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Haberberg and Rieple: Strategic Management

Chapter 04

Go to http://www.bodyshop.com/bodyshop/index.jsp and explore the site of The Body Shop, a global retailer of natural toiletries mentioned in Real-life Application 4.4.  What does this website show about the Body Shop’s market positioning? Now go to http://www.lorealparis.co.uk/index.asp and carry out the same appraisal for the L’Oréal Paris cosmetics range. How do the two sets of offerings differ? In what ways are they similar? What problems is the L’Oréal group, which bought The Body Shop in 2006, likely to encounter in managing the two brands.

Pick 2-3 leading firms within the same industry and visit their websites (you will probably find this exercise more useful if you navigate to the sub-site for your home country). What does this tell you about the competitive stance of the two firms in question? How similar are their product ranges and their positioning, and what are the main differences (they may be very subtle)? What does this imply about the markets that they are targeting? Possible pairs of firms might be: