Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 58 views

    Competitive Strategic Position

    Uploaded by

    Phuong Hoang
    Lush is a cosmetics retailer known for its handmade, natural products without preservatives. It has adopted a broad differentiation strategy by offering unique, superior products in vibrant retail stores. Lush differentiates itself through its ethical, sustainable practices and inclusive marketing that appeals to all genders. Its well-trained workforce helps deliver this strategy and competitive advantage.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Competitive Strategic Position

    Uploaded by

    Phuong Hoang
    58 views4 pages
    Lush is a cosmetics retailer known for its handmade, natural products without preservatives. It has adopted a broad differentiation strategy by offering unique, superior products in vibrant retail stores. Lush differentiates itself through its ethical, sustainable practices and inclusive marketing that appeals to all genders. Its well-trained workforce helps deliver this strategy and competitive advantage.

    Original Description:

    Competitive Strategic Position on Lush

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Lush is a cosmetics retailer known for its handmade, natural products without preservatives. It has adopted a broad differentiation strategy by offering unique, superior products in vibrant retail stores. Lush differentiates itself through its ethical, sustainable practices and inclusive marketing that appeals to all genders. Its well-trained workforce helps deliver this strategy and competitive advantage.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    58 views4 pages

    Competitive Strategic Position

    Uploaded by

    Phuong Hoang
    Lush is a cosmetics retailer known for its handmade, natural products without preservatives. It has adopted a broad differentiation strategy by offering unique, superior products in vibrant retail stores. Lush differentiates itself through its ethical, sustainable practices and inclusive marketing that appeals to all genders. Its well-trained workforce helps deliver this strategy and competitive advantage.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 4

    Competitive Strategic Position

    Lush

    Paulina Young

    MGMT 315: Strategic Human Resources Planning

    October 16, 2021

    Page 1 of 4
    Competitive Strategic Position: Lush

    This report will provide an analysis on Lush’s organizational strategy and how it links to the

    company’s Human Resources strategy. The report will explore Lush’s competitive strategic

    position using one of Michael Porter’s five generic competitive strategies framework.

    Lush is a cosmetic retailer founded in 1995 in Poole, United Kingdom. Lush produces and sells

    beauty products such as bath bombs, soaps, shampoos, and moisturizers. Today, there are 269

    shops in North America and 951 stores globally. (Lush (company) - Wikipedia, 2021). Lush has

    been successful in their international corporate growth strategy. Attract workers

    To gain the competitive positions companies want to achieve, they must create value proposition,

    “a statement of the fundamental benefits it has chosen to offer in the marketplace” (Belcourt &

    Podolsky, 2019, p. 18). Lush is known for its handmade beauty products and has positioned itself

    as a natural brand that offers fresh products without using any preservatives. They have trendy,

    yet different, products that aren’t available at your regular supermarket beauty aisle. Lush’s retail

    stores are vibrant, full of colour and smell, unlike the traditional beauty stores.

    Applying Michael Porter’s five generic competitive strategies, it is evident that Lush has adopted

    the broad differentiation strategy. Differentiation is a strategy that has the ability to give business

    organizations a competitive advantage ahead of their competitors (Belcourt & Podolsky, 2019).

    With broad differentiation strategy, Lush can stand out and offer consumers many reasons to

    choose their business over others. Offering lowest price or even best-cost would not be

    sustainable for Lush as a competitive advantage as their competition can also lower their prices.

    Let’s explore how Lush is able to position itself ahead of its competitors. To identify Lush’s

    competitive advantage, we turn to the characteristics of the organization that has enabled them to

    earn “higher rates of profit than their competitors” (Belcourt & Podolsky, 2019, p. 15). Lush’s

    Page 2 of 4
    Competitive Strategic Position: Lush

    strategy is innovative and creative. They offer unique and superior value products that would

    appeal to a broad range of customers. The target audience for the cosmetic and beauty industry is

    predominantly women. However, Lush’s unique marketing approach doesn’t target its ads to any

    specific gender. The company believes “skin, hair care and self-care is for everyone” (Liffreing

    2018). The idea is to differentiate the company by making Lush about inclusivity, said Brandi

    Halls, director of communications at Lush (Liffreing 2018). The company has also positioned its

    brand as an ethical choice of fresh handmade products using little or no preservative, only

    vegetarian ingredients and minimal packaging. Through their transparency and open

    commitment to sustainability, Lush clearly conveys their commitment to all natural and eco-

    friendly, naked packaging and cruelty-free products. Their ethical buying policy goal is that

    everything they source is bought in a respectful way that safeguards the environment and animals

    with transparency (Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, 2021). Lush has launched campaigns that

    advocate for animal protection, human rights, and environmental justice. Another key

    differentiator that sets Lush apart from their competitors is that their “brand positioning is quirky

    and fun” (Lush Brand Positioning & Differentiation. 2017). To carry out their effective business

    strategy for organizational success, Lush has invested in a well-trained workforce that has

    empowered their employees to deliver high performance. All these characteristics convey a

    strong sense of the company’s mission, vision and values – it’s who they are. Ultimately Human

    Capital, the value of all worker’s experience and skills, is the most important source to gain a

    competitive advantage. Strategic HR is about linking organization strategies to HR strategies.

    HR professionals must first understand the business side of the company to know what works

    well and what needs to be changed. This is crucial to progressing effectively towards achieving

    goals that align HR functions with the organization’s strategic plan.

    Page 3 of 4
    Competitive Strategic Position: Lush

    References

    Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, August 19). Lush (company). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 15, 2021,
    from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lush_(company).

    Belcourt, M., & Podolsky, M. (2019). Strategic Human Resources Planning (Seventh Edition). Nelson
    Education Ltd.

    Liffreing, I. (2018, May 15). Why lush features men and women alike in its marketing. Digiday. Retrieved
    October 16, 2021, from https://digiday.com/marketing/lush-features-men-women-alike-marketing/.

    Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics. (n.d.). Retrieved October 16, 2021, from https://www.lush.ca/en/home.

    Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics. (2021, March 3). Ethical buying. Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics.
    Retrieved October 16, 2021, from https://www.lush.ca/en/stories/article_our-values-ethical-buying.html.

    Laja, B. P, Cloud, R., & Singh, V. (2021, June 15). Differentiation strategy: What it is, why it's critical,
    and how to get it right. CXL. Retrieved October 16, 2021, from https://cxl.com/blog/differentiation-
    strategy/.

    Whyhellosweet. (2017, January 4). Lush brand positioning & differentiation. Why, Hello Sweet.
    Retrieved October 17, 2021, from https://whyhellosweet.wordpress.com/2016/11/15/brand-positioning-
    differentiation/.

    Page 4 of 4

    You might also like