Ch. 4 - The Marketing Environment

     Lush Cosmetics has been known to serve women as well as men who seek organic body care products. Their target market consists of teenage and adult women from 14-30 years old. The price range and store locations indicates that their target market is one of medium to high income and comes from a highly populated urban setting. Lush effectively reaches their target marker. Lush's ethics and strives in the cosmetic as well as political worlds attract those with component lifestyles particularly overworked city types, vegans, vegetarians, activists, etc. Today's society, for the most part, seeks to seem as educated, politically correct, and politically aware as possible. A way of seeming like they are all of these things is by surrounding themselves with products that constantly remind them that they are what they seek to be. Certainly Lush's unique products backed with the company's ethics is widely sought by those wishing to piece together the increasingly popular component lifestyle of being "educated."

     True, there target market is young and adult women, however their demography is extremely diverse. Lush does not care about their customer's religion, ethnicity, or gender. It is undoubtedly because of this that people of all races, religions, and genders shop there. For example, yesterday I walked into Lush with a friend who had never been there before. A friendly sales associate immediately gave her the store tour and described all of the different types of product lines they have. When explaining some products that seemed to lean towards a certain gender, she always assured both me and her that both products can be used for both men and women. She even declared that she particularly loves the men's line of products "Dirty." Even when she was showing the "Emotional Brilliance" makeup line to my female friend, she assured me, a male, that if I had interest in the product that there was no judgement. 

     When talking about Lush Cosmetics marketing environment, it is important to point out the fact that Lush does not have a marketing department and relies solely on word of mouth advertisement. Lush focuses on relationship marketing so that they have many regular customers for years. They rely on these customers to bring in their friends which can also contribute the diverse demography at Lush. The company doesn't do much advertisement so it relies on its target market to bring in its secondary target market: friends of the primary target market. This approach to their marketing environment may seem unpractical, however it is how Lush branched out from having one store in England to having hundreds of stores in over fifty countries.

Ch. 3 - Ethics & Social Responsibility

     Lush Cosmetics states on their website; “We know not everyone wants "politics in their bath water", but we feel privileged to be in a position where we have the resources to help those who work tirelessly and selflessly for equality, peace and justice for all. We hope that you will continue to support us as we support them." This leads me to believe that Lush Cosmetics practices the highest level of morality as described in "Chapter 3 - Ethics and Social Responsibility. Chapter 3 of MKTG credited to Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel, breaks down breaks moral development into three tiers; The first being precovential morality, a business practice that is almost childlike where companies make decisions based on how their company will immediately be punished or rewarded. The second tier is conventional morality. This level of morality is assigned to companies who only uphold a benevolent conduct in order to keep their following- basically, they practice good business ethics as a marketing strategy in order to not displease any customers. The third and highest level of moral development is postconventional morality which is a company that is less concerned about how customer's might perceive their acts of morality, but more concerned about how business decisions might affect the environment or others in the long run. I truly believe that Lush Cosmetics is a company of the highest degree of moral decency because of Lush's stance against animal testing, Lush's "naked" packaging, and Lush's product called Charity Pot.

The reenactment of the horrors of animal testing
performed in a Lush location.

      Lush Cosmetics' stance against the cruelty of animal testing and using animals for cosmetics is a clear indication that Lush upholds the highest level of morality: postconventional morality. Lush Cosmetics had adopted its non-animal testing policy before Lush even existed. The policy was put into effect under Lush's previous incarnation, "Cosmetic To Go," in 1991. The co-founders of Lush had spent their lives fighting against the monstrosity of animal cruelty and felt it natural to ban all animal testing in their company. The policy was put in place clearly for personal beliefs and not as a business tactic, which makes Lush Cosmetics incredibly noble. What emphasizes the theory that Lush Cosmetics is upholds its policy for ethical reasons rather than a marketing tactic is the fact that Lush Cosmetics would undoubtedly make a larger profit without its non-animal testing policy. Lush makes sure that all of the ingredients that make up their products don't come from companies that still test on animals because they refuse to support such companies or give them any money. If Lush were to buy ingredients from companies who test on animals, they would save money because it is cheaper to test on animals than humans. Another reason that Lush's non-animal testing policy is for purely ethical reasons and not publicity is that Lush limits by not using any animal fat in their merchandise. Animal fats and oils are used in many cosmetic products and are seen as necessities to other cosmetic companies, however  87% of Lush's products are vegan and 100% are vegetarian. Also, Lush in 2012 hired performance artist Jacqueline Traide, to reenact the horrors of animal testing in the window of their flagship store. Some may argue that this was a publicity stunt in order to attract customers, however I disagree. The performance is incredibly disturbing and definitely lacks sex appeal.            Many people would actually be too afraid to enter the store seeing this woman being tortured and all, however they did get the message which is simply what Lush Cosmetics wants. Lastly, because of Lush's stance against animal testing, Lush Cosmetics can't open store locations in certain countries because their laws require animal testing. If Lush was more concerned about money than their ethics, they would consider bending their policy for select countries that won't sell their products. Lush however, refuses to change because they truly believe animal testing is wrong. 

                                        

     Lush Cosmetics' packaging also is an indication that Lush Cosmetics that Lush has postconventional morality. Lush's ethics are reflective in the products themselves: solid shampoos, conditioners, and solids bath scrubs were purposely made in order to reduce packaging. In effort to reduce unnecessary packaging, Lush has accomplished making 40% of their products package free or "naked." This business decision is made on pure ethics because selling their products naked has discouraged buyers including myself from purchasing their merchandise before. As for the other 60% or their products, Lush encases them in plastic that is 100% recyclable. Of course Lush knows that even though recycling is widely available, a shocking amount of people still simply do not recycle, so they developed a marketing plan that helps encourage recycling: if a customer returns five empty black pots they get a free face mask. The fact that Lush gives away free products to reward those who practice the same ethics as they do really strengthens the theory of Lush Cosmetics upholding postvonventional morality.

Charity Pot

     One product in particular single handily proves that Lush Cosmetics 

upholds postconventional morality: "Charity Pot." Charity Pot is more than just a lotion, it's a symbol of Lush's generosity and the genuine concern for the world that we all share. Charity Pot began in October of 2007 for organizations they deemed worthy and other projects. Every purchase of Charity Pot goes directly to grassroots organizations; 100%. Lush not only gives these organizations all of their profits off of their Charity Pot, they also display their logos on Charity Pots to spread the word of their hard work. Lush has over 100 Charity Pot partners, and projects, that they donate to as well as directly help by volunteering their own Lush employees. The charitable organizations they have partnered with cover a wide variety of issues such as animal, environmental, and humanitarian causes. This is extremely selfless of Lush Cosmetics and demonstrates their outstanding compassion as a company, seeing as they are willing to sacrifice all profits on a popular product in order to help the world.

      Lush has made great strides not only in the world of cosmetics, but also in the worlds of animal rights and environmentalism, and humanitarianism. Lush sacrifices profits by buying only from companies that don't test on animals, customers by scaring them away with gritty performance art and not being able to open store locations in countries that require animal testing for cosmetics, and limits their product development by eliminating the use of animal fat in their products all in hopes to end animal testing completely. Lush has also made great strides to make little or no packaging necessary for their products despite the fact it can discourage customers. Lastly, Lush donates all of its profits from Charity Pot in order to help grassroots organizations which is truly noble. It is because of all these selfless acts of Lush that it is clear that they uphold postconventional morality and their ethics are of the highest standards. Lush is truly a great company who's ethics not only inspire other companies, but we as individuals ourselves. 

Ch. 2 - Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

     When operating an organization, one must obviously have a strategic plan in order to survive the cut-throat world of business. When planning, the managerial staff must be conscientious of the organization's objectives and resources as well as evolving market opportunities, to ensure the organization grows and makes a profit in the long run. In this post, I will analyze Lush Cosmetics' strategic plan, but first it is crucial to perform a SWOT analysis in order to predict the success of Lush Cosmetics' plan...


     Strengths: Lush Cosmetics is a very powerful, influential brand that has tons of loyal customers around the world. Lush's stance against animal testing and use of organic ingredients sets the brand apart from more generic cosmetic companies. Lush creates their own fragrances to incorporate into only their own products (meaning these scents aren't available elsewhere). Lush involves itself in a multitude of charities which promotes a benevolent image that attracts consumers. The company focuses on customer satisfaction and relationship marketing which creates an abundance of faithful customers. Lastly, Lush locations are always in wealthy areas which helps promote its imperial status.

     Weaknesses: Despite Lush Cosmetics being very successful, it could still use a bit of improvement.The current circumstances makes Lush a bit inaccessible for some people- for instance, some of the high end products are not affordable by the lower class. Also, there are only around 670 store locations in only 44 countries which makes it difficult for many consumers to get to the actual stores. Another weakness is the fact that because their products are so fresh, many have expiration dates which can discourage customers. Lastly, the most hindering weakness is their absence of a marketing department. However, it can be argued that Lush doesn't need a marketing department since they rely on satisfied customers to bring in potential buyers. It is because of Lush's extraordinary success that one can't help, but wonder how much more business Lush would get if they were to implement a marketing department.

     Opportunities: The world is becoming more and more progressive by each day; the consumers want organic products that are politically and environmentally conscious.  It is because of this that Lush Cosmetics has the opportunity to push their innovative products and eventually dominate the cosmetic industry. Also, with Valentines day coming up, they could use that to their advantage in order to bring in more profit.

     Threats: One of Lush Cosmetics' biggest threats is the possibility that consumers will choose conventional over responsible products. For example, consumers might choose MAC Cosmetics over Lush because of its mainstream appeal and their makeup being easier to use than Lush's. Another threat is The Body Shop. The Body Shop basically has the same mission statement as Lush Cosmetics and also has a huge fan base. If The Body Shop were to create new innovative products that made Lush's obsolete, it'd be extremely detrimental to the profitability of Lush.

     Lush Cosmetics, being the innovative company that it is, likes to expand its horizons and always tries infiltrate new markets as seen last year when Lush had launched its brand new line of liquid eyeliners, cream eyeshadows, and liquid lipsticks (something they have never done before) called "Emotional Brilliance." In 2011, Lush released a line called "Toothy Tabs," a plastic tube free alternative to regular toothpaste. The fact that Lush is even dabbling in the dental care industry makes it apparent that Lush Cosmetics utilizes Ansoff's strategic opportunity matrix: a strategic marketing method that matches products with markets.

     There are four different options firms may explore when emulating Ansoff's strategic opportunity matrix: market penetration, market development, product development, and diversification.

1) Market Penetration: is a marketing strategy in which the firm tries to increase market share among already existing customers. They may do this by trying to show their products in a different light and trying to get
customers to use your product in a way they might not have thought of before.

2) Market Development: is a marketing strategy that tries to attract new customers to already existing products.

3) Product Development: is a marketing strategy in which the firm creates new products for already existing markets. This is usually done by listening to consumers' evaluation of your product and using their evaluations to help improve your product.

4) Diversification: a strategy used to increase sales by launching new products into new markets.

     Lush Cosmetics may lack a marketing department, but they circulate a catalog entitled "Lush Times" in which they list all of the existing products and highlight new ones as well as give certain news and messages to their readers (mostly recurring customers). In Lush Cosmetics last issue of Lush Times, the writers exhibit knowledge of the Ansoff strategic matrix by using the market penetration technique. Lush encourages their customers to make a new hair resolution for the new year and post pictures of the products you buy (for your hair resolution) on a social media site called Instagram. I believe this is an ingenious marketing strategy because it will definitely encourage the recurring Lush customers, eager to buy as much Lush as they can, to purchase products they haven't tried before or to stock up on an old favorite which will increase profits from their hair care lines. Also, I believe it's a great idea because Lush relies on its customers to spread the word about its brand; encouraging customers to post about Lush on social media sites is bound to bring in new customers as well as the old ones.
   
     As said previously in the post, Lush doesn't have a marketing department and thus must find other ways to attract customers. Lush has practiced market development recently since Lush has opened 10 more stores in Northern America like Boston, Indiana, New Mexico, and more and are planning to open even more store locations in the near future. It is because Lush created stores in locations previously unexplored before, they are gaining a lot, a lot, a lot of new customers and they will profit off of the same old products just because of their new locations. This will definitely increase Lush's profits, but it will also strengthen their company seeing as not having many store locations and accessibility has been identified as one of Lush's weaknesses. Every new store Lush builds is another step towards conquering the cosmetic world.

The Ex-Factor Bath Bomb

Sexy Fun Times Gift Set

     Lush Cosmetics has taken advantage of this year's upcoming Valentines Day. Valentine's Day is a day where many will take a bath/shower with their significant other or they will take a bath or shower alone and cry. Lush has developed new products (product development) hat will aid both consumer's needs. One new product is "The Ex-Factor" bath bomb which is obviously targeted to single (and spiteful) girls who will be spending Valentine's Day alone. The product description on LushUSA.com is "who knew vengence could smell so sweet? Drop our little vanilla an ylang ylang man into your tub and delight in watching his limbs disolve." This is a great route for product development seeing as they were able to create such a unique bath bomb that targets a whole different group of consumers even though they already have a vast number of strikingly different bath bombs. Also, new to Lush are three brand new gifts for Valentine's Day; "Sexy Fun Times," "Be Mine," and "Heart of Gold." Lush Cosmetics made a smart move developing three

Heart of Gold Gift Set

Be Mine Gift Set

new gifts for the upcoming holiday not only because it's a unique alternative from the cliched chocolate and roses, but also because of the prices. The most inexpensive option one has when choosing between gifts for their significant other is the Sexy Fun Times gift set priced at $26.95. As you may have noticed already, the Sexy Fun Times gift is pink with red hearts on it, both colors and symbols associated with femininity. This means that all the boyfriends looking to buy their girlfriends a present will choose Sexy Fun Times out of the three gifts mainly because of the packaging targeting women and partly because it's the cheapest. Most men don't place a high value on bath products and sometime skin care, so making the cheapest gift target men/boyfriends was a genius idea when developing new gifts.

Lush Color Wheel

     In Lush, there hasn't been much diversification this year, however Lush Cosmetics made a bold step last year into the world of makeup with their Emotional Brilliance line. The Emotional Brilliance line is composed of a wide selection of liquid lipsticks, cream eyeshadows, and liquid eyeliners. The concept behind the line is to reject colors that are "in" during the current season and instead wear colors that suit your mood and mindset. A year later and they still have color wheels in all of their stores in order to do "color readings" for their customers. If you seem to be interested in the Emotional Brilliance products, a Lush employee will happily perform a one-on-one color reading for you to find three colors that best describe you (also there's fog, who doesn't like fog?). I actually attended the launch party in the New York, Union Square location where many fellow consumers were skeptical about buying face makeup from Lush seeing as this was Lush's first time branching out into the face makeup market. Lush obviously expected this but dismissed everyone's worries with color readings and delicious vegan cookies. I wasn't interested in buying Emotional Brilliance, however they encouraged me to get a color reading as well and because they focus so much time on each customer, I felt kind of bad not buying it because the employees invested so much time into me and made me feel extremely welcomed. Keeping the color wheel in all store locations to this day is a great way of banishing all of new customers' doubts. Even though Lush Cosmetics took a risk and ventured out into a new market, Lush evidently knows how to utilize their relationship marketing skills (and baking skills) to lure in old and new customers.

Ch. 1 - Overview of Marketing (Brief History and Mission Statement)

     There are few stories of success that are as quirky and unique as Lush Cosmetics'. The England based company best known for it's innovative vegetarian and vegan bath products such as Body Butters, bath bombs, soaps, etc. made of natural ingredients and without being tested on animals is rich in history despite it being fairly new. Although the company officially started in 1995, it took co-founders Liz Weir and Mark Constantine over 20 years to establish the worldwide phenomenon known as Lush. It may have taken a considerably long time to get things going, however judging by the Lush Cosmetics of today, it is simply because they had so many ideas, but had yet found a way to sting their ideas into a cohesive order. In the end, Lush's success was achieved kind of by chance (but it can highly be credited to the co-founders' sheer love of  bath products and innovative vision).
     Liz Weir, a beauty therapist, and Mark Constantine, a trichologist were fated to meet in a beauty salon in 1977. The two quickly befriended each other and when their five-year contracts were to be renewed, Constantine wished to embark on his own cosmetic related adventure. Liz reluctantly joined him and together they created the "Herbal Hair and Beauty Clinic." Liz stated that despite their products being innovative and authentic, they for some reason didn't have enough commercial value in order to make a profit. In fact, Liz even joked about them almost starving because of the lack of customers. Little did hungry Liz and Mark know, that they'd eventually become the worldwide success known as Lush today.

Aaron Samuels is also a fan of Lush.

     There business was at a standstill until they had contacted Anita Roddick; founder of The Body Shop. Mark and Liz sought her out seeing as she shared a similar vision of animal and environmentally friendly body products. This lead to a mutually beneficial relationship between the two companies in which Constantine and Weir supplied The Body Shop with many extraordinary products and Roddick giving them the opportunity to expand; seeing as they they needed to hire more staff in order to meet demands. It also gave them the opportunity to test their creative limits which lead them to creating phenomenal products such as Body Butters, Herbal Hair Colors, a Honey Beeswax cleanser, and a Peppermint Foot Lotion (Aaron Samuels approves). Despite the exponential success of the partnership between the two companies, the alliance eventually ended in 1984 due to The Body Shop becoming uncomfortable that the majority of their products were owned by another company.
     The dynamic duo of Constantine and Weir used the millions they made from the team up with The Body Shop to create a new type of cosmetic experience called Cosmetics To Go (CTG) in 1987. The CTG was a new way of consumers to purchase cosmetics. Instead of having to walk to the store to purchase cosmetics (when they probably don't even want to leave their houses if they ran out of cosmetics), the customers would order the cosmetics from a catalogue. The creators of Lush recall it as being "a pleasure, but also very complicated;" and it was complicated, indeed. At first, it seemed that success was inevitable seeing how when their first catalogue was distributed, the products were sold out after two days. The response was so astounding, Weir and Constantine had to hire staff to work through the mail orders overnight. The overwhelming reaction to CTG caused the switchboard for taking telephone orders crashed because there were too many callers. Then, as if Constantine and Weir hadn't suffered enough, the computer system crashed. Many of their customers had to wait weeks till they received their orders.
     The next catalogue came out around Christmas, however the disaster before discouraged many of the former customers as they thought they wouldn't get their gifts in time for Christmas. CTG ended up not getting enough orders and CTG was put into administration since the little company showed potential. The creators of the CTG tried to raise money for a management buy out, but the company was sold to Jeff Brown. He not only took the valuable formulas with him, but also the brand name! The team was forced to find other jobs in order to keep their store and factory.

Banana Moon
(One of the new quirky soaps.)

     In 1995, the team started making soaps using fresh ingredients like fruit and spices and shaping them with items like pipe cleaners, cat litter trays, and window planters. These new products were very quirky, but brilliant. The fact that the masterminds behind what is today known as Lush Cosmetics were able to make such extraordinary products using such unconventional methods proves that Weir and Constantine were truly a innovational force.

     Soon enough, it was time for another try. The team finally reopened their shop in Poole, England. Initially, the team was apprehensive due to the large amount of job loss in the area. In spite of the job loss, customers were drawn to the store because the team had been extremely genial to the people of Poole in the past. According to the Lush website, "many people came in, gave them a hug, and said 'Here is £10 What do you want me to buy?/" Originally, they team dubbed their company "Cosmetic House." Later, dissatisfied with their title, they created a competition for customers to re-title the company. An Elizabeth Bennet came up with "Lush." The creators believed that the name was perfect seeing as "lush" is defined green, verdant, and drunken women.

My Fair Lady Gift.

     With the help of a new investor, Lush was able to open a new store in London. It was a tiny store, but it was featured in the classic film "My Fair Lady" which is obviously where Lush drew their inspiration to create their "My Fair Lady" gift. New investors' interest were peaked due to the current success of Lush. This allowed them to create a new store location in Kings Road London. This was their first large store and thus they were worried that the investment wouldn't work out. To their surprise, the outcome was polarized; the store was triumphant. Soon, Lush was full of customers, celebrities, and people wishing to bring Lush to their own countries. Subsequently, Lush now has over 650 stores and several factories in over 40 countries.

     In 2007, Lush began to talk more about it's ethos and had since made strides not only in the cosmetic industry, but also in the animal and environmentally conscious worlds. It has since been Lush's mission statement to create effective bath and skin products from organic fruit and vegetables, essential oils, and only the safest synthetics. They also strive to maintain a strong moral stance against animal testing, unethical sourcing, and unethical buying. Lastly, it is their hope to inspire other companies who are consumed with money and greed to follow their environmentally conscious footsteps.