Lux and the Bollywood connection
From the time it entered desi shores in 1932, Lux has been sold by pretty much every leading lady of consequence from Leela Chitnis to Hema Malini to Parveen Babi, Madhuri Dixit to Rani Mukherji, Aishwarya Rai, Asin and Katrina Kaif. And in a memorable departure from the norm, when King Khan aka Shah Rukh slipped into a bath-tub surrounded by tinsel town’s lovelies, the fans were over the moon! In the more enlightened 2000s, focus has shifted to beauty that is real. While it continues to hold onto the premise that bathing is a ritual to revel in and beauty a feast to be indulged in, it is more accommodating of real-life women and the many roles they play. In other words, the customer is the one whose star quality has been encouraged from the word go. Today, Lux products are manufactured at 71 locations with more than 2000 suppliers and associates providing the raw materials. It has key markets in Brazil, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and South Africa, and is a market leader in soap bars in India, Pakistan, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Thailand and Vietnam. Its premium associations from award nights to other ‘meet the stars’ contests to having lucky dips of gold coins embedded inside bars of soap go the distance in promoting it as a premium product.
A soap etched in history
With a range of beauty soaps, shower gels, bath additives, hair shampoos and conditioners in its kitty, Lux, the Latin word for ‘light’ also doubles up as a stylish derivative of the word luxury. From fuss-free beginnings as “Sunlight Flakes” laundry soap in 1899, to a smashing progress in 1925 as the first mass market toilet soap in the world, to its present day uber chic avatar, what a journey it’s been. One that few others can lay claim to. Lux toilet soap was launched in the US market in 1925 and in the United Kingdom in 1928. Subsequently, Lux soap has been marketed in several forms, including handwash, shower gel and cream bath soap. Even in those early days, canny advertising and nifty positioning helped big time. From the outset the tagline “made as fine as French Soap” set it apart (France being the Western capital of all things classy and stylish). In the first two years of launch, Lux concentrated on building its beauty soap credentials.
This pioneered the trend of celebrity product endorsements. Stars talked to their consumers, took them into confidence and shared their beauty secret
Advertisements offered consumers “a beauty soap made in the French method” at an affordable price. Even so, it sold at an affordable 10 cents. Between 1928 and 1940, Lux entered UK, India, Argentina and Thailand. The brand was smart enough to figure out that cinema and movie stars were the new-world royalty—and built its association with the same. Their 1929 iconic ad featured 26 of the biggest female stars of the day, creating a huge impact among the movie-loving target audience This pioneered the trend of celebrity product endorsements. The stars talked to their consumers, took them into confidence and shared their beauty secret. From Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren to Brigitte Bardot and Natalie Wood, Lux has celebrated different decades with the brightest stars in the galaxy.
Fine perfume meets exotica, that’s the Lux signature range. Sample a few:
Mood Enhancers: This range is crafted with the icy freshness of cooling mint and the invigorating power of sea minerals to transform your skin from dull to vibrant in an instant. The range has one variant – Lux Fresh Splash.
Skin Perfectors: Is crafted from effective ingredients which work to enhance the skin’s natural glow and perfection. This range has one variant – Lux Sandal & Cream.
Fine Fragrance Elixirs: This is crafted with spell binding fragrances and exotic ingredients to produce a magical bathing experience which leaves your skin soft, perfumed and pampered. But even as it holds the popular imagination like few others can claim to, there is criticism that it relies too much on the beauty peg, that there is fast-emerging competition from brands like ITC and Godrej to name a few. Besides, unlike several other leading soaps it lacks unisex appeal, and the celeb endorsement idea, which is fast being picked up by other soaps, is losing its novelty. Of course, even then, Lux does enjoy the privilege of being original. However, market experts caution that Lux needs to strengthen other derivatives of soap like body washes and shower gels.
- By Kalyani Sardesai
