Fairness Creams

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Fariness Creams In India SUMMARY “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” that’s what we have been saying for years but then how true is it in today’s environment. Today if you are not fair you are not their. Today the fairness cream companies are marketing their product to the psychology of the Indian consumer. People today associate Fairness to Success, in every aspect of life, is it personal of professional. Although this holds true more for females then males. Marketing of fairness cream has been under a lot of criticism from many social organization and they are blamed of creating gender bias. But what’s true is that these ads represent the psychology of common man, which accepted of not is a bitter truth. Even today birth of a female child is looked upon as a burden on the family and for female looking fair will decide her destiny. It’s only the mindset of common people that is represented in the ads. Companies are making whooping profits in the cosmetic market. India is viewed as the biggest market for cosmetic products. Indian cosmetic market, which is more then Rs 3000 crore, the competition is getting intense with more and more companies entering into market and trying to capture the market. With the growing competition is growing the want to look fair and one wonders how ‘fair’ it will go. 1

Transcript of Fairness Creams

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SUMMARY

“Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” that’s what we have been saying for years but then

how true is it in today’s environment. Today if you are not fair you are not their. Today the

fairness cream companies are marketing their product to the psychology of the Indian

consumer. People today associate Fairness to Success, in every aspect of life, is it personal of

professional. Although this holds true more for females then males.

Marketing of fairness cream has been under a lot of criticism from many social

organization and they are blamed of creating gender bias. But what’s true is that these ads

represent the psychology of common man, which accepted of not is a bitter truth. Even today

birth of a female child is looked upon as a burden on the family and for female looking fair

will decide her destiny. It’s only the mindset of common people that is represented in the ads.

Companies are making whooping profits in the cosmetic market. India is viewed as

the biggest market for cosmetic products. Indian cosmetic market, which is more then Rs

3000 crore, the competition is getting intense with more and more companies entering into

market and trying to capture the market. With the growing competition is growing the want to

look fair and one wonders how ‘fair’ it will go.

Through this project I have made an attempt to learn as to why this product and its ad

campaign are so successful even when they are criticized. In a country like India where the

markets are flooded with FMCG product, it is hard to sell a product on its feature. So the

advertiser have picked up the nerves of the India consumer and it sell’s the product by

appealing to the emotional aspect.

It is believed that Indians are emotional and marketers make a business of it. That’s the

reason why we see LIC saying “Zindagi ke saath bhi, Zindagi ke bad bhi” and Fairness cream

companies show how using their so called ‘effective fairness cream’ will help their daughter

find a Dream Husband, as in India marrying a daughter is seen as a huge burden

(responsibility) on family.

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INTRODUCTION

“Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is fairest of the all?”

Obsession for fairness has been there for ever, it’s as old as the civilization. Scenario

today is not too different but has only gone deep and far. "Fair, convent-educated, beautiful

bride wanted"-screams the matrimonial section of a reputed newspaper or a magazine. The

minds of the masses have been interpellated with the bombardments of such 'ideological

apparatuses' for eons and most people in India hardly notice anything grievously abnormal

with statements like these.

Not to mention the scores of inputs coming from a certain quarter who want to help

the "fair sex" get fairer through home remedies and special face packs which give the politely

termed "dusky" girls a chance to illuminate their skins miraculously in a few days. After all,

let's face it- this kind of colorism, a fetish for the fair skin has existed in India for a long time,

but what is significant is the fact that it is mainly gender sensitive. This craving to have

lighter skinned brides and categorizing the "other" as the 'dusky lot' is directed only towards

women in India, with the underlying idea that the future of such "olive skinned" or dusky

women is at stake, especially in the marriage market.

It's no major revelation that the skin-lightening obsession in Indian society is more

prevalent among women than men. If a woman is fair-skinned, she is automatically beautiful,

no matter how many coats you could hang from her nose. If a woman is dark-skinned, she'd

have almost no chance of winning the Miss. India contest, even if her personality were as top-

notch as her plastic surgeon.

Men, on the other hand, have never had to obsess over their complexion, largely

because they're judged more by their earning power than their looks. A single doctor who

advertises himself as "tall, dark and handsome" would get far more attention from women

than a single writer who's "tall, fair and unemployed."

The situation may be changing though - and not necessarily for the better. A recent

survey commissioned by the Media Researchers Users Council (MRUC) found that 32% of

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fairness cream users in India are men! Yes, men are using products such as Fair Glow,

Fairever, and Fair & Lovely, trying hard to prove that women are no longer the fairer sex.

Instead of getting women less obsessed with complexion, our society has managed to get men

more obsessed. If this continues, you'll soon see new beauty products such as Fair Guy,

Fairmale, and Fair & Hairy.

Most users of fairness creams probably consider themselves dark-skinned. But "dark"

and "fair" are relative terms. The woman calling herself "very fair" in a matrimonial ad may

be darker than the woman calling herself "medium-complexioned," but fairer than the woman

calling herself "as fair as Snow White."

Underneath the entire propaganda lurks the phallocentric idea that appearance is the

only tool that a woman has to navigate the job market, thereby denying her even a miniscule

portion of subjectivity. Thus the race/color question intricately merges with sexism which

compels women to be beautiful, fair and lovely- the only means of survival left for her in the

society.

While on the topic I just cant resist pointing out the fact that some of our best

actresses like the Late Smita Patil, Shabana Azmi,Nanditha Das are all dusky women, arent

they beautiful. If you still dont agree then how about the unquestionable Glam queen of

Bollywood, the Ultimate Rekha, she isnt the fairest(again as in skin color) of them all. Even

on the international scene Naomi Campbell, Janet Jackson, Halle Berry....I can go on the list

is endless of people who have proved that Black is also beautiful.

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COSMETIC MARKET

THE INDIAN COSMETICS market is seen as a huge area of opportunity. Its potential is

estimated at $4 billion and growing at a rate of 15-20 percent per year, according to Indian

Chamber of Commerce. Although awareness of European prestige brands and Western skin

care regimes is moderately high among the wealthy and educated population, price dynamics

in the Indian cosmetics market are complex. Widespread poverty and an extremely low per

capita income--less than $500 a year--also means many Indians are extremely price

conscious. This has led to cut-throat competition for virtually any product aimed at the mass

market.

Cosmetics:

More than Skin-Deep

FOR players and target customers, the market for cosmetics has been through a long

transition and several stages of evolution.

Multinationals woke up early to the Indian opportunity and entered the market in the

mid-1990s.

Despite some initially difficulty, they have learnt the tricks of the trade and are now

fighting tooth and nail with established Indian players. In terms of product profile, the herbal

wave and renewed focus on cosmetics for men have been the two predominant trends over

the past decade.

Herbal Wave

Over the past couple of years, the herbal wave has been sweeping the skin care segment. This

Rs 300-crore segment is perceived to be the hottest and the fastest growing. A slew of

companies launched herbal skin-care products. Players such as Shehnaz Hussain have been in

this segment for quite some time. With the dawning of the potential of this segment, players

such as Boutique and Lotus Herbals, which operate in the premium segment, have become

more prominent. Existing players too have expanded their range to include herbal variants.

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For instance, Hindustan Lever recently introduced the herbal version of its popular Fair &

Lovely brand.

The belief that cosmetics are harmful to the skin and increased awareness among

consumers of herbal products triggered the demand for natural products rather than chemical-

based cosmetics.

Healthcare Companies Test the Water

This trend has attracted a host of new entrants, including health-care companies such as

Himalaya Drugs (with its Ayurvedic Concepts range), Dabur and Dr Morepan. While

Himalaya's Ayurvedic Concepts have already hit the shelves, Dabur plans to launch three

skin-care products this year.

With the acquisition of the Life spring chain of health and beauty stores, Dr Morepan

Laboratories is exploring opportunities in the cosmetics segment.

Targeting Men

The cosmetics industry, traditionally believed to target women, has a new target segment:

Men. No longer do cosmetics represent a `women only' market. Many players are coming up

with skin care products for men.

Men account for about 25 per cent of fairness cream use across the country and the

figure is growing. In absolute terms, it works out to about Rs 200 crore in sales. According to

an HLL spokesperson, about 20 per cent consumers of Fair & Lovely - one of HLL's mega

power brands - are men. Given that sales of Fair & Lovely are estimated at Rs 500 crore, men

contribute Rs 100 crore.

But while Fair & Lovely leads the fairness creams pack with an estimated market

share of 55 per cent, CavinKares' Fairever, which occupies the second spot, does better with

male consumers.

"Nearly 27 per cent of Fairever's users are men," says a CavinKare official. That

amounts to nearly Rs 22 crore in sales, since Fairever's sales are estimated at Rs 80 crore.

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Aditya Agarwal, director of Emami group, says that men now contribute to about 45

per cent sales of his Rs 10-crore Emami Naturally Fair brand. "Of course, there's some degree

of overlap when both the men and women in the family use my brand, but the fact remains

that usage of fairness products by men has been on the upswing the past couple of years."

The men's personal care segment is estimated to be worth Rs 790 crore, with Gillette

having a large share of the pie. The growing demand for men's cosmetics inspired cosmetics

majors such as Modicare and Amway to launch new products in the skin-care segment.

Modicare is coming out with its Velocity range, while Amway has launched its men's range

in the Indian markets.

Market Segmentation for Fairness CreamSales value (Rs. Cr) Growth

(Aug07 – July08) (Aug05 – July06) (%)

All India 711.33 619.82 14.76

North Zone 185.55 184.32 12.93

East Zone 129.92 108.02 22.54

West Zone 163.73 145.83 12.27

South Zone 232.13 203.65 13.98

Metro 135.30 118.50 14.17

What's the reason behind this? The number of men-only salons springing across

metros indicates that metro sexuality is here to stay, says a Delhi-based sociologist.

CURRENT MARKET

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The Indian cosmetics industry appears to have considerable growth potential. Of the Rs

3,000-crore cosmetics and toiletries industry, the market size of the skin-care segment alone

is estimated at Rs 1,200 crore.

Fairness creams account for around 60 per cent of the skin-care business at around Rs

700 crore.

This segment has some of the big names such as Hindustan Lever (Fair & Lovely)

with a massive 53 per cent market share, followed by CavinKare (Fairever) with over12 per

cent share and Godrej FairGlow with a 3.4 per cent share.

Other players such as Emami (Gold Turmeric and Naturally Fair), Revlon (Fair &

Glow) also have a presence in this market.

Specialty creams such as sunscreen lotions, moisturizers, and toners, cleansing

lotions, under-eye dark circle removing creams and cold creams contribute the rest.

The colour cosmetics segment, worth around Rs 300 crore, is most competitive with

many multinational companies in the fray.

This segment can be further segmented into lipsticks, nail enamels, mascara, eye-

liners and so on. While lipsticks account for nearly a third of the market at Rs 90-100 crore,

the market for nail enamels is estimated at around Rs 110 crore.

The Lakmé brand is the market leader with a 50 per cent share, followed by Revlon.

Mass market products account for a major share, around 70 per cent, while the premium

segment accounts only for a mere 9 per cent in lipsticks and 5 per cent in nail enamels.

Here again Hindustan Lever dominates with its Lakmé and Elle 18 brands, followed

by such multinational brands as Revlon and Maybelline. Tips & Toes is another major Indian

player in the colour cosmetics segment.

‘Fairness creams lead in skin care market’

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Volume & value contribution by skin cream segment

(for the 12 month period ending July 2008

Volume in Value in

Contribution (%) Contribution (%)

Antiseptic creams 14 13

Astringents 01 01

Foundations 02 06

Cold Creams 13 10

Moisturizing lotions/creams 17 11

Vanishing creams 04 06

THE country's obsession with fair skin continues unabated.

According to the latest AC Nielsen India Retail audit, fairness creams and lotions put

together continue to be the largest segment in the skin creams category, accounting for 48 per

cent of the total skin creams volume market, in the 12-month period ended July 2007. This is

much higher than the total of the next three segments.

The volume contribution of moisturizing lotions and creams was 17 per cent,

antiseptic creams accounted for 14 per cent of the total skin creams market, and cold creams

accounted for 13 per cent during the same period. Vanishing creams, calamines and

foundations, snows and astringents remain marginal categories within the skin-care market.

In terms of value, the contribution of fairness creams and lotions has been recorded at

53 per cent in the same time period.

In the last 12 months ended July 2007, a total of 30 new brands were added in the skin

creams category, out of which four brands were added in the fairness creams/lotions segment.

During the same period, 30 per cent of new stock keeping units (SKUs) out of the

total 984 SKUs were added in the fairness creams/lotions segment.

Fairness creams and lotions achieved double-digit volume growth of 10.7 per cent in

July 2007 over the corresponding period last year, according to the AC Nielsen India retail

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audit. Value growth of fairness creams and lotions was 5.1 per cent in July 2007 over the

corresponding period last year.

The mother of all fairness creams on the subcontinent is Fair & Lovely. Its reach has

extended beyond India. Today it is marketed in over 38 countries and has become the largest-

selling skin lightening cream in the world, but its biggest customer concentration remains in

South Asia itself. The brand comes in several incarnations; consumers have the delightful

convenience of choosing between not just Fair & Lovely Fairness Reviving Lotion and Fair

& Lovely Fairness Cold Cream, but also Fair & Lovely Fairness Soap.

Fair & Lovely brand continued its stranglehold in the category, with a volume share

of 82 per cent of the fairness creams and lotions category in July 2007 against 75 per cent the

previous year, as per the AC Nielsen retail audit. By value also, Fair & Lovely's share was 82

per cent.

In terms of growth, Fair & Lovely recorded a volume growth of 16.7 per cent in July

2006 over July 2007. Value growth for the brand was 10.4 per cent during the same period.

In July 2007, within skin creams, the total number of companies was 172, the total

number of brands was 345, and the total stock keeping units (SKUs) were 1,454. Within the

fairness creams and lotions category, the total number of companies was 33, the total number

of brands was 58, and the total SKUs were 338 in the same month, as per AC Nielsen India

retail audit.

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COMPANY VIEW ON INDIAN MARKET

"India is a phenomenal market for fairness creams and our product should do well beyond all

imagination. Despite the logistical problems of setting up a company in India (Annexure A), I

believe that not only should we market the cream in India, but we should also set up our own

base in India - not as part of a joint venture with a local company, as we had thought of doing

earlier. Not only that, I believe that we should even be prepared to shift our production

facilities to India if necessary, at short notice."

Observations:

1) Indians are obsessed with skin color." A careful study of the classified matrimonial

columns in the local and national papers shows that the majority of the ads follow a set

pattern.' A fair, good-looking, Gujarati/Sindhi/Punjabi/Tamil lady wanted for an educated,

well-settled man'. If the girl is advertising for a groom, the ad goes something like, 'A fair girl

with good temperament looking for....', or if the girl is not fair, euphemistically, 'A girl with a

whitish complexion.....'. Never in the last few months, have I come across an ad from either

side mentioning a dark-skinned lady. This is because all things being equal (and sometimes

even if not equal), a fair woman has a much better chance of bagging a good husband

2) As soon as a child is born and its sex is known, the next thing looked at is the skin

color. A dark skin in a boy is still acceptable, but in a girl is considered a liability.

3). Indians have a poor tolerance towards races darker than them. In places like

Kenya, where there is a large Indian population, a very derogatory attitude exists towards the

native African population. The Indians there refer to them as 'Kaalia' or 'Karo", meaning

black. A similar attitude exists towards Africans who come to study in India. They are looked

upon with suspicion and in the event of even the slightest trouble involving them or their

places of stay, they are arrested and considered guilty unless proved innocent. A couple of

years ago, an African couple was denied entry into a South Mumbai pub, because the owner

thought the couple would cause trouble. As an Indian friend tells me 'Our attitude towards the

blacks is worse than the attitude that the whites had towards us - the apartheid spectrum

seems to have shifted to the right of the color range.'"

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4). Just to illustrate this point further. I am sure you are aware of the controversy that

Indian and Pakistani cab drivers in New York got into, when they refused a ride to Mr.

Danny Glover, the actor, on the grounds that they were scared of blacks and would prefer not

to go to areas with a predominant African-American population.

5). There is a sizeable community of Indians in the US. Though marriages and

interactions between the white population and Indians are known, it is very rare for Indians to

have emotional or sexual relations with African-American individuals.

6). There are two popular brands selling fairness products in the local Indian market -

they account for most of the market share. Of these two, one is actually a bleach, (we can

stress this point in our ad campaign and run the company out of business) and the other is a

cream similar to ours.

7). In the Southern parts of India, where the people are much darker than in the

northern parts, being fair is considered a godsend. In their movies, fair actresses and heroines

are much better appreciated than dark actresses, even though the majority of the population is

dark.

Marketing Strategies:

1). There are two target populations. The first is women in the age group of 17-25 whose

need to be fair is directly proportional to their urge to get married. At this stage, they are

extremely vulnerable to suggestions from any source, including ads, about products that

would help make them fair. The second target population is men - they should be made to see

the virtues of our cream using subliminal messages in our ads. They would then support the

use of our product and sometimes maybe even suggest its use to their daughters and wives.

2). The two competitive products mentioned above, blatantly extol the virtues of

being fair, in their television ads. There is no opposition from the public or the advertising

council regarding these racist ads, which would never have been allowed in our politically

correct country. With our superior advertising and marketing concepts, we can push this

divide even further - we can show how being dark is shameful and that nothing works like

being fair, creating a situation where anyone even remotely affected by color, will have no

choice but to use our products."

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3). To this end, we can use some fair actresses to advertise our product. This concept

is very prevalent in the soap industry and though the actresses are expensive by Indian

standards, the amount of money involved is not much by our standards (approximately

100,000$ or so for endorsement)."

4). If we could get Michael Jackson to endorse the product in India, that would work

wonders. We can show him during his "Thriller" days and compare that MJ to the new one,

to show how even the darkest of dark people can become fair with the right attitude and skin-

care products."

5). There is a tendency to believe anything which has even the slightest scientific

background to it. Shampoo and face-care companies run countless television ads showing

pretty scientists in research and development departments strutting around extolling the virtue

of their products that ostensibly have been developed after extensive experimentation. Since

we have an R&D department, we could do the same by showing a dark, academic-looking

Indian asking a fair, Indian, woman scientist working in our R&D department, leading

questions about our fairness cream and looking terribly impressed by the results shown, so

much so, that even she starts using our cream and notices a change, within a month."

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MARKETING OF FAIRNESS PRODUCTS

The Marketing Mix

(The 4 P's of Marketing)

The major marketing management decisions can be classified in one of the following four

categories:

Product

Price

Place (distribution)

Promotion

These variables are known as the marketing mix or the 4 P's of marketing. They are the

variables that marketing managers can control in order to best satisfy customers in the target

market. The marketing mix is portrayed in the following diagram:

The Marketing Mix

Product

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TargetMarketProductPromotionPlacePrice

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The product is the physical product or service offered to the consumer. In the case of physical

products, it also refers to any services or conveniences that are part of the offering.

Product decisions include aspects such as function, appearance, packaging, service, warranty,

etc.

Price

Pricing decisions should take into account profit margins and the probable pricing response

of competitors. Pricing includes not only the list price, but also discounts, financing, and

other options such as leasing.

Place

Place (or placement) decisions are those associated with channels of distribution that serve as

the means for getting the product to the target customers. The distribution system performs

transactional, logistical, and facilitating functions.

Distribution decisions include market coverage, channel member selection, logistics, and

levels of service.

Promotion

Promotion decisions are those related to communicating and selling to potential consumers.

Since these costs can be large in proportion to the product price, a break-even analysis should

be performed when making promotion decisions. It is useful to know the value of a customer

in order to determine whether additional customers are worth the cost of acquiring them.

Promotion decisions involve advertising, public relations, media types, etc.

A Summary Table of the Marketing Mix

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The following table summarizes the marketing mix decisions, including a list of some of the

aspects of each of the 4Ps.

Summary of Marketing Mix Decisions

Product Price Place Promotion Functionality

Appearance

Quality

Packaging

Brand

Warranty

Service/

Support

List price

Discounts

Allowances

Financing

Leasing

options

Channel members

Channel motivation

Market coverage

Locations

Logistics

Service levels

Advertising

Personal selling

Public relations

Message

Media

Budget

Product

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The product list in the fairness cream market is long. There are many small and big players

competing in the market for their share. The over all fairness cream market can be segmented

in to broad three category i.e.

Low End

Middle End

High End

Low End

Fair and Lovely

Godrej ‘Fair Glow’ and ‘Fairever

Freschia

Vicco Turmeric

Samara Fairness cream

Middle End

Lotus Fairness gel

Avon VIP Fairness cream

Oriflame Natural Northern Light

Biotique Coconut Milk

Oriflame Love ‘A’ Fair

High End

L’Oreal Plenitude White Perfect range

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Lancome’s Blanc Cristal range

YSL’s Blanc Absolu Serum

Clinique’s Active White Line

Elizabeth Arden’s Visible Whitening Pure Intensive capsules

Estee Lauder’s White Light.

As one goes through the product line it is observe that product recognition diminishes

as we go up the level. Products in the lower end have more market coverage and also more

recognition then the product in the middle end and higher end.

This also stresses the point that Indian market has more preference for product lower

in price. As we go up the product ladder the product gets more costly as they are in premium

range. Although there is a general feeling among the people that if the product has a high cost

then it will be more effective.

The branding in the various ends of the product is also different. Product in the low

end tends to be more local and common as it will appeal to the majority, but as we go up the

ladder the names of the product becomes uncommon or to say more sophisticated. One

reason for this could be that product in the higher end are not meant for the masses but only

for a selected few, and also it has some esteem value to it. So it has to be diffentiated form the

lot and hence the names.

Off late there has been a new category of fairness creams (ie) Natural or Ayurvedic.

Products like Naturally Fair (Emami), Fair & Lovely Ayurvedic (HLL) and also Himalayas

Ayurvedic creams which have intensified the market competition These products differentiate

themselves from other product on the basis of it being 100% natural. It has no chemical base

and that it is skin friendly.

But the list doesn’t end here. We see a product innovation in

the form of Fairness soap. The first to do this was Godrej

Fairglow. This product was followed by many other market.

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The latest in the treand is the Fair & Lovely fairness gel for oily skin.

So one can say that a consumer has a wide range of products to select form in various ends,

but this can be dangerous for the companies as they can face the problem of brand switchers.

But overall the market is flooded with fairness creams that ensures Fairness.

Price

Prices are important part in the fairness creams. Prices are highly variable across the

various segment of the products. Products in the low category are in the price range of about

15-100 Rs. They vary according to the size (50gm, 100gm, 200gm)

In the Middle end the prices are between the range of 150-300 Rs. In the High end the

prices vary anywhere between 350-800 Rs. Prices are crucial in the lower end as they target

the mass crowed and hence they have to keep the prices competitive. As for the middle end

and higher end product the prices are more on quality as they are not targeting the masses but

concentrate on effectiveness and quality of the product.

Pricing decisions should take into account profit margins and the probable pricing

response of competitors. Pricing includes not only the list price, but also discounts, financing,

and other options such as leasing.

Place

It refers to the distribution network, place of availability of the product, intermediaries, and

outlets. To understand it better here I have taken example of the HLL, which is the FMCG

giant in India and is the bench mark for other FMCG companies.

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DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

HLL has a well planned network which ensures that its product are always available

in the market and that there is no shortage of the products in the market. It ensures break free

supply.This is one of the factors behind the phenomenal success of HLL. It has 80

manufacturing units in India which ensures continues flow of its products. Apart form that its

has about 150 outsourced units, which also undertakes manufacturing but on a lower scale.

And to distribute the product manufactured in these factories they have a highly

effective distribution channel. Products manufactures are taken form factory by the Carrying

and Forwarding agent. These C&F agent then distribute these products to Redistribution

Stockiest at regional level. There are about 30-40 such stockiest in each region.

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These stockiest then distribute the products to wholesaler, who further sends it to

retailers in Urban and Rural Market from where it finally reaches the consumers.

The redistribution stockiest also supplies to urban and rural retailers directly where

the wholesales are not present or are unable to reach. So by this they ensure a smooth flow of

products. They have a huge network in form of 7000 stockiest and they directly cover entire

urban population through 1 million outlet and 50,000 villages.

This distribution channel is much the same for most FMCG companies. Most fairness

creams have the above distribution channel but the difference being in the availability of the

creams in the lower/middle and higher end. Lower end creams like Fair & Lovely, Fairever,

Fair glow are widely available in almost all medical general stores.

The reason for this is high demand and low price of creams of this segment. But in

the middle and high end the availability is not the common. The are available in selected

shops as the demand for it is less and prices are high as compared to lower end.

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Promotion

Promotion strategy is an activity by which an company can promote its product in the market.

With the help of promotion a company can create an awareness of its product in the market.

Promotion can be done through various means such as through television ads, ads in

newspapers and magazines, banners and hoardings, distributing free sample, etc. In today’s

world the amount of competition that is generating is extremely high. So there is a need of

aggressive promotion strategy. Therefore main aim of the promotion strategy should be

create maximum awareness of a company’s product and should have a positive impact on

consumers mind.

Major promotion of Fairness creams are done in the form of T.V advertising, banners

and radio advertising. Apart from that there are many other schemes that comes up with one

or the other such creams like buy a particular cream, scratch a card and you could win a gold

pendent, or get 20% free.

Here we will see the T.V ads and Print ads of various fairness creams and analysis them.

T.V. Adds

The following ad is of Fair & Lovely fairness cream of HLL.

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Next Add is of Fairever

What is it that is common in both this ads?

In first ads it is shown how a girl aspires to be a cricket commentator but is not

confident enough to make it because she is dark skinned. So the solution was there, Fair &

Lovely. As she uses the cream she become fair, and with it grows her confident. She sends

the audition tape and there she is, selected and commenting for a cricket match.

In the second ad the situation is slightly different. Here the girl aspires to become a

doctor. This ad goes even far saying that the use of this particular cream will change her

destiny. “Fairever hai na maa, meri takdeer badalde” This ad goes over the limit to suggest

that becoming fair can change your destiny.

What both the ads are trying to project is that looking dark may result in failure. Dark

skinned people are low in confident and have less chances of becoming successful. So the

solution to the problem is there fairness cream which will make you fair and boost your

confidence and help you reach you goal and you will be successful.

Both the above ads make an emotional appeal to the audience. The target audience of

the above ads is females in the age group of 15-25. That is the prime target market, however

the cream is used by females in general irrespective of the age.

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Print Media

Headline: Nine out of ten fairness cream users don't know what they put on

their faces.

Body copy: If you could only read the list of ingredients on your fairness

cream pack, chances are, you would never use it again.

You see, most chemical fairness creams contain hydroquinone, hydrogen

peroxide and ammonia.

Harsh whitening agents that impart only a temporary whiteness and rob the skin of its natural

moisture leaving it dull and lifeless.

With continued use, your skin breaks out in blemishes and shows signs of premature ageing

even before you realize it. No wonder most chemical fairness creams don't list their

ingredients on their packs.

Naturally Fair. Long-lasting fairness.

Emami Naturally Fair, however, is a breakthrough intensive formulation made from the

extracts of 11 rare herbs.

A blend of Ayurveda and international herbal science, it is the only fairness cream that works

gently from within. To give you a long-lasting fairness without any side-effects.

The wonder herbs in Naturally Fair don't just make you fair, but nourish, revitalize and

protect your skin to give it a natural, healthy glow.

100% natural. 100% safe. Milk, cucumber, and coconut extract moisturize it. Sandalwood

soothes and clears blemishes. Liquorices, a natural fairness agent lightens it and Aloe Vera

protects it from the damaging and darkening effects of UV rays. Change to Naturally Fair.

Get a look that's so natural, people will think you're born with it.

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THE TRUTH BEHIND THE FAIRNESS CREAM

Cosmetic companies are spending thousands of millions of rupees on research for ingredients

that block melanin production. Star ingredients like which act on the color cells and reduce

their function to a small extent are Hydroquinone, alpha hydroxy acids especially glycolic,

some vitamin A derivatives, Vitamin C derivatives, tourmaline etc. However, these are all

very mild.

There are some natural ingredients like Kojic acid, green tea, arbutin, etc, which also

claim to lighten the skin to some extent. Most of these works because they have a strong

UVA/UVB filter, which prevents sun damage thus improving the complexion to some extent.

Hydroquinone prevent the formation of melanin-producing cells, and ‘kills’ the

existing ones to make the skin lighter No fairness cream can make you fairer than the skin

with which you were born. What they can do is reverse the damage done by unprotected long

exposure to the sun and protect you against the harsh sunrays.

Hydroquinone however is a strong ingredient and dermatologists advise individuals to

discontinue its use after three or four month of continuous use to switch to a non

hydroquinone cream. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) restrict the use of hydroquinone

to just two percent in cosmetic creams.

A word of caution: authorities in most of Asia, Europe and parts of Africa, prohibit

hydroquinone in skin care preparations. This is due to the reports of an epidermic of

exogenerous ocronosis – a progressive darkening of the skin – in South Africa after patients

used high concentrations of hydroquinone for several years.

The latest buzz is sun is not the only cause for skin darkening. Other factors like stress,

extreme climates, exposure to smoke and other pollutants can trigger the darkening reaction

on our skin. What we need is realization! Realization that color is also beautiful. Often we ply

on the creams wishing for a white skin and are left with more problems due to excess use of

cosmetics. A sunny disposition, good clear skin, the right attitude and loads of personal style

contributes a lot to one’s beauty

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ADDING FUEL TO FIRE

So what has made this demand shot up. “Competition”, “want of looking good” or

“society”?. Certainly all of these. They all have contributed their bit in adding to the demand

for the fairness. We live in a society where dark skin people (specially females) are looked

down upon and often termed as “Kali Kaluti” adding to the situation are the T.V stars who

look picture perfect and someone who is everybody’s dream. This has resulted in a

desperation among the crowd for looking good and fair.

Beauty Queens and Beauty Cream

Beauty pageant winners in India have become national icons who peddle Western

ideals of beauty in an increasingly consumerist culture. Their huge, glowing faces smile

down from billboards on the mere mortal residents of big cities like Mumbai and Delhi. Each

tooth in their wide grins gleams with perfect whiteness; each strand of their shiny hair lies

smoothed flawlessly into place.

Their likenesses plaster the covers of women's magazines and the scores of

advertisement pages within. Turn on the television, and you'll be sure to encounter at least

one of them expounding on the virtues of the latest shampoo or beauty product. A quick

glance at the front page of some of India's biggest newspapers on any given day will yield

another glimpse of their tall, toned figures or their playfully pouting faces gracing wide

expanses of space below some bold headline announcing their latest accomplishment.

They star in the biggest Bollywood movies, they shake hands with the most famous

public officials, and their names are foreign only to those denizens of the most remote

villages. Welcome to 2004 in India, where these women have become some of the country's

most celebrated public figures and symbols of national pride.

In recent years, the list of Indian successes in the global beauty contest arena has been

impressive: Sushmita Sen, Miss Universe 1994; Aishwarya Rai, Miss World 1994 (1994 was

a beauty pageant Grand Slam year for India -- Miss Universe and Miss World); Diana

Hayden, Miss World 1997; and Yukta Mookhey, Miss World 1999. Most recently, Priyanka

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Chopra, Miss World 2000 and Lara Dutta, Miss Universe 2000, making for yet another grand

slam year. Quite a lineup.

Trick question: What do these women have in common? They are Indian, yes, and

they are all beautiful. But it is a particular type of beauty that truly unites these women. They

are all extraordinarily tall by Indian standards, breathtakingly slim, and are possessed of a

light honey-colored skin tone, a characteristic that is possessed by a very small percentage of

India's population.

India is an enormous and diverse country, and its citizens encompass a wide range of

ethnicities and exhibit a range of physical characteristics. The Miss Universe-primed stars of

the silver screen, television advertisements, and domestic beauty pageant scene never include

women with the lovely dark skin and thick, curly hair of the South or the high-cheekboned,

East Asian-featured residents of the North East. The most-recognizable woman in India today

-- the national pride and joy, ex-Miss World and current Bollywood megastar -- Aishwarya

Rai has creamy, translucent skin, but she also has brown hair and piercing blue-green eyes. In

other words, hardly representative of India's ethnic variety. While corporations are making a

killing in the fairness cream market for the moment, perhaps they might be well instructed to

look ahead to the next buying trend.

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CASE STUDY OF FAIR GLOW

The following case study revels how Fair Glow was launched in the market. What are the

various factors that were looked at while launching the cream.

BackgroundFair Glow was launched in 1999 in the popular category of soaps. It was not only a launch of

a new soap but also the launch of a new category in soaps i.e. ‘fairness soaps category’. It had

a very clear value-added benefit of fairness through a new form. There was a huge credibility

factor for a soap that claimed to offer fairness. Therefore the launch strategy was to establish

the benefit with the product form in the most credible manner.

PHASE 1 - LAUNCH

The focus for this stage was to establish fairness through a soap and use the ingredient as the

support. The communication talked about this being the first time in India that fairness was

available through soap and this was because of a unique breakthrough ingredient called

Natural Oxy – G. This communication clearly defined FairGlow as the only fairness soap in

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India. The consumers felt that now they could gain a very evolved benefit from their regular

bath. This product was one of the most successful launches in the already over-crowded

soaps market.

PHASE 2

Key Issue

Once fairness was credible through a soap, an opportunity was identified in laddering the

benefit and finding an emotional platform that was more relevant to the consumer.

Target Audience

Using comprehensive understanding of the typical prospect – a small town teen girl and her

mindset that fluctuates between the need to belong and the new wave of selfdetermination –

FairGlow recognised and focussed on the most crucial event of her lifemarriage. Quickly

owning this often ignored trigger, the communication gave her choices to fulfill her new age

ambition.

Communication strategy

Consumer Insight: Beautiful people (equated with fairness) have more opportunities in life.

Based on the above insight, the reward arrived at was - ‘When I use FairGlow I become fair

and fair people have more opportunities/choices in life’. By owning this, FairGlow started

owning the platform of choices and opportunities. The creative output was ‘When I use

FairGlow I look beautiful and therefore I am in a position to choose my life partner’. This

provided the brand with the core value of ‘choices and opportunities’ in the relevant aperture

of marriage giving the consumer a good ‘reason to buy’ the brand.

PHASE 3

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Background

Launching a cream with a fairness benefit and no value-adds in the face of Fair & Lovely

which has a strong equity on this benefit and form, was no easy task. Due to sluggish

economic growth, only subpopular soaps available on ‘schemes’ had registered some growth.

Even Lux, the market leader was forced to get into schemes. The spurt of new launches and

re-launches by well-entrenched players in this category made the battle even more intense.

The advent of Fair & Lovely and Emami in the soap segment resulted in:

Increased choices for the consumer.

Redefining the fairness benefit.

Hence there existed a need to redefine fairness to the consumer and launch it in an established

form i.e. creams.

Key Issue

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The offer of fairness through soaps or creams was no longer sufficient. The consumer was

looking for value-adds that were both relevant and credible.

Communication Task

Redefine fairness to blemish-free fairness. Research substantiated that this was both relevant

and credible to the consumer.

Communication strategy

Based on this insight the reward arrived at was ‘When you use FairGlow you feel socially

confident’.

Target Audience

A small town teen girl who is currently using Fair & Lovely and is looking for a product that

is better then her current one.

She is slightly insecure about her appearance and is looking for a product that would boost

her confidence amongst her peer group.

Social Confidence

Beautiful Complexion

Blemish-free fairness

Phase 4

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Background

FairGlow is seen to have a very loyal base of users. However the new trials rate seems to

have stagnated. This was worrisome in a brand that is still in its growth stage. The blemish-

free fairness benefit was still not synonymous with FairGlow. Besides, the disbeliveability

factor needed to be tackled with a stronger communication. The soaps market being very

fragmented and highly competitive, all brands need to be re-launched every two to three

years in order to keep the interest alive.

Key Issue

Though users were happy with the product’s performance, they were unclear about Natural

Oxy-G and how it works. Non-users were still wary of the product being able to deliver on

the promise of blemish-free fairness.

Communication Task

To provide complete confidence about the product’s performance. To explain the Natural

Oxy-G process in a convincing and appealing manner.

Target Identified

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Core Audience: Users of beauty creams and soaps and fairness products. Young girls in the

age group of 18+, who currently use products to enhance their complexion. They are very

rational in their choice of products and would try new products only if they are completely

convinced about them.

Communication Strategy

Based on this insight, the communication had to be very rational and convincing. The

creative output was The FairGlow Challenge – blemish-free fairness or your money back and

a product window that was both appealing and convincing. This showed that the company

had great confidence in the brand’s capabilities and would therefore convert non-users to

FairGlow users.

Media

TV is the main medium. Women-oriented subjects and soaps (serials) with high TRP ratings

are consistently used. FairGlow sponsored the serials Sas bhi kabhi bahu thi and KBC when

the TRP of the shows had just started to skyrocket. This proved very beneficial for the brand.

Press, Point of Sale and Outdoor were judiciously used during the brand launch stage to give

a surround media effect for the brand.

FairGlow Today

In spite of Fair & Lovely launching a soap and pushing heavy media spends, it has been

unable to become the market leader. FairGlow has had an impressive second year – as India’s

largest selling fairness soap. It has become a Rs.100 crore brand in a span of 2 years.

FairGlow has started a trend in launching benefit-specific soaps that cater to a very well-

defined segment.

SURVEY FORM

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1) Do you use fairness creams

o Regularly

o Sometimes

o Never

2) Are you happy with your skin colour, or you want it to be a lighter Shade

o Yes, I am happy

o No, I want to be more fair

3) How important is looking fair to you

o Very important

o Not that important

4) Do you think fair people have more chances of success, then dark skin people

o Yes

o No

o Can’t say

5) Do you think it is more important for women to look fair then it is for men.

o Yes, very much

o Up to certain extent

o No, its not so

6) Various advertisement of fairness cream which appear on T.V tends to create gender bias,

do you agree?

o Yes, they do

o No, they don’t

o Can’t say

7) Fashion models, Heroes, Heroines have created complex among people regarding there

skin colour. What is your opinion?

o No , they don’t make much difference

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o They are only one of many other factor

8) Fair people are also beautiful, how true is it?

o Yes, its true

o No, its not so always.

9) How important is the Price Factor in fairness cream

o They are very important

o Not that important

10) What according to you are other factors that are contributing the urge of people to look

fair.

A Detailed Analysis Of Each Question Is Given Here

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1) Do you use fairness creams

o Regularly

o Sometimes

o Never

o

53 people (51 female, 2 males) were the one who used the cream regularly, 35 people (12

female, 23males) used cream sometimes and 12 people (7 female, 5 males) never used the

cream.

This shows that women dominate the Fairness cream sales. They are the major contributor.

Males are not regular user of the cream, but use it occasionally.

2) Are you happy with your skin colour, or you want it to be a lighter Shade

o Yes, I am happy

o No, I want to be more fair

47 people were happy with there skin colour while 53 people wished to have a lighter skin

shade.

3) How important is looking fair to you

35

Male Female0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Regularly

Sometime

Never

Female

YesNo

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o Very important

o Not that important

While 67 people said that it was very important for them to look fair, 23 people were of the

opinion that it was not that important for them to look fair. Of the 67 people who agreed that

looking fair was important females were the majority (55 female, 12 males). This also

supports the fact as to why females dominate the fairness cream market.

4) Do you think fair people have more chances of success, then dark skin people

o Yes

o No

o Can’t say

On closely observing the patter of reply of people it was observed that all people in Yes

category (47) also believed that looking fair was important. There were 25 people who said

‘No’ and 26 couldn’t decide.

5) Do you think it is more important for women to look fair then it is for men.

36

Males Female0

102030405060

Very imp

Not that imp

Yes

No

Can't Say

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o Yes, very much

o Up to certain extent

o No, its not so

The ‘yes’ category which consist of 54 people is dominated by females (41 females to 13

males) which shows that women are more conscious about looking fair then males. 32 people

agree to the question to some extent. While talking to them they said it holds true specially in

case of marriage. Only few (14) seem to disagree with it.

6) Various advertisement of fairness cream which appear on T.V tends to create gender

bias, do you agree?

o Yes, they do

o No, they don’t

o Can’t say

This was one question where people had very mixed response. They gave more time self-

analyzing the question before answering the question. Very few were of the opinion that the

ad did not create gender bias, most either agreed of were not sure about it.

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Male Female

13 41

1121

6 8

Yes Up to some extentNo

Yes No Can't say

0%

50%

100%Female

Male

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7) Fashion models, Heroes, Heroines have created complex among people regarding

there skin colour. What is your opinion?

o No , they don’t make much difference

o They are only one of many other factor

In this question very few seemed to disagree that the above mentioned people don’t make

much of a difference. Majority of them believed that they do make a difference but they are

only one of the many other factor that contribute to the urge of looking fair.

8) Fair people are also beautiful, how true is it?

o Yes, its true

o No, its not so always.

This question provides a solid base to the fact that people have a pre-conceived notion of

equating Beauty and Fairness. For them its “fairness = beauty”. Most of the people in the

survey believed that all people who have a lighter shade of skin or say fair skin are

automatically beautiful.

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No, they don’t make much diffOne of many other factor

Yes, its true

No, not so0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Male

Female

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9) How important is the Price Factor in fairness cream

o They are very important

o Not that important

Reaction of people to this question was quite mixed. Though majority believed that price

played an important role in Fairness cream, there were some who believed that price is not

that important as it provides benefits which can raise a persons self esteem.

10) What according to you are other factors that are contributing the urge of people to

look fair?

Some of the common answer that I got to this question included, ‘Family’, ‘Friends’,

‘Marriage’, among married women ‘husbands’ was one the factors that was common.

Although among young crowed ‘attracting opposite sex’ was one of the prime reason for

looking fair (so using fairness cream), showed that people still do believe that looking fair

can be a attractive factor.

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Very Important Not that important

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SURVEY ANALYSIS

The basic objective of survey was to closely study the attitude of the consumers towards

fairness. For the survey a sample size of 100 people was taken. It consisted of both Male and

Female. Including male in the survey was important for 2 reasons. First being that there is

and marked increase in the number of males using Fairness Cream. In a recent survey

conducted by CavinKare for its fairness cream brand Fairever, about 27% of their consumers

are male. In the overall market Males contribute to about 25% of total sales. Hence including

was important. Second reason is that Males contribute to a great deal in increasing a women’s

urge to look fair, as is a commonly observed fact the males like fair women. So it was very

important to analysis the psychic of males.

Of the 100 people surveyed 70 were females in the age group of 17-35 and males in

the age group of 18-30. Survey has brought many interesting facts. Most people believe that

fair people have more chances of success and they are generally more successful then darker

skin people. While most of them agreed that Fairness Cream do create gender bias they also

agreed that it was more important for female to look fair then males. This implies that what

we see in the ad is actually a reflection of our mentality. Most people think that Heroes,

Heroines and Models do influence people but only up to certain level which meant that there

were things other then this which also played a role in contributing to the demand for

Fairness Creams.

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CONCLUSION

So what to make of the hidden connections between the sheer force of the beauty

queens and the fairness cream explosions? It's clear, most of all, that while these intertwined

phenomena are obvious products of globalization and exposure to new cultural and economic

norms, they could never be written off solely as examples of Western cultural imperialism

and economic hegemony.

First, Indian culture has long carried within itself the ugly capacities for female

objectification and devastating color-consciousness. Second, and just as important, it is

Indians who are making a killing in the new skin-bleaching and cosmetic markets, not, for the

most part, American or European corporations. Who, then, is to blame? Hindustan Lever?

Consumers? Magazine editors, shopkeepers, television producers, politicians? Aishwarya Rai

herself?

The answer, of course, is all and none of the above. We all pay attention to skin color,

whether we admit it or not. We all admire beautiful women, and we all want to be desired.

Finally, we're all consumers, and we all contribute in some way to the ravenous machinery of

mass-produced commercialism. The point of such an exercise of recognizing collective

responsibility, though, is not to make us despair and turn all helpless and jellylike in the face

of the monsters of human shallowness and greed.

Rather, in learning to avoid displacing the blame for such embedded social stains onto

abstract notions like "globalization", we should be learning to think harder about our roles in

the world. In this case, that means remembering that other people's notions of beauty sell, but

only if we buy them.

Does globalization have to mean the inexorable growth of cultural homogenization

and insatiable consumerist appetites? Of course not, and neither does the "international face

of beauty" of the future have to be a single, packaged physical incarnation of melting pot

(read: assimilation) ideology. Instead, it seems like there's no better time than now to remind

ourselves that beauty is difference, and we have the power to decide what we desire. And our

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desires, ultimately, are what give us, mere consumers, the power to determine the shape of

our world as it rockets into the post-modern future.}

So let me get back to what I wanted to convey when I started this review. According

to me buying these fairness creams at the exorbitant prices they are sold is a mere waste of

money. Also I am told by many of my friends who use these products that they have to be

used on a regular basis to maintain the fairness they give. Its not like, you use it, become fair

and forget it. If you are dark/ dusky and you feel low about it, then probably what you really

need is:

i) a good book written by any famous author on how to get over your complexes or

how to search for a winner within you. (fair and lovely says it will make you a more

confident person in 6 weeks, a good book can do that in 6 days)

ii) good friends who can tell you that a skin fairer than what you already have is not

going to make you any better person than you already are within. Good friends can make you

more confident in 6 hours (maybe even lesser)

iii) some serious thought about all those people who are born with greater physical

and mental handicaps and still living their life to the fullest, enjoying every minute of this gift

called LIFE. (good positive thoughts make you believe in yourself almost instantaneously)

.....and trust me none of the above has any negative side effects nor do they have a recurring

cost.

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BIBILIOGRAPHY

Books Referred: Facts of India Advertising & Consumer Behavior: An Imperial Approach

Positioning: The Battle for your mind

Web Sites: www.timesofindia.com

www.hinduonline.com

www.indiainfoline.com

www.cavindia.com

www.mouthshut.com

Search Engines: www.yahoo.com

www.google.co.in

www.rediff.com

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