The Body Shop is a beauty retailer that specializes in skin and body care. The first Body Shop was opened by Anita Roddick in 1976 in Brighton, England. The five core values of the company are supporting of community trade, protecting the planet, defending Human Rights, activating self-esteem, and acting against animal testing ("Body Shop").
Today, the company operates more than 2500 shops in 60 countries and it is the second largest franchise worldwide. In 2006 it was acquired by L’Oreal Group, however, it continues to operate with minimal interference from L’Oreal management in order to preserve the Body Shop brand integrity ("Body Shop").
Product
The Body Shop offers body, make-up, skin care, bath, hair care, scents for home and fragrances that together account for more than 1200 articles. The products are made from high quality ingredients that are naturally grown. Product development process combines careful study of the traditional herbal cosmetics with the up to date scientific research. The company environmental management program assesses risks along the whole product life-cycle by evaluating suppliers and assessing the environmental impact during disposal. The Body Shop items are not durable; they are never tested on animals and they are created in a way to minimize the harm for the environment. Most of the articles can be bought in refillable containers or with minimal packaging and contain clear information about the product content (Charter and Polonsky 285-300). The strong connection with environmental protection and adherence to ethical values by the company create an emotional connection to the brand and generate consumer loyalty.
Pricing
The Body Shops sets prices at a low/ medium level in order to make their products affordable for a wider consumer audience. However, the high emotional connection with the brand as well as the environmental initiatives of the company, allow the Body Shop to charge premium prices for its products.
Promotion
The Body Shop does not invest in advertising and promotes its products by the use of PR, prime-site location of their stores and their own website. The participation of the Body Shop in numerous environmental causes ensures high level of media exposure without jeopardizing the value of the brand and gives the Body Shop a competitive advantage through a clear differentiation from the rivals. Moreover, the charismatic image of the founder, Annita Roddick, creates positive media coverage for the company.
Placement
The Body Shop is a B2C business that directly targets final consumers. It is expanding through franchisees (around 70% of the stores) in order to take advantage of the local knowledge and expertise, and by opening own shops. The Body Shop personnel visits franchisees regularly to monitor the adherence to the company image and to help the shops with training, promotion etc. Company values and current campaigns are actively communicated to the franchisees, who are expected to embrace and follow them.
All the Body Shop stores follow a similar format. Their green decor should emphasize the environmental orientation of the company and the natural origin of the products. The windows of the shops often display the campaigns and environmental causes that the Body Shop is currently involved in. All employees in the stores are trained to respond to the questions both regarding the products and the environmental issues related to the business. Moreover, salespeople should not be aggressive in selling the products but should be honest about the ingredients of every item and their action (Burns).
Burns, Paul. "Body Shop." Case Studies in Entrepreneurship. Palgrave Macmillan, n.d. Web.
14 Apr 2012.
Charter, Martin, and Michael J. Polonsky. Greener Marketing: A Global Perspective on
Greening Marketing Practice. 2nd ed. Sheffielf, UK: Greenleaf Publishing, 1999.
285-300.
"Our Company." The Body Shop. The Body Shop International plc, 2012. Web. 14 Apr 2012.
