THE BODY SHOP BRAND ANALYSIS
ANNA RÁTKAI 30.03.2017
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Contents INTRODUCTION: ...................................................................................................................................... 4 METHODOLOGY:...................................................................................................................................... 4 THE BODY SHOP STORY ........................................................................................................................... 5 BRAND VALUES ........................................................................................................................................ 7 BRAND ELEMENTS ................................................................................................................................... 8 1.
LOGO ........................................................................................................................................... 8
2. SLOGAN ........................................................................................................................................... 8 3. PACKAGING ..................................................................................................................................... 9 4. SHOP INTERIORS .............................................................................................................................. 9 5. VISUAL OMMUNICATION .............................................................................................................. 10 7. NAME ............................................................................................................................................. 10 6. TONE OF VOICE.............................................................................................................................. 10 COMMUNICATION................................................................................................................................. 11 PRODUCTS ............................................................................................................................................. 12 FRAME OF REFERENCE .......................................................................................................................... 13 ASSOCIATIONS ....................................................................................................................................... 14 MARKET POSITIONING .......................................................................................................................... 16 SWOT ANALYSIS..................................................................................................................................... 17 THE BRAND IDENTITY ............................................................................................................................ 18 CORE IDENTITY .................................................................................................................................. 19 EXTENDED IDENTITY .......................................................................................................................... 19 THE BRAND VALUE PROPOSITION ......................................................................................................... 20 FUNCTINAL BENEFIT .......................................................................................................................... 20 EMOTIONAL BENEFIT ........................................................................................................................ 20 SELF-EXPRESSION BENEFIT ................................................................................................................ 20 BRAND POSITIONING STATEMENT ........................................................................................................ 21 How the brand contributes to improving brand loyalty and brand awareness in practice? ................ 22 How could the brand increase brand equity? ....................................................................................... 22 CONSLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 22
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INTRODUCTION: This report is prepared as the Admission Assignment for VIA University, Branding Specialty. In this paper The Body Shop’s branding strategy is examined. The goal is to give a complete overview about the brand, what is the core and extended identity, what are the brand elements and associations and how the brand uses these to improve loyalty and awareness. The first part of the report gives a general overview about the brand and in the second part the specific questions for the assignment are answered.
METHODOLOGY: To analyze the brand equity the model in the book Building Strong Brands by David A. Aaker was used. Definitions from K. L. Keller’s book Strategic Brand Management were also used for the report. The main source of information was the internet, as most of the data are secondary from The Body Shop”s website and Building for the Future report. The primary data comes from observation and analysis of visual communication.
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THE BODY SHOP STORY The Body Shop started as a local shop in Brighton in 1976. Anita Roddic believed in the power of the natural ingredients and at the same time, she wanted to create an alternative way of doing business. She has always believed that business could be a force for good, and The Body Shop’s activity reflects this mentality since the beginning. The Body Shop uses its power and voice to stand up for human and animal rights as well as for the environment. The products are “inspired by nature” which means that several natural ingredients are used. Today the brand is owned by L’Oreal group and has more than 3000 stores in 66 countries around the word, and it is still growing.
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BRAND VALUES The original idea behind The Body Shop was that business could be a force for good. The values always has been focused on: support community fair trade, activate self-esteem, defend human rights, against animal testing, and protect the planet. In 2016 The Body Shop recognized that the challenges the world faces have changed significantly in the past 40 years, so they decided to take a slightly different approach, and bring together all these values under one vision statement: Enrich not Exploit. It’s in our hands. It reflects The Body Shop’s core principles and strengths – things that set the brand apart. The Enrich not Exploit Commitment has three main focus area: People, Planet, Product. The Body Shop celebrates the diversity of people and rejects a stereotype of beauty. The brand wants to support the people who make the products and enrich their life. The company also realized that the planet’s resources are finite, so they want to preserve the environment and source the ingredients responsibly. With the product, The Body Shop wants to make sure, that the user’s life is enhanced as the purpose is to make the customers feel good in their skin. The aim with these commitments is to become the world’s most ethical and truly sustainable global business. (Building for the Future Report) The brand has a very strong core message, and underlines it with every campaign, every product and every visual.
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BRAND ELEMENTS
1. LOGO The Body Shop has a distinguished round logo. The round shape reflects the softness and friendliness of The Body Shop. The round shape is used instead of the letter ‘O’ when the wordmark is used. In other cases the round logo hugs around the wordmark, which refers to the protective, attentive aspect of the brand. The shape also refers to the Earth, which is one of the major focus of the brand. The color of the logo is green which reflects the core values of the brand: natural, ecofriendly, balanced, care.
2. SLOGAN The new slogan sums up the values of the brand. The brand considers the triple bottom line in every action they take. Being profitable is important to keep the business running, but at the same time the brand supports local communities by buying ingredients from local farmers. They also make sure that the life of the people who produces and also who uses the products are enriched. Social exploitation is avoided by paying fair wages and supporting local communities. By sourcing responsibly the exploitation of the natural environment is prevented. The second part of the slogan “It’s in our hands” shows that The Body Shop is aware of the impact of the business, and they are taking actions to minimize it. The word ‘our’ also shows that not only the brand but also the customers should think and act responsibly. Environmental protection is a collective mindset, and it doesn’t concern only the consumer or the company. The slogan has a positive vibe, because it reflects hope for a better business practice and if we 8 work together, we can do it. .
3. PACKAGING The packaging of the products are clean and simple. It shows the main ingredient on the bottle, the letters are readable san serifs. The lettering, minimalistic design and subtle colors give a contemporary look to the products therefore it appeals to younger customers as well as the older generation. The Body Shop also pays attention to the material of the containers: they started to use an innovative plastic (made from air pollution) and they also use post-consumer recycled packaging wherever it is possible. (www.naturalcosmeticslovers.wordpress.com)
4. SHOP INTERIORS The two major elements in the shop interiors are wood and green color. Sometimes there are real plants in the shop, but most of the time it is only pictures about plants. The products are precisely organized on the shelves. Although there are several different type of products, it never feels crowded because the colors used for packaging are subtle, and they don’t create a disturbingly colorful overall picture. The aisles are wide enough to stop by some product and try it. The shops are well lit which makes the shop inviting and approachable. With the Enrich not Exploit commitment the brand started investing heavily in making every retail outlet ecofriendly by using locally-sourced SSC-certified wood, sustainable materials in its flooring, LED lighting and non-toxic paints. The overall mood of the shops are welcoming and professional, 9 and at the same time subtly refers to the close to nature and environmental friendly aspect of the brand.
5. VISUAL OMMUNICATION In the visual communication The Body Shop uses different color palettes for the different product types. For the fruity bath gels bright colors are used to enhance the intense smell experience and young vibe. On the other hand for the almond milk& honey products more natural colors are used to underline a more mature, spa-like experience. The messages are very simple, the lettering is clean. The pictures used on social media is always high quality. There are some non-professional videos (for example make-up tutorials recorded with phone) and it creates the feeling of involvement and availability. Overall The Body Shop visuals communicate a young, hip and fresh image and at the same time reveal the close to nature and environmental friendly aspect of the brand.
6. TONE OF VOICE The tone of voice is informal and direct. The brand uses third person narration (‘we’) which makes the company approachable and close to the customers. Everyday language makes the message easy to understand for everybody.
7. NAME The name tells a lot about the scope of the business. The word ‘body’ indicates that the products are in connection with health and personal care. The pronoun “the” creates the feeling of onlyness, uniqueness.
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COMMUNICATION
The Body Shop does not use conventional advertising, rather use social media, PR and The brand’s communication is based on campaigns. During a campaign they focus on one problem, and communicate the message through their social media, website, in-store materials and videos. Since 2016 the focus is on Enrich not Exploit Commitments. The goal is to engage 8 million people in this campaign. In the Building for the Future Report it states “We will promote our campaigns across all of our communication platforms – our stores, our website, via the media and with external
partners to raise awareness and involve new and existing customers. We will present our campaigns in new and different ways to maximize customer engagement.” This communication strategy aligns with the brand’s values: they don’t want to push people to buy the products but they want to pull the customers in the stores with the values they stand for. Even though the communication is more focused on what the brand stands for rather than highlighting product features, the brand still promotes its products on social media.
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PRODUCTS The Body Shop has a wide range of products. They offer body care, face creams, cleansers, moisturizers as well as make-up and fragrances. Majority of the products are for women, but with extending the men’s line there is a possibility to gain a bigger market share and PoD. „The Body Shop is a global retailer of naturally inspired, ethically produced beauty and cosmetics products. Wherever possible, we aim to source our ingredients such as plants, herbs, fruits, nuts and so forth from natural sources. We aim to use naturally-based ingredients where possible as constituents in our products, selected for their natural skin caring property.” (http://www.thebodyshop.com.hk) Although the brand creates the feeling that their products are natural, on their website they openly discuss the chemicals used in their products.. The Body Shop portrays itself as natural cosmetic producer (although never say natural, but „naturally inspired”). On the other hand, the information is quite hidden on their webpage, so only people who are interested can find the truth. This creates a discrepancy in the image, and suggest the possibility of greenwashing in other areas of the business as well.
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FRAME OF REFERENCE Category: Cosmetics
Sub-category: Natural Cosmetics
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ASSOCIATIONS
FAIR TRADE
FAIR TRADE
ACTIVISM
HUMAN RIGHTS
PRESERVING RESOURCES
14 NATURE
NATURAL INGREDIENTS
NATURAL BEAUTY
DIVERSITY
SKIN CARE AND MAKEUP
ACTIVATE SELF-ESTEEM
15 HABITAT RESERVATION
LILLY COLE AMBASSADOR
MARKET POSITIONING
Premium
100% Natural
0% Natural
Mass
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SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS Strong brand equity Strong message behind the brand Being part of the L’Oreal group (financial support) Good quality products Above average service High brand loyalty Available for a wider audience
OPPORTUNITIES
Expand the men’s line Metrosexual audience Increased attention on environmental issues Increasing number of online buyers Ban of sale of animal tested products in the EU.
WEAKNESSES Greenwashing scandals – loss of trust from several stakeholders Being part of the L’Oreal group (image) Problems in the franchise system Most of the products are in mature or declining stage No marketing\advertising department
THREATS
No environmental certifications Unstable supply of ingredients Strong competition Demand for transparency Image deficiency (natural products vs. naturally inspired products)
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THE BRAND IDENTITY
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CORE IDENTITY In the book Building Strong Brands Aaker states that the ore identity is “the timeless essence of the brand”. It contains the associations that are most likely to remain constant as the brand travels to new markets and products. The core identity is basically the soul of the brand, values the brand is built on. The Body Shop’s core identity is to use business as a force for good. The fight for human rights, animal rights resource reservation and self-acceptance is integrated in all the products and all the campaigns. The Body Shop Foundation supports several causes including local communities and researches that progress water supply. This shows that even without the products The Body Shop’s stands for actively fighting against exploitation and inequality.
„THE COMPANY STANDS FOR SOMETHING OTHER THAN A MOISTURISER AND PROFITS. THIS IS THE MODEL FOR THE FUTURE” - Dame Anita Roddic
EXTENDED IDENTITY Aaker says that the extended brand identity “includes elements that provides texture and completeness. It fills in the picture adding details that help portray what the brad stands for” The Body Shop’s extended identity consist of the campaigns, the visual identity, slogan, products. All these elements help the consumers interpret what the brand stands for. With the campaigns the brand puts focus on activism and encourage people to act responsibly. The products are not just important because these are the physical representation of the brand values (made from natural ingredients, fair trade, recycled plastic containers). The products are also the revenue stream, so the income coming from the sale of the products are used to support the good causes, campaigns and the Foundation. The visual identity and the slogan underlines the core values of the company.
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THE BRAND VALUE PROPOSITION
FUNCTINAL BENEFIT The functional benefit of The Body Shop is the moisturizing, beautifying, scrubbing effect of the products. Each body cream, scrub and butter are engineered for maximum efficiency and comfort. These products are not valuable because they were made in in an ethical manner, but because the promised effect and quality is proven true when in use.
EMOTIONAL BENEFIT The emotional benefit of The Body Shop is that customers don’t have to worry about toxic chemicals while using the products. At the same time they feel good about themselves, because they know that buying from The Bod Shop is a more responsible decision than buy any other brand from the drug store. They have the pleasant feeling of doing good by buying from The Body Shop, because they supported a good cause.
SELF-EXPRESSION BENEFIT Using The Body Shop products customers express their concern for environment and human rights and at the same time also their will to do something about it. Therefore buying The Body Shop products is to stand for the values the brand stands for.
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BRAND POSITIONING STATEMENT
NATURALLY INSPIRED COSMETIC PRODUCTS FOR THOSE WHO CARE This brand positioning statement indicates the product category, the target audience, and reflect the values of the company (caring).
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How the brand contributes to improving brand loyalty and brand awareness in practice? The Body Shop pays extra attention to engage the customers. They build up the loyalty starting with a product that lives up to the promises. The in store service is above average so as the customers are satisfied with the service, they are more likely to return. The Body Shop also has a membership club which offers discounts, VIP product lunches and small birthday gifts. This is clearly an action to increase the number of return customers. But The Body Shop also engages the online community, by sharing photos of customers using the products, or inspiring pictures. On the website they have a “helpdesk” section, where people can find out which product is the best for their skintype. Therefore altogether the brand increases loyalty by the high quality products, attention to customers, pro-active social media activity, and encouraging customers to participate in campaigns. As the brand doesn’t use traditional advertising they raise the awareness by engaging the customers online, sponsoring some bloggers, who uses the product in the videos, sharing viral contents on their social media platforms, locating the stores in highly frequented shopping areas.
How could the brand increase brand equity? One of the biggest lack of the brand is transparency. On the website there are few information about the community farmers, and some of the ingredients, but otherwise the production of the creams, the environmental impact of the transportation and other important information are not reported. Therefore a more transparent business would increase the level of trustworthiness and thus the people’s emotional attachment to the brand. Most of the bottles are from plastic, and although it is upcycled material, all the products are sold in individual packaging, which creates a lots of waste. With a refill service, the brand would encourage the people to return to the shop as well as educate them about the importance of using less plastic. This option would also enhance the environmental friendly image of the brand. Opening a The Body Shop spa would offer the ultimate The Body Shop experience. It would engage the customers not only on the product level, but also emotionally.
CONSLUSION The Body Shop already has a strong brand equity deriving from the solid brand values cohesively communicated visually and by the products. The brand continuously engages the customers and does not only provide functional benefits with the products but also allows the customer to express their concerns for the environment, animal and human rights. To increase the equity even more the brand should focus on full transparency to become more trustworthy in the eyes of the customers. 22