THE BODY SHOP AND INDIA

Priyanka Bose

THE PROBLEM:The Body Shop has limited brand awareness in

India and faces stiff competition from established brands and an extremely diverse media market

with different needs.

THE INSIGHT:The Body Shop has always played an active role in social

initiatives. By bringing that culture of advocacy to affluent young women in urban areas who want to make a

difference, The Body Shop can both increase brand awareness and continue its legacy of social activism.

THE SOLUTION:The Saheli Project, a social initiative sponsored by

The Body Shop that will bring together girls from both urban and rural areas. Saheli (which stands for female friend in Hindi) will promote unity and togetherness and emphasize women’s empowerment, something

that The Body Shop has always advocated.

BACKGROUND

THE BODY SHOP

Beauty company based in UK, 2500 franchised stores in 61 countries

Products are “inspired by nature” and feature natural products

The company supports global projects working in the areas of civil rights and environmental and animal protection

Came to India in 2006 and is doing well in urban areas, but is still in 3rd place behind other beauty companies

Difficulty reaching rural areas

Brand awareness is still low

THE BODY SHOP

The company has an active social media presence

Official Facebook page has 330,000+ fans and official Instagram has 14,000+ followers

Official brand endorser: Jacqueline Fernandes, popular model and Bollywood actress

Though the company supports human rights projects such as S.H.E. (Support Her Education), there is limited focus on such initiatives on the main page of the Indian company website

INDIA, BHARAT, HINDUSTAN

“In India we celebrate the commonality of major differences; we are a land of belonging rather than of blood.”

-Shashi Tharoor

FAST FACTSEarliest (homo sapiens) civilization in India began 75,000 years ago, but earlier hominids (homo erectus) were already there 500,000 years ago

Modern Republic of India founded in 1947 after gaining independence from Great Britain

Population: 1,236,344,631 (July 2014 est.)

Religion: 80.5% Hindu, 13.4% Muslim, 2.3% Christian, 1.9% Sikh, 0.8% Buddhist, 0.4% Jain, 0.7% Other (Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Bahai)

Indian film industry has highest annual film output in the world, annual revenue projected to rise to $3 billion (Rs 150 billion) by 2016

GEOGRAPHY

India’s overall area is 1,222,237 miles, making it the largest country in South Asia

29 states, 7 Union Territories, and 1 National Capital Region (New Delhi)

2nd largest population in the world and fastest growing population in the world

3 biggest cities are Mumbai (12 mil), Delhi (11 mil), and Chennai (9 mil)

70% of the population still lives in villages located in highly rural areas

There are many different climates:

LANGUAGES

22 official languages (Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu)

1,635 languages recognized overall by the 2011 census

LANGUAGE FAMILIES

Sanskrit(North Indian languages)

Dravidian(South Indian languages)

LANGUAGES

The two language families have nothing in common

Therefore, speakers of different languages cannot necessarily understand each other

Hindi and English serve as the lingua franca in both North India and South India

CULTURAL DIMENSIONS

CULTURAL DIMENSIONS

Despite the massive differences across geography, language, and religion, cultural values are fairly consistent across India

Power distance is highly respected and people tend to marry people from the same race, region, social class, religion

India is a traditionally collectivist culture, placing high importance on the family and society over the individual,

However, the core philosophy of Hinduism is highly individual, with fate dependent upon how a person behaves throughout life

India is also high on sentimentality and its media culture would most likely be considered to be extremely obvious and over the top by Westerners, lacking the levels of subtlety that are typical of media in other countries.

BOLLYWOOD, TOLLYWOOD, KOLLYWOOD, MALLUWOOD,

TELLYWOOD

Thanks to Bollywood (formally known as the Hindi film industry)

Bollywood stars are some of the most high profile people in India

They sponsor literally everything

BOLLYWOOD, TOLLYWOOD, KOLLYWOOD, MALLUWOOD,

TELLYWOOD

Tollywood (Telugu), Kollywood (Tamil), and Malluwood (Malayalam) are the South Indian film industries

Known for both highly artistic films and masala films

These films are often remade in Bollywood (Thira —> Mardaani)

BOLLYWOOD, TOLLYWOOD, KOLLYWOOD, MALLUWOOD,

TELLYWOODAs of 2012, over 823 channels, 184 of which are pay channels

Doordarshan is a public channel and the oldest Indian channel

GECs (general entertainment channels) have most popular content—daily serials

6 main Hindi language GECs

Tellywood stars are popular faces

COMMUNICATIONS

India has emerged as one of the fastest growing telecommunications markets in the world

In 2011, total telephone subscribership exceeded 900 million, with an overall teledensity of roughly 75%, with subscribership growing at more than 20 million per month

Urban teledensity now exceeds 100% and rural teledensity is steadily growing

Mobile advertising volume in India is growing faster than anywhere else in the world, rising a record 260% since July 2013

COMMUNICATIONS

Internet usage, on the other hand, is still not as common as mobile phones

As of 2009, there were only about 61 million internet users

Even though several years have passed since this count, regular internet access is still mostly limited to those with more resources

ADVERTISING

The beauty and personal care market in India is a rapidly growing segment of the market, with sales taking place through many different channels

Multinational companies have taken the lead in the beauty and personal care market, with Hindustan Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive taking the greatest market share

As is common throughout other parts of Asia, skin whitening products are still the most popular products in the marketplace

However, consumers are increasingly willing to try new products as modern retail chains expand and internet retail continues to expand

ADVERTISING

Standardization of advertising in India is difficult to achieve

As an emerging market, India faces the challenges of variations consumer tastes, differing product use conditions, differences in stage of economic and market development, availability and reach of similar media, and government regulatory influences

Due to its successful and active presence on social media networks and success in urban areas, the best audience for The Body Shop would be to focus on well-to-do young women who are interested in great products, making a difference, and spending their own money

SAHELI

PHASE ONE: THE SAHELI NETWORK

The Saheli Network will connect affluent urban girls who already love The Body Shop

They will see wish lists from girls in rural areas and will be asked to create teams and come up with a plan to make the girls’ wishes come true

The campaign will be inter-city, initially taking place in New Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bangalore

DIGITALBecause of the rapidly growing mobile advertising market, this part of the campaign will be both digital and mobile, with banner ads that show up on the official website, the official The Body Shop India Facebook page, and the official Instagram, that will lead them to the landing page where they can connect with the other girls and teams.

The hashtag #merisaheli (my friend) will connect everyone participating in the initiative across all social media platforms.

PHASE TWO: CELEBRITY

ENDORSEMENTTellywood stars are well known across India and are seen as recognizable and relatable faces due to the characters they play and their easy accessibility

In addition to Jacqueline Fernandes, who is the official brand endorser for The Body Shop India, Tellywood celebrities such as Sanaya Irani, a popular actress would embark on a project of their own

Celebs will also use the #merisaheli tag on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as Youtube videos and appearances on SBS, a popular daily afternoon show that keeps tabs on what Tellywood stars are doing in their free time

PHASE THREE: THE SAHELI SUMMIT

When girls register with their cities as an official team, they will keep The Body Shop updated on their progress throughout the course of several months

The winning teams from each of the five cities will win a year’s worth of free Body Shop products, and will also be invited to the Saheli Summit, a symposium in Mumbai where they will discuss solutions to issues facing girls and women in India

The winning girls will also be invited to be judges in the following year’s contest, which will roll out to more cities in India

EXPERIENTIAL,PR, DIGITALBecause women’s issues are constantly at the forefront in India, the Saheli Summit will not only be on brand and relevant to the human rights issues The Body Shop has always supported, it will also make news on other channels and potentially make waves and add momentum to the movement—not only increasing visibility for the brand, but also for girls who don’t have a voice.