Vichy

: stronger skin for a stronger life : brand positioning and communication strategies

Abstract

Having already established its position in the Portuguese market, Vichy’s main concern is how to continue to differentiate itself from the other cosmetic brands. Vichy has already planned to do two advertising campaigns for the Portuguese market in May of 2016. One advertisement focuses on the Vichy Mineralizing Water, a core ingredient present in all Vichy products from the face care category. The other advertisement focuses on the Liftactiv product range which has been the most profitable product of Vichy and considered the most trustworthiness in the anti-wrinkles category in pharmacies. The entire dissertation revolves around the dilemma of which advertisement should Vichy prioritize when allocating the media budget, knowing that the first advertisement can create longer-lasting customer relationships but the second advertisement can develop targeted messages to connect to its most profitable segment. The present dissertation provides a broad overview of several marketing topics of rebranding, positioning, repositioning and communication strategies in the Literature Review. Afterwards, a Case Study is presented with a Teaching Note for in-class discussion. Additionally, a Market Research was conducted, which includes an In-Depth interview to Vichy’s Marketing manager and an online survey. Results from this dissertation suggest that both advertisements are important but the percentage of the media budget should be slightly higher for the Liftactiv campaign than to the Vichy Mineralizing Water campaign to reinforce the notions of credibility and efficacy in consumer’s mind.

Date of Award	20 Jul 2016
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Pedro Celeste (Supervisor)