MARKETING AND SOCIETY

Marketing and Society



Table of Contents

Introduction2

Discussion3

Overview of the company:3

Historical Milestones:4

Marketing of products and ethics:6

The Future:8

Conclusion9

References10

Marketing and Society

Introduction

Employing about 10,000 people in some 2,500 stores in over 60 countries, and selling well over 1,200 different beauty products around the globe, The Body Shop International is the second largest cosmetics franchise in the world. The Body Shop (TBS) is a values-driven, high-quality skin and body care producer and retailer launched in 1976 in Brighton, on the south coast of England. Anita Roddick, the founder of the company and a self-proclaimed feminist, initially sold twenty-four naturally based skin and hair care products with minimal packaging. Just three decades later, the company has become a globally recognized brand: it now sells over 600 products and 400 accessories, has more than 2,000 outlets in more than 50 countries, and has a multimillion dollar turnover. Since its inception, the company has pushed hard to become known as a “green company,” avoiding animal testing, seeking fair trade practices, cutting carbon emissions, using only recycled packaging materials, among many initiatives geared toward a sustainable business model. After spectacular growth during its first decade and a half, The Body Shop went through several ups and downs in its attempts to expand its business model to countries like the United States and Germany, and experienced growth rates that were significantly below expectations (Steve, 2005, Pp. 80-83). This paper discusses the ethics incorporated by the Body Shop in its marketing as well as the production of its products in a holistic context.

Discussion

Overview of the company:

Since its inception, the company has pushed hard to become known as a “green company,” avoiding animal testing, seeking fair trade practices, cutting carbon emissions, using only recycled packaging materials, among many initiatives geared toward a sustainable business model. After spectacular growth during its first decade and a half, The Body Shop went through several ups and downs in its attempts to expand its business model to countries like the United States and Germany, and experienced growth rates that were significantly below expectations. The company seeks to be a leader not only in promoting greater corporate transparency, but also in representing a force for positive social and environmental change. As such, the company pursues campaigns around the world that are ground in five core values:

Opposing animal testing

Supporting community fair trade

Defending human rights

Activating self-esteem

Protecting the planet

Despite its phenomenal growth and emergence as a new global organizational asset (following its acquisition by L'Oréal), The Body Shop is still trading on its original association with “natural products,” with advertising mainly organized by its franchised outlets as opposed to mass-marketing campaigns. Such franchise-based outlet advertising includes storefront posters and leaflets and brochures, all containing messages that directly question some contested aspect of contemporary consumerism—from commodity fetishism to environmental damage to globalization. The Body Shop was among the first cosmetic companies to adopt an “against animal testing” policy and a fair trade strategy for its ingredients, its outlets offer the possibility to join an environmental or human rights campaign, and ...