NIVEA: The Use of Marketing Mix in Product Launch

Introduction—Case Synopsis
NIVEA is brand produced and sold by Beiersdorf, a global skin and beauty care company that has been in operation for over a century. Beiersdorf’s goal in the UK was to get its products as close to consumers as possible. Its focus with NIVEA was to develop the brand into one of the biggest skin care brands on the planet, a core concept of global marketing (Spillan, 2012). After conducting market research, Beiersdorf found a gap in the market regarding beauty products for young women aged 13-19. There were no organic products available for maintaining healthy skin; products on the shelves were mainly for medicinal purposes. Market research showed that girls aged 13-19 wanted a skin care product that was purely for maintenance purposes and not for medicinal purposes: they wanted something that was preventive, something that would “keep their skin looking healthy and beautiful” (NIVEA, n.d., p. 1). Using a market-oriented approach, Beiersdorf therefore had to come up with the right marketing mix for its new product launch to fill the gap in the market for young girls in need of a great skin care product.
Statement of Problems
Key Issues
In 2005, Beiersdorf developed and launched NIVEA VISAGE Young for the target market of girls aged 13-19. The company used a balance of the 4 P’s—product, price, promotion and place to reach this market. Two years later, the company re-launched the product in order to further enhance its position in the market, the goal being to optimize its product: the product had a new formula, tweaked after examining new market research, a new design, new packaging and a new name. Beiersdorf had to decide on the right approach to the 4 P’s to make its re-launch a success.
Primary Case Problem
The primary case problem was to identify the correct balance of the 4 P’s in order to have an effective marketing mix for its new skin care product marketing girls aged 13-19. This was about finding the right strategy, which is essential to an effective marketing campaign, as Collis and Rukstad (2008) show.
Secondary Case Problem
The secondary case problem was to implement the 4 P’s effectively using the right combination of approaches to keep the product as close to the consumer as possible while also ensuring the product was exactly what the consumer wanted.
Cause, Symptoms
The symptoms of the problem were that no product actually existed for this target. There were medicinal skin care products related to skin problems for the target, but nothing that resembled preventive care products—products aimed to keep skin healthy, fresh and youthful. The majority of products focused on treating acne, dryness, etc.
Theoretical Framework to Identify Problems
The theoretical framework used to identify problems in this case study was that developed by Trout and Rifkin (2006) who say that the marketer must “differentiate or die” (p. 2). For Beiersdorf, differentiation came by way of taking the market-oriented approach. The company sought to see what the market was needing that it did not have. To do this, it had to reach out to the market to better understand it. There are multiple ways for this to occur: focus groups, surveys, product testing, consumer research—all of these techniques offer companies the chance to better understand their market. For Beiersdorf, it not only wanted to understand the market, it wanted to give the market a product that was not there yet. It found a gap in the market for girls who wanted a beauty product that would help them to maintain their skin. This product could differentiate itself from other products because it would not be problem-related but rather preventive-related, and it would not have harmful chemicals and compounds but rather natural and organic compounds that could appeal to young people.
Another framework that would help Beiersdorf was the new media theoretical approach, which focuses on providing consumers with on-demand access to information, tools, tips and help that enables a type of mediation between producer and consumer never seen (Bernhardt, Mays, Hall, 2012; Correa, Rukstad, 2008; Downes, Mui, 1998). New media is typically associated with the Internet and since many young people today have grown up in the Digital Age, it makes sense that new media theory should play a pivotal role in address the primary and secondary case problems in this case study.
Case Analysis
Beiersdorf used the 4 P’s to come up with the right marketing strategy to fill the marketing gap identified by its market researchers. This strategy consisted of identifying the right product, price, place, and promotion.
Product
The product was designed to meet the needs of the target market that had no product to meet its needs. First, the company identified the market gap—and then sought answers to the type of product that the target needed. NIVEA knew what kind of product to develop because it conducted focus groups to be able to listen directly to consumers about their needs; it gathered data from consumers by a using various research techniques such as surveys, online questionnaires, social media, etc., and it conducted product testing to help tell which products worked best in which markets. What all of this research told Beiersdorf was that young consumers wanted more specialized face care that had a beautifying aspect to it rather than a solution-oriented aspect. Not everyone who shops for face care products has a skin problem; some people just want to shop for them so as to keep their skin healthy, fresh, glowing and youthful in appearance. Beiersdorf saw this and knew that all it had to do was develop a product that met this target’s needs. It was following the framework of Trout and Rivkin (2006)—the idea that in order to succeed, one must differentiate or die—and since competitor products were all oriented towards being problem-solving skin care products, NIVEA was onto something new that would fill a market gap and differentiate itself from what was already out there for the target consumer.
Price
The company also had to ensure that it did not overprice or underprice its product. It found that the majority of its new product was actually purchased by Mums for their daughters, which meant that the price had to be reasonable and seem like a good deal, otherwise the product would not move. As Ries and Trout (2009) show, price is important when it comes to marketing. It can make or break a product if the target market is price-conscientious. And Beiersdorf saw that in this target market, price conscientious Mums would do the majority of the buying—so it had to be smart about pricing the product and make it reasonable. In this way, the product was a market leader and set the bar for all other products in this sector. Thus, NIVEA used a combination of cost based pricing, penetration pricing, and price skimming in various stages in order to ensure that the price was always attractive. On the product’s relaunch, the price was slightly higher than the original to reflect the new formulation, packaging and product range.
Place
Place was another issue that the company had to consider. It wanted to sell its product in places where the target would purchase it, and the research indicated that the target would purchase the product both in high street shops and in supermarkets. Place does not only refer to where a product is sold, however. It also refers to how a product arrives at the point of sale. In other words, distribution also plays a significant role in place considerations.
NIVEA VISAGE Young wanted to use all the relevant distribution channels available so as to obtain the widest reach possible. This meant it chose to offer its products both on high street and in supermarkets and the distribution it sought was extensive. It found that 65% of its sales were via high street shops like Boots and Superdrug while the remaining 35% came from grocery chains.
When considering distribution, NIVEA also looks at the environmental impact of transportation and uses a central distribution point in the UK, with products arriving from Europe. Beiersdorf then users wholesalers to distribute the products to smaller accounts. It does not sell directly through its website as the costs of moving small orders is too high. It therefore relies on retailers who have their own websites for moving product. This is an efficient strategy and is geared towards letting the company get the product as near to its consumers as possible and it also reflects an appropriate corporate social responsibility with regard to protecting the environment, which will also help the company to appeal to its target market, which is likely to have a concern for the environment and for not being wasteful.
Promotion
Promoting the product is also important and for this product, NIVEA found that below-the-line strategies were most effective. These included branding and doing a consumer-led promotion, which allows the consumer to engage directly with the product by testing samples. NIVE gave away over a million free samples of its product to promote it in 2008. Samples could be obtained through goody bags at road shows, samples in stores, and through the website. Social marketing was also used to promote the product, which is in line with what Bernhardt et al. (2012) recommend when it comes to using new media to promote a product. Since the Digital Age is upon us, it makes sense to use the tools of the Digital Age, which the younger generation is completely familiar with. Since this product also appeals to the younger generation, it makes sense that it should be part of the strategy.
Alternative Recommendations
Alternative recommendations for the launch of its marketing mix would include using promotional activities on social media like Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Just like companies like GoPro have used the video platform of YouTube to promote its product, NIVEA could use any of the picture oriented platforms to promote its product and how health it makes the skin look. Consumers could take pictures of their skin and upload it to the website which maintains the social media platform. Contests could be held to determine the winner for the best picture or the best list of recommendations for using the product in combination with other NIVEA products and so on. The idea would be to engage directly with consumers and inspire a following for its products, just as Apple inspires with its core base of consumers, by promoting new products for those who want to have an Apple lifestyle in computing.
The company could also focus on creating a line of products that are geared entirely towards this market, honing in on creating a following of its products at an early age and therefore having a brand loyal following for life. By capturing the target market at the age of 13 or 14 and having them as they mature into adulthood, the company could profit immensely. This would require formulating a new approach that was designed to harness branding and build a brand that focused entirely on young consumers in much the same way that Victoria’s Secret has done with its Pink line of fashion wear.
Practical Appeal of Recommendations
The practical appeal of recommendations would be that the company could harness Digital Technology to get its brand out there to consumers who use email, social media, and other messaging platforms to get the latest information of what products are available. Numerous research has been conducted to show that social media is the best platform for making one’s business and products visible to consumers of the Digital Age (Correa et al., 2010; Bernhardt et al., 2012).
Additionally the benefit of developing a line that specifically targeted a core group of young consumers and then developed products that appealed to them over time and as they aged would help the company to develop its brand and build its image as a company that cares for its consumers and seeks to be with them every step of their way into adulthood. It could have products that are geared towards certain periods of life, from adolescence on up to one’s 30s. It could use science to differentiate itself from other products and suggest that the body’s needs are different at various ages and so too should the products be. This type of appeal allows the company to be at the forefront of the market and really engage the consumer so that the consumer feels loyalty and love for the products and is willing to go to them for all their skin care needs for the rest of the adult lives.
Real World Applications, Issues and Constraints
Real world applications would include using social media to run promotional, contests, giveaways, advice hotlines, blogs for sharing stories and updates, and photo sites for sharing pictures of before and after usage.
This usage of social media would help to cultivate a solid following so that Mums and daughters know what everyone is using, what helps, why it helps, how it should be applied, and why people love it. They could share stories on where to shop, which stores are offering free samples and so on. This is the age of sharing: everything is shared, from information to services, so it just makes sense that NIVEA be part of the Digital Age of sharing information.
Issues that might impact this application could be the trouble of maintaining social media sites, but the research shows that maintaining social media sites and corresponding directly with consumers can be one of the best ways to cultivate brand loyalty and show consumers that you are serious about having their best interests at heart. It can also lead to the company being able to grow the consumer base from an early age and keep them throughout life, just like a television series will do as it captures a viewer in season one and still has that same viewer tuning it for season 12 over a decade later. That is how to successful capture a target.
Constraints would include the fact that maintaining correspondence with consumers over social media and running promotions on social media and developing product lines for the target can be time and energy consuming not to mention costly. The best thing to do in this situation is to develop a social media presence and make it part of the core marketing business going forward. New media is replacing old media and that fact must be recognized.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the marketing mix of Beiersdorf for NIVEA was designed to take advantage of the found market gap regarding young women with no skin care product geared towards beauty. Because most competitors focused products in this age group towards having medicinal purposes, the opportunity was there to develop something that the age group could use to protect their skin and keep it youthful. Thus, NIVEA took a market-oriented approach to figuring out what the market wanted and then it developed that product. It then marketed the product by using the right balance of the 4 P’s—product, price, place and promotion—in order to get the product as close as possible to its consumers. The right balance was achieved by developing a product that the market wanted and that was not currently available. Thus, NIVEA was able to differentiate itself, which is critical in marketing. Then it focused on using the right price to get Mums to buy it. Then it focused on place and found that the majority of purchases were in high street, but it used all distribution channels available to get as much product in front of consumers as possible. Then it focused on promotion and used consumer-led approach to get the consumer touching, feeling, smelling and applying the product with free samples at shows and stores.

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