Project background
The Body Shop International is one of the largest cosmetic franchises in the world; it operates in 61 countries, including Australia (The Body Shop, 2010, unpaged). At the given moment, this organization offers more than 600 different products such as soap, lipstick, face creams, and massage oils (The Body Shop, 2010). This company operates in a very competitive environment; among its competitors, one can single out Procter & Gamble, L’Oreal, Unilever, and Avon (Pitman, 2006, unpaged).
The key aim of this project is to provide Australian customers with a new moisturizer with a hat by selling it in the stores of the Body Shop. This product will enjoy considerable demand among customers; in part, it can be explained by the fact that Australian people are becoming more aware of the high incidence of skin cancer in this country (Cancer Council, 2011, unpaged). This project will enable the Body Shop to increase its market share and improve its corporate image. The thing is that a part of the revenues will be donated to the Cancer Council, a non-governmental organization that seeks to reduce the incidence of cancer.
Project definition
Nature of the project
In the course of this project, our team will partner with the Body Shop in order to sell moisturizers and hats as a bonus to the clients. Given current manufacturing costs, we can estimate that the price of the product will be $25. Furthermore, 8 percent of each sale ($ 2) will be donated to the Cancer Council, a not-for-profit organization that attempts to help the community overcome cancer. In turn, the Body Shop will receive three dollars of revenue from each sale. The product will be promoted by sales representatives and at the websites of the Body Shop and the Cancer Council. The customers must know that a portion of sales revenues will be donated to a not-for-profit organization; otherwise, it will be very difficult to differentiate our moisturizers among similar products.
Project aim
This project has to attain several goals. First, it is aimed at boosting sales revenues of the Body Shop and increasing its market share. Secondly, this project has to strengthen the reputation of this company as a responsible corporate player that is concerned about the challenges faced by the Australian community. In this way, the Body Shop will be able to strengthen the customers’ loyalty to their products. Finally, this project is to help a not-for-profit organization Cancer Council which strives to prevent cancer or reduce the incidence of this disease. These are the main objective that we need to achieve.
Project scope
This project will require an initial investment of $ 105,340; this sum includes the cost of advertising, production, and labor expenses. These estimations are based on the current cost of moisturizers and average labor costs. Secondly, we need to bear in mind that the Body Shop adopts a very negative attitude toward the products that were tested on animals. The official policy of this company is that the development of its products must not involve animal testing (The Body Shop, 2010, unpaged).
This is one of the key limitations or restraints of this project. Furthermore, at the initial stages of the project, the products will be marketed to the customers only at several stores of the Body Shop, although we expect that in the future, our products will available to customers throughout Australia. For this project, we have chosen only moisturizers these products are directly related to the protection from skin cancer. At this point, the donations will be given only to Cancer Council since this is a non-profit organization that requires funding.
Prerequisites and assumptions
There are several prerequisites for the successful implementation of this project. One of them is the demand for moisturizer. The customers must be convinced that this product really creates value for them. Moisturizers are manufactured by hundreds of companies, and we need to make sure that our moisturizers will stand out among others. Thus, we can argue that effective marketing strategies are indispensable for the success of this venture.
In particular, potential customers must know that they not only purchase a high-quality product but also contribute to the noble cause. The second indispensable condition is the effective functioning of the supply chain. It is necessary to make sure that our supplies of moisturizers can match the demand for this product. Overall, this project is based on several premises. The first assumption is that people will be more willing to buy a product if they know that the manufacturer does not only pursues profits but also tries to practice charity.
Another assumption is companies like the Body Shop recognize the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Modern companies do not view CSR as some necessity imposed from outside but rather as the cornerstone of their success among customers all over the world (Werther & Chandler, 2010). This is why the Body Shop can agree to help us with this project. These are the main underlying assumptions.
References
Cancer Council. 2011. Skin Cancer in Australia. Web.
Cancer Council. 2011. The Official Website. Web.
Pitman S. 2006. L’Oreal’s Body Shop acquisition meets with mixed reaction. Web.
The Body Shop. 2010. The Official Website. Web.
Rakos, J., Dhanraj, K., Fleck, L., Harries, J., Jackson, S., Kennedy, S., 2005, The Practical guide to project management documentation, John Wiley &Sons, New Jersey.
Werther William & Chandler D. 2010. Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders in a Global Environment. London: SAGE.