Ch. 11 - Developing and Managing Products

     What may have been considered a new product for Lush was not very new at all. "Gorgeous," facial lotion sold by Lush Cosmetics was actually the result of the innovation of a product already known to the world (lotion). This new innovated lotion was the result of the product modification of a product already made. According to the highly educated sales associates I have talked to, Gorgeous was the result of the modification of the facial lotion used by Princess Diana. The formula of the lotion the Princess had used was actually messed with and had apparently irritated her skin. Lush having relations with Princess Diana's business had recreated it with less synthetics and Lush's own orange blossom scent. The product concept was to make a lotion that was good enough for royalty. This elevated the original lotion's product performance and value to new heights. This "fairytale" like story itself is extremely marketable. This story is what allows Lush to carry it as their highest priced item of $89.95. Lush managed this product by having their sales associates inform consumers about this product in store. This has proven to be highly profitable.

Ch. 16 - Promotional Planning for a Competitive Advantage

     Lush Cosmetics' promotional strategy is to highlight their competitive advantage through the use of promotion techniques such as mass communication and especially interpersonal communication. Lush Cosmetics' competitive edge is their high quality skin products which are all vegetarian, some vegan, and mostly organic, as well as completely free of animal testing. Lush's target market of Generation-Y, vegetarians/vegans, and animal rights activists will therefore prefer this Lush's brand rather than others and eventually become loyal to the brand. Lush Cosmetics will use various channels or mediums to communicate their competitive advantage to their target consumers. Arguably one of the most important form of communication for Lush is interpersonal communication. Lush, fitting the "specialty store" definition, trains their sales associates to be extremely knowledgeable of all the products and product lines sold in the store. The sales associates also are hired based on personality rather than experience, thus they are notably sociable and friendly. Lush Cosmetics is so selective of their staff and train them very well because they rely on their sales associates to communicate with potential customers the message of their competitive edge; their products are organic, vegetarian, vegan, etc., in the most personal way possible so that they convince the potential buyer to buy.
     As discussed in a previous post, Lush Cosmetics has various social media accounts which they use in order to communicate with consumers. This is a form of mass communication in which the sender; Lush Cosmetics, encodes their message of animal testing free products through a channel; Facebook, Instagram, etc. to the receivers; the people who like/follow their social media pages to decode and interpret. Lush skillfully crafts these advertisements to be simple enough for a majority of potential buyers to interpret them. For example, they use a small black and white bunny that says animal testing on it which is evocative of the message that they don't test their products on animals.

Ch. 10 - Product Concepts

     Branding-

Lush Cosmetic's Brand Name

     Lush Cosmetics is a highly successful brand. Lush existed before 1995 under many different incarnations, however in 1995, when the company now known as "Lush" was dissatisfied with its current brand name, "Cosmetic House," they held a competition for their customers to submit potential titles for their brand name. The selected title was obviously "Lush." This event not only eternalized the famous brand name, it also signified the overall branding of the company (the edge that differentiates them from the competitors), their outstanding customer service/relationship selling  which stems from the company's concept of relationship marketing. The brand name being decided by a customer shows Lush Cosmetic's regard and value for their customers, which is what Lush's brand is all about. It is because of Lush's branding that many Lush customers develop a sense of brand loyalty. These Lush fanatics, also known as "Lushies," will consistently choose Lush Cosmetic products over competitor's. This is undoubtedly because Lush's entire brand is dedicated to their customers. Lush's branding is also dedicated to the advocacy for animals rights as well as other humanitarian issues. This brand also creates brand loyalty to their target market that consists of animal activists, vegetarians, and vegans.

Chapter 18 - Sales Promotion and Personal Selling

     Lush, lacking a marketing team, is still effective in the field of sales promotion. As mentioned in a previous post, Lush has multiple social media accounts for the use of communicating to their loyal customers as well as potential customers. At the end of seasons, Lush will have a huge sale that's usually "buy-one-get-one-free" to sell the out of season products. Lush will conduct consumer sales promotions 2-3 weeks before the actual sale. Lush will use several of their social media profiles to inform the consumers that subscribe to their profiles about the huge sale. They will make statuses as well as release small picture advertisements. Lush, as always, also relies on word-of-mouth advertising because of their huge dedicated fan base (gained from their combination of relationship marketing, advocacy advertising, and code of ethics).
  

Cosmetic Warrior Sample

      Another form of sales promotion Lush practices is sampling. Lush Cosmetics practically throws samples at customers. They will allow you to sample almost all of their products in the store itself or they will even wrap up a small sample for the consumer to take home and try at their own convenience. Lush even goes as far as giving interested consumers facial treatments as well as other demos. I myself have sampled many products before I actually purchased them at Lush. This is a smart sales promotion strategy, especially for Lush Cosmetics, because Lush carries some very strange product lines such as their solid shampoos, toothy tabs, etc. Some consumers might not be willing to buy a product that's different from the norm because of the fear of something new and the possibility of not liking it. Sampling allows the consumers to see which products they like and then have no doubts about purchasing it.

Potential Buyers Getting Free Facial and Foot Treatments

Ch. 17 - Advertising and Public Relations

One of Lush's many Facebook Pages

 Using the Internet as a Medium for Advertising -

Lush's Instagram

     As stated in several posts, previous to this one, Lush Cosmetics lacks a marketing department. This would undoubtedly stunt the growth and success of other companies, however Lush continues to prosper. Lush relies heavily on their faithful customers (who are gained through the use of relationship marketing) to spread word of Lush to their friends, family, and/or marketing class. Initially, I believed this was the only advertising Lush Cosmetics did, however Chapter 17 - "Advertising and Public Relations" proves the contrary. Lush does not produce commercials or create ads to be run in popular magazines, however the company does use the internet as a medium for the use of advertisement. Lush has several Facebook pages as well as profiles on Instagram. Despite the not having a marketing department, it makes sense for Lush to take part in social media websites seeing as it lets them stay in contact with their loyal customers which helps enhance the relationship they already have. It also will draw the attention of the loyal customers' Facebook friends and Instagram followers which can lead to potential new customers. This is similar to the real life "word of mouth" advertising that Lush relies on. It is through the use of social media that Lush Cosmetics can relate information on new products as well as their latest charitable endeavors and efforts towards social reform.
Advocacy Advertising -
     Unlike many companies whom solely support social issues and express their views on controversial matters to mitigate negative criticism and backlash, Lush genuinely wishes to change business practices for the better and supports political and social causes that they are passionate about. For instance, a legislation has been passed in Europe created by REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals). The legislation may be a noble effort to protect people from the 30,000 chemicals that are on the market, however its noble intentions are quickly negated due to the mandatory animal testing that comes with the legislation. Lush created a video and posted it to YouTube in response to the REACH legislation. It expresses it's concerns for the safety of animals and also appeals to Lush consumers to fight against the legislation by pointing out that their manufacturers may be forced to test on animals. This could lead to Lush removing certain chemicals from their products or forcing them abandon their cruelty free policy; both of which could potentially cripple Lush Cosmetics. Of course Lush's political involvement to revise this legislation helps them in the obvious sense (it helps prevents them from testing on animals), it also helps bring in customers. Consumers who are also in favor of Lush's political standpoint are more likely to become customers, thus all of their many advocacy efforts helps bring in profit.

Lush's REACH retaliation.

An article about REACH legislation featured in Lush Times: http://www.lushusa.com/Goodbye-to-Cruelty-Free-Cosmetics/about-animal-goodbye-cruelty,en_US,pg.html