the productExample : screening of popular films along with advertisement by pesticides companies

Cholayil Ltd., a purveyor of the herbal soap “Medimix,” campaigned in mobile vans to promote its brand. “We run a van campaign which visits the interior villages where there are no distributors. We halt the van at specific points [where village folks congregate and watch videos shown on these vans] and give out product samples.” However, contrary to claims of Medimix’s success, Malhotra believes that “van campaigns can be very expensive. [Alternatively, promoting one’s brand] in large congregation points like village markets and fairs has a far wider reach, and is more cost effective.”

3.Outdoors : Medimix company can use outdoor medium in their rural communication mix such as hoarding, wall paintings, Tree boards, illumination and othr display in rural area. Genrally rural people prefer bright colours so company also use bright colour in ads.The Herbal mix

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6.Haats: Traditionally on certain days in the week , seller and buyer meet in villege to buy and sell the goods. The medimix company can send large quantity to the seller and motivate them to promot their medimix soap.

Q.3) if the medimix has to select a celebrity to endorse its product in rural areas, who according to you would appeal to the rural consumer ?

Analysis ::

A celebrity is a person who is famously recognized in a society or culture. There are different degrees of celebrity status which vary based on an individual's region or field of notoriety. While someone might be a celebrity to some people, to others he may be completely unknown. A global celebrity on the other hand is someone who is known by most people or is a mainstream celebrity such as Robert Deniro, Mariah Carey, Ted Ochsen, etc. Another high profile categorisation of celebrity status is the A-list, based on the marketability of celebrities.

Generally speaking, a celebrity is someone who seeks media attention and most frequently has an extroverted personality. The desire to be notable is implied by some to be a part of Western culture and more specifically the American Dream as a measure of success. A celebrity that shys away from the public eye or keeps a

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very separate private life is called a reluctant celebrity. At the other end of the spectrum, a celebrity that seeks out publicity for him- or herself is often called a media tart, whereas one that uses his or her private life as a vehicle for enhanced celebrity status, sometimes desperately, is referred to as a media whore

There are a wide range of ways people can become celebrities, from their profession, appearances in the mass media, beauty or even by complete accident or infamy. Instant celebrity is the term that is used when someone becomes a celebrity in very short period of time. In some places, someone that somehow achieves a small amount of transient fame through hype or mass media, is stereotyped as a B-grade celebrity. Often the stereotype extends to someone that falls short of mainstream or persistent fame but seeks to extend or exploit it.

The rise of international celebrities in acting and popular music is due in large part to the massive scope and scale of the media industries, enabling celebrities to be viewed more often and in more places.

Deviating its tradition of roping in Bollywood Divas , this time none other than Asin endorsed Medimix. The ads created instant controversy with marketers discussing whether the brand has suddenly become FEMALE. Whatever be the controversy, the brand’ll again succeeded in creating excitement in the market. Another variant which I like personally is the Medimix with Orchid which looked cool in terms of packaging and looks.Over these years, the positioning of Medimix also evolved. Earlier the brand used the positioning " Beauty soap of Film stars" . But as the customer evolved, the positioning lost its charm because customers began to doubt whether the film stars actually used this brand. Taking a cue from the customers, Medimix changed the positioning appealing to the need for becoming a star. The new

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positioning is communicated with the tagline " Bring out the star in you". Although worldwide the brand is being endorsed by film stars, the actual package usually contains picture of international models and not film stars.

While Medimix beauty soap is sticking to the age old positioning, Medimix international has moved from being a soap brand to a skin care brand. Medimix International has the tagline " Not Just Soap, Its Skin Care

Thus accordingly Asin wil be celebrity to endorce medimix product in rural product.

Conclusion :: While Medimix has done well, the company's brand extension, Vrinda Tulisi Soap failed and is being relaunched with a changed perfume and translucent appearance. Meanwhile, Manian is focusing on the Indian community in the Middle East, where he believes Medimix can command loyal customers. The product is exported to Brazil and Italy, as well. "Even in the Indian market, there is a 50 per cent untapped potential," he says. "We have plans for sandal soap, Viha, and a herbal Ziva shave cream. People are turning to ayurveda in a big way.”"

We have the research and knowledge capabilities to turn out more ayurvedic products and build on our current marketing strength. In the past five years our adspend has grown to Rs.30 crore. We conducted an ayurveda Congress in Hyderabad and got an impressive response." Medimix has proved that it is not always glitz and glamour that sells

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products... a back-to-your-roots plank that espouses natural products appeals to the average Indian.

end

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