Plénitude Product Line, Case Study Example

The Plénitude product line of moisturizers and cleansers in the United States began to have quite an impact on the market by becoming the #2 leading product line behind Procter and Gamble’s Oil of Olay.  Since 1988, the product line has hit a plateau and has not been able to find an appropriate way to further incorporate the typical L’Oréal “class to mass” philosophies.  This case shows that Carol Hamilton has many serious decisions to make in order for the product to show a financial profit and end its continued loss of profit after taxes as well as ending the current sales plateau.  This plateau will most likely be altered by changing the Plénitude product line in a way that appeals to a greater audience and offers the product to the true masses of the United States.

In the United States, the greatest masses of potential clients are young adult women and teenagers.  Currently, the product is marketed mainly to defend against anti-aging effects which is why its main star products are the Revitalift and Eye Defense products in the Plénitude product line.  The problem is that these products are only of interest by a specific portion of the overall consumer population.  This group includes mostly the elderly and middle-aged women who are looking to reverse the signs of aging to look younger and maintain their youth for as long as possible.  One of the main problems seen from the consumer studies is that women tell their daughters not to look at these products because they do not need them or that they are for older women.  Therefore, the younger audience that is the main consumer market that purchases moisturizers and cleansers are not interested in purchasing the Plénitude products because of typical generational stereotypes.  It is Carol Hamilton’s job to change this problem by making specific changes to the product line to appeal more towards the younger masses.

First of all, the product line is very large and many of the products do not yield high benefits or even clearly distinguish themselves from the other products.  The names of the products play a very crucial role in this dilemma.  For instance, one of the customers’ reactions stated that she had a problem with the name “Excel A” because she had no idea what it meant.  Another reaction stated that there were three paragraphs of writing on the box and nothing that really stood out to her or made her excited about purchasing the products.  Therefore, to solve the initial plateau, some of the products should be taken off the shelves.  This would give the research and development as well as the marketing departments an opportunity to focus specifically on the major products in the Plénitude line and make appropriate changes to target the younger masses.  The Revitalift and Eye Defense products are two of the highest grossing products in the line, so these should maintain their look and feel so that they do not detract from current product users.

Furthermore, the brand name L’Oréal is a name that most women in the United States, regardless of age, know fairly well.  The brand name should read Plénitude of L’Oréal on every box of the product line.  This will take advantage of the brand popularity and strong reputation for L’Oréal while beginning to put the name Plénitude into the minds of the mass consumers. Although this may be costly at first, Hamilton has stated that they do not need to make money in the first year but that the plateau must break within the second year.  By making this simple change, the products are automatically appealing to consumers’ brand recognition and at least grab their attention in the HBA isles.

Finally, the marketing department may need to rethink the names of many of the products and create a specific powerful phrase to grab the consumer’s attention in stores.  The marketing department may wish to consult a packaging graphic designer in order to create a model mark-up of potential changes that are not only more appealing to the consumer, but emphasize the important information.  Again, the Revitalift and Eye Defense products should still remain very similar to their current forms to not detract current product users.

It is not recommended that Revitalift Eye be introduced into the product line at this time.  This would create the added challenge of trying to differentiate this single product from the two highest grossing products in the Plénitude product line – Revitalift and Eye Defense.  The product would need even greater marketing and advertising costs to launch, which are not appropriate for the current changes being proposed to the entire product line.  Once the line breaks through the overall sales plateau and begins to show signs of significant revenues, the brand can introduce a new product into the line.  However, additional market research should be performed to determine if current Revitalift and Eye Defense consumers believe such a product is necessary.  This single product would automatically create inter-line competition, which may hurt overall sales revenues in the end.

The L’Oréal brand should begin to attack the daily moisturizer segment in order to make a push for sales in this area.  It will likely continue to compete with Oil of Olay and even newer grossing products that reach a younger audience such as Neutrogena and Clean & Clear.  Because the younger audiences know little about L’Oréal, the advertising must be tapered to appeal to the younger generations.  Furthermore, the product line may also wish to lower prices to make these more affordable to a population that yield very low if any income.  The packaging must be “hip and cool” to entice a younger audience to even look at the box.  This can create a marketing challenge for a product line that typically focuses on an older more class-conscious portion of the population.  Because the entire product line is looking to appeal to a younger audience, this new daily moisturizer may become the star product that the company needs to break the plateau while it makes the necessary changes.  Advertising should be performed in teen and young adult magazines as well as in commercials during popular television shows that are often viewed by this segment of the population.  The R&D and marketing departments should conduct further research to perform such an advertising campaign on a new product geared towards a newer consumer base, but the ending benefits could prove to be very substantial.