The Body Shop and its Success Principles - Essay Example

Case study analysis: The Body Shop 1. Case Summary The case identifies the success principles that have driven growth for the Body Shop that are directly related to leadership focus stemming from Anita Roddick. Roddick’s cultural values associated with honesty, integrity and socialization both in-store and personality-based have driven a high brand following from clients that appreciate this candour and ingenuity in service delivery. These founding principles, considering Roddick openly admits her business knowledge was severely limited, have brought the Body Shop a dedicated consumer following. Innovation in promotion, as well, such as placing strawberry essence on the sidewalk to lure customers with a “pleasing aroma” highlight this entrepreneurial ingenuity. Many of Roddick’s slogans are designed to foster a sense of honesty and integrity, such as her in-store environmentalism campaigns, discounted refill services for environmental protectionism, and her acknowledgement that The Body Shop products have no miracle cure reinforce dedication to ethical business practice. Concepts of caring and loving, more emotionally-driven attitudes in business concept and product variety, clearly indicate a target market of the female audience. This supersedes existing patriarchical business philosophy in the beauty industry in this female-driven business related to policy development, ad concept, and even product development. Understanding the feminine persona at the psychological level gives The Body Shop its competitive edge. The company devotes little cash to marketing and advertising, believing the concept and Roddick’s brash attitudes with the assistance of PR services is enough to satisfy profit objectives and gain visibility in their key market demographic segments; and sales success supports this as a worthwhile strategy. The ample volume of corporate social responsibility activities bring this business much more value publicly and coupled with a more horizontal hierarchy, The Body Shop has established a culture loyal and dedicated to bringing success to the business. 2. Strategic Issues Rapid expansion develops a new corporate mentality that defies pre-existing attitudes regarding the product that serves to strip away its fundamental founding principles on love and caring. Risks associated with the U.S. market in relation to defying advertising as a promotional platform due to competition, consumer diversity and the regulatory environment. Extensive political involvement an opportunity for negative publicity in potential growth markets. The Body Shop believes that “true beauty comes from confidence, vitality and inner well-being” (thebodyshop.com, 2009, p.1). The use of imagery designed to build on women’s self-esteem were the founding philosophies that brought considerable growth for The Body Shop. However, franchising and global growth has changed the dynamics of the customer/service worker relationship and the family-friendly atmosphere that Roddick so treasured personally and brought her a considerable brand following. This has too changed Roddick’s relationship with subordinates and franchisees from a mentor to that of a corporate-minded executive, something Roddick is unsatisfied with. This is a rapidly emerging internalized threat to sustaining customer relationships over the long-term if traditionalist values are not reinforced back into the internal franchisee in-store environment. Holland & Barrett, a competitor with a branded product labelled Dr. Organic, is providing a new competitive force to The Body Shop with lower-priced organic personal care products (Marketing Week, 2009). Using price as the main selling point, this and other competitors maintain the ability to exploit some of Roddick’s market share as they rely on tactical advertising strategies to gain consumer following with a positioning strategy based on price. Roddick’s stern business attitude related to non-advertising may have long-term competitive outcomes based on growth in competition in the organic health and beauty marketplace. A transformational leader provides a business environment based on charity, harmony and good works to create shared goals and meanings internally (Bass & Steidlmeier, 1999, p.188). Roddick and her leadership structure fit that of a transformational leader that has led to success in CSR activities. However, the depth of her political involvement runs the risk of alienating non-domestic customers based on the media portrayal of activism for the long-run. This is a macro-level issue that requires addressing in certain markets. 3. Factors Contributing to Strategic Issues The U.S. market, culturally, is an individualistic society where independence and self-expression are highly valued (Blodgett, Bakir & Rose, 2008). However, this creates a diversity of character that creates unpredictable behaviour in many desired consumer segments that is difficult to quantify for delivery of customer service and relationship sustainment. Political activism at its most extreme as a regular CSR function for Roddick and her brash, quotable attitude has broader implications in a culture that does not share collectivist, family-based goals and interests. Roddick’s defiance of ambiguity and public relations-minded approach to advertising can lead to distorted consumer concepts about The Body Shop potentially being a radical business. The firm’s relative strengths, however, are in the structure of the in-store environment, utilizing displays, colours, and product innovations that satisfy the typically feminine marketplace. Honesty, truth and no delivery of false promises about the miracle aspects of these products bring the company more strategic value long-run and a devoted consumer following that is quite different from large, corporate competitors such as L’Oreal. 4. Alternatives & Analysis Because self-esteem is a crucial motivational drive for the consumer acceptance of goods in this category (Banister & Hogg, 2004), and the loss of family and integrity structure in franchise stores, a new management structure that re-harmonizes traditional business principles is required. Bridging the growing corporate versus family-oriented structure is necessary to achieve a unified business presence internationally. Alternatives are to slow growth in franchise development and diversify the existing product portfolio, however this requires more costs than a reorganization of internal cultural principles. Rejection of advertising requires investment, however The Body Shop can reduce its political activism and devote these funds to advertising in key markets where growth is slow, thus proverbially killing two birds with one stone. Competitive forces are intense, especially in a potentially high dollar market such as the United States where advertising is a necessity. 5. Recommendations Recruit consultant expertise to reinject harmonious, traditionalist values into the franchise network to facilitate pre-existing success principles on love and caring. More focus on human resources consultation and recruitment efforts managed by executive leadership can improve this hospitality-based climate in franchise facilities. Roddick should also limit political involvement internationally until growth achievements have been incurred in the U.S. market and devote this spending to advertising. Development of targeted materials will bring more value and reduce the potential for negative publicity short-term. Consumers do not want to perceive The Body Shop as extreme liberalism in an unpredictable and profitable marketplace. References Banister, E. & Hogg, M. 2004, Negative symbolic consumption and consumers’ drive for self-esteem: the case of the fashion industry, European Journal of Marketing, vol.38, no.7, p.850. Bass, B. & Steidlmeier, P. 1999, Ethics, character and authentic transformational leadership behaviour, Leadership Quarterly, vol.10, no.2, p.188. Blodgett, J., Bakir, A. & Rose, G. 2008, A test of the validity of Hofstede’s cultural framework, The Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol.25, no.5, p.339. Marketing Week. 2009, Holland & Barrett launches Body Shop challenger range, London, June 4, p.6. Thebodyshop.com. 2009. [internet] How do we make our customers and employees feel good about themselves?. [accessed June 26, 2011 at http://www.thebodyshop.com/_en/_ww/values-campaigns/self-esteem.aspx] Bibliography Phipps, K. & Burbach, M. 2010, Strategic leadership in the nonprofit sector: opportunities for research, Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, vol.11, no.2, pp.137-155. Thebodyshop.co.uk. 2009, [internet] Values and campaigns: living our values. [accessed June 26, 2011 at http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/_en/_gb/values-campaigns/community-trade.aspx?] Read More