Ch. 7 - Business Marketing

     Lush Cosmetics does not partake in the sending component of business marketing, however their part as the recipient is extremely unique. Lush is a consumer of raw materials. Most of the ingredients used in their products are vegetables, fruits, and the little preservatives used in their products are found in nature. Lush Cosmetics takes a strong stance against animal testing and thus require all of the companies they purchase materials from don't test on animals and are ethically sourced. This has undoubtedly made strides in the cosmetics industry seeing as anyone wanting to do business with Lush has to stop testing their business products on animals and many companies would love to work with Lush seeing as some of their products' shelf life is only three weeks- meaning Lush Cosmetics would create more business than other cosmetic companies.

     Lush Cosmetics has run into some complications since the passing of the legislation entitled "REACH." As discussed in a previous blog post, the REACH legislation of Europe would force chemical companies to test their products on animals. Lush, obviously disturbed by this, released a video that explains its concerns with the legislation and how even though it is intended for good it would be extremely harmful to animals. Lush's relationship with the businesses that allow them to function, made Lush feel inclined to release a statement about the legislation in order to protect the companies they do business with. It's obvious that relationship marketing is not only applied in Lush's retail stores, but also in the meetings with the companies that provides their ingredients. It is also implied that their relationship with the companies Lush purchases their ingredients from is so strong that it has made them launch a political campaign against REACH.

     In addition to boycotting companies that test on animals, Lush also tries to get products from companies that practice fair trading. This has allowed them to create Lushie favorite products such as "Fairtrade Honey Shampoo." It is clear that Lush wishes to set a new standard for the cosmetic industry and is strategically targeting the companies that sell business materials first.

 

Ch. 8 - Segmenting and Targeting Markets

     As discussed before in previous blog posts, Lush Cosmetics' target market consists of Generation Y, vegetarians/vegans, and animal rights activists. Usually a target market is considered before the actual creation of products and/or a product mix, however; co-founders Mark Constantine being a trichologist and Liz Weir being a beauty therapist prior to the creation of Lush leads me to believe that the target market came second. Constantine and Weir were more interested in making fresh products free of animal testing because they truly believed that it was morally right. These beliefs are reflected in the Lush Cosmetics company and thus the company was spontaneously segmented in the market. True, one could lump Lush into the market segment of "cosmetics," however their bold stance against animal testing and little use of synthetics in their products undoubtedly separates Lush into its own market segment.
      Lush Cosmetics' products are not discriminatory, thus they are not apart of a ethnic segmentation. Many cosmetic companies try to aim their products towards specific ethnicities. For example a shampoo company will claim that one product will be better for "black hair" and another might be better for "white hair." Lush's hair  products are made specifically to target "problematic hair" such as; dry scalp, frizzy hair, etc. These products are to suit an individual's needs for their hair- not the needs for an entire ethnic group. Another example of Lush not playing into the ethnic segmentation found especially in cosmetic companies is Lush's Emotional Brilliance makeup line. Emotional Brilliance is Lush's first makeup line and the campaigning for it was rather unusual. The idea of the product was for consumers to not choose makeup that they think will make them look "good," but instead to choose colors that reflect their personality or mood for the day. This product concept is completely unbiased (they even marketed it towards men). This idea sort of turned the simple mascara, lipstick, and skin tints for beauty into more of a warpaint for expressive purposes.