GOSH Brand activation strategy for 2014

Abstract

GOSH is a cosmetics, bath & body and perfume company based in Denmark. Founded in 1945 as a pharmaceutical company, it soon became a well-known brand among women all over the world. Nowadays it is present in 75 countries worldwide. This Master Thesis will focus on the brand Portuguese case, in order to understand its strengths and weaknesses, as well as its challenges and opportunities. From September 2011, GOSH products started being sold exclusively in Well’s in order to better fulfil its beauty promise and serve a higher target needs. It is believed that GOSH products have higher quality than its in-store competitors. Thus, this brand has the potential for attracting female customers for Well’s, but its lack of brand notoriety combined with higher prices, makes most consumers change their mind. Therefore, the brand with greatest potential is the one least recognized and sold. Currently, GOSH is available in 48 Well’s stores all over the country but its brand awareness is low because most of the makeup consumers have never heard of it, including Well’s makeup clients. But because Well’s believes in this brand and recognizes its potential, a great effort is placed on communication and promotion. The development of this case study will use primary and secondary data. Primary data will be based in qualitative interviews within the company, as well as two different surveys conducted online and in-store. Such instruments will aim to target the different stakeholders that are considered relevant in the makeup market: GOSH consumers and makeup consumers in general. Secondary data will be provided by GOSH - as represented in Portugal by SONAE - and it will consist in facts and figures of the company’s past and current performance as well as an overview on current challenges and forecasted ones. Having the opportunity to work in SONAE, as a Marketing Trainee for GOSH and pursuing my passion for the beauty care market and especially for makeup, my role is to draw and put into practice an activation plan for the brand for the year 2014. Therefore, the main purpose of this case study is to analyse and understand the strategy of brand activation that GOSH is intending to put into practice in 2014.

Date of Award	10 Jul 2014
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Pedro Celeste (Supervisor)