Lush Fresh Hand Made Cosmetics: An Examination. Ashnah Samuel. Regent University

Transcription

1 Running Head: LUSH FRESH HAND MADE 1 Lush Fresh Hand Made Cosmetics: An Examination Ashnah Samuel Regent University

2 Lush Fresh Hand Made 2 Lush Fresh Hand Made Cosmetics: An Examination Company: Lush Fresh Hand Made Cosmetics, or Lush as it is more commonly called, is an environmentally conscious cosmetic company that has made quite the impact on their market in the past few years. Lush origins began when it was founded in 1994 by Mark Constantine and his wife Mo, who opened the first store in Poole, England the following year. It is still run by Mark Constantine (Hoover s Company Records, 2014) to this day. The cosmetic company currently has over 700 stores that are located in over 40 countries including Japan and North America, where the company s chains are most heavily centered (Hoover s Company Records, 2014). In fact, Lush operates about 150 shops in North America, with 105 of those in the US. Supplementing its retail presence in America, the cosmetics maker operates about 30 in-store Lush departments in Macy's department stores nationwide (Hoover s Company Records, 2014). Clearly, Lush is an expanding business that is beginning to take the world by storm. Background: To give a short history on Lush, it all began with Liz Weir and Mark Constantine who were both working at a beauty salon together located in Poole, England in the year After a few years, both of them ventured off on their own and began making beauty products under a Herbal Hair and Beauty Clinic which they would sell to The Body Shop. Once the relationship they had with The Body Shop dissipated, they started a new company which involved mail orders. This company was named Cosmetics to Go and included a retail store by the name of Cosmetic House. This company was eventually renamed Lush (Our History, n.d.). At Lush, they have a long list of things they believe in. To name one, Lush believes in making effective products from fresh, organic fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils and

3 Lush Fresh Hand Made 3 safe synthetics (We Believe, n.d.). Each one of Lush s products are made by real people in their factories. If you look on the stickers of some of their cosmetics, you can even see a picture of the person who made it (Lamont, 2014). Lush also believes in buying ingredients only from companies that do not commission tests on animals and in testing our products on humans (We Believe, n.d.). Another core believe Lush has is they believe in inventing their own products and fragrances. [They say,] We make them fresh by hand using little or no preservative or packaging, using only vegetarian ingredients, and tell you when they were made (We Believe, n.d.). It can be concluded that Lush has a great ethical and social standing in their line of work. They really take the time and energy to make sure they are being environmentally friendly and their products are quality. Risk Vs. Reward: Lush risks something very unconventional when balancing their risks and rewards. Lush chooses not to invest in marketing. While this may seem like an idiotic move to many, this risk has worked extremely well for the company. On their packaging, it can be read, A Lush life' concludes: 'We also believe words like 'fresh' and 'organic' have honest meaning beyond marketing (We Believe, n.d.). Going along with this, the founder, Mark Constantine has made a conscious effort and built the brand slowly by eschewing over-expansion and big-budget media advertising. Instead, the brand has been built the 21st-century way with product quality, store experience, employee engagement and an evangelical customer base (Ritson, 2005). Basically, to build their brand, the company does it the old fashion way. They let their products and customer service speak for itself. This has served Lush graciously. To communicate how well the company has done in the last fiscal year, they have made over $300,000,000 in sales (LexisNexis Corporate Affiliations, 2014).

4 Lush Fresh Hand Made 4 Market Economics: Lush can be described as being in a monopolistic competition when it comes to their market structure. A monopolistic competition can be defined as the degree of competition in which a large number of sellers produce very similar products that buyers nevertheless perceive as different (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2013, p. 39). This stands as a true statement for the company Lush because Lush has competitors such as Boots, The Body Shop, Bath and Body Works, Kiehl s, Burts Bees, and Ulta (Hoover s Company Records, 2014) who all sell arguably similar cosmetics and products. If trying to convince a customer of any of these companies that all of their competitors sell similar products, however, many would argue that each business sells completely different items. Global Presence: Lush is definitely considered a global company. Not only do they have stores in 40+ countries, (Hoover s Company Records, 2014) but they have 27 country e-commerce sites, (Ellis, 2009) and manufacture and get their products worldwide as well. Lush when retrieving their materials also supports Fair Trade and Community Trade initiatives. To ensure transparency, a Lush film crew travels the world to document its sourcing of raw materials and operations (Ellis, 2009). They have also claimed that they have Buyers who seek to find the best honey, chocolate, seaweed, and even organic vegan stout from around the world (Lamont, 2014). Lush makes use of world trade, and ships, operates and manufactures across the world. They are definitely a global business. Ethical Standing: The company Lush goes out of its way to be an ethical company and keep its mission statement on the forefront of everything they do. There are many things they do to be socially

5 Lush Fresh Hand Made 5 and environmentally conscious. One example of this is Lush tries to keep their products vegetarian. It was found that Lush s products are 100 percent vegetarian and 81 percent vegan, and about 70 percent of them are formulated without preservatives (Marati, 2012). In addition to this, Lush has a strict Green policy. To adhere to this policy, the company makes limited use of packaging, offering about 40 percent of its products naked when packaging is necessary, it s primarily made from recycled, recyclable, and biodegradable materials (Marati, 2012). Finally, Lush completely avoids anything that has to do with animal testing. Lush has been known to refuse to test its products on animals, but it also refuses to buy ingredients from suppliers that test on animals (Marati, 2012). Lush s core values and morals prevail in their business model, molding their decisions and choices as a company. Because Lush believes so strongly in their mission statement, they sometimes take radical approaches to fighting for their beliefs. One example of an extremist protest occurred in 2006 when the company dumped two tons of manure in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, to protest the use of animals in chemical testing (Marati, 2012). Another time in 2008, a performance artist Alice Newstead was hung from a shark hook in the window of LUSH s Regent St shop to protest the practice of shark finning (Marati, 2012). These extreme protests and demonstrations give Lush a negative reputation, but no one can say their attempts were done for unethical purposes. While radical, these things were done to promote their mission. How Entrepreneurial: The company Lush is also very entrepreneurial in the way they conduct their business. They are constantly expanding and opening new stores as well as introducing new permanent and limited edition items to their stock. One example of their ways they show how

6 Lush Fresh Hand Made 6 entrepreneurial they are lies in their new expansion ideas. It has been speculated that Lush also has developed a new retail scheme, a more "girly" shop called B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful. The company has plans to eventually operate more than 1,000 Lush and B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful outlets (Hoover s Company Records, 2014). This will help them grow their brand and reach a different demographic of people simultaneously. On top of this, in 2009 alone, Lush was said to introduce 25 new products followed by a new holiday line [in the] fall (Ellis, 2009). Clearly, Lush operates in a very entrepreneurial function and proves just how innovative their brand is. Management Style: The management style most likely used at Lush Cosmetics is either the free reign leadership style or the participatory leadership. In free reign leadership, managers set objectives and employees are free to do whatever is appropriate (Nickels, McHugh & McHugh, 2013). Similarly, participatory leadership occurs when managers and employees work together to make decisions (Nickels, McHugh & McHugh, 2013). When commenting on management, the founder of Lush stated that he wants Lush to grow substantially but adds: Businesses have a life of their own. No one individual dictates. Customers don't give a s*** who owns the company, they just want the products " (Director of the month: Mark Constantine, chairman, Lush, 2002). Based on this statement, it can be concluded that Lush does not have one person running the show, but requires the input and dedication of many people to make their company a success. Would I Work There?: At first glance, Lush seems like an ideal company to work for. Their morals and values are prevalent in everything they accomplish, and they seem to really care about their products,

7 Lush Fresh Hand Made 7 customers, workers, and the environment. A closer look however reveals the radical lengths they are willing to go to in order to stop those who interfere with their mission. Despite how this does not contradict the stance they take on saving the environment, it is a turn off. Because of this, there are both pros and cons of being part of the Lush family. Personally, because I am a strong believer in their products and their mission statement, I would work for the company. While I do not think it is necessary for them to protest in such a radical fashion, it is something I can overlook. In Relation to Genesis 1:28: In the book of Genesis, it is stated, God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground (Genesis 1:28, NIV). In terms of business, many would agree that this verse can be interpreted to mean that God wants people to use their business to benefit the planet and bring it abundance. The company Lush does just that. Lush is completely focused on the preservation of the planet and its inhabitants. Due to the fact that Lush cares so much about what happens to the planet, it can be determined that they are acting as good stewards to the land, thus obeying God s decree in Genesis 1:28.

8 Lush Fresh Hand Made 8 References Director of the month: Mark Constantine, Chairman, Lush. (2002, 10). Director, 56, 17. Retrieved from Ellis, K. (2009). Do Good and Do Well. Retail Merchandiser, 49(3), Genesis 1:28. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved October 12, 2014, from Lamont, V. (n.d.). We Put the FRESH in Handmade Cosmetics. LUSH Fresh Handmade Blog. Retrieved October 12, 2014, from Lush-Site/en_US/Blog-Post?cid=Article_We-Put-the-FRESH-in-Handmade-Cosmetics Marati, J. (2012, August 15). Investigating the Ethics of LUSH Natural Beauty Products. EcoSalon. Retrieved October 12, 2014, from Nickels, W. G., McHugh, J. M., & McHugh, S. M. (2013). Understanding Business (10th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin. October 6, 2014). LexisNexis Corporate Affiliations, Retrieved from (October 7, 2014). Hoover's Company Records - In-depth Records, Retrieved from Our History. (n.d.). Lush Fresh Hand Made Cosmetics. Retrieved October 12, 2014, from Ritson, Mark. Lush searches for meaning beyond marketing. (2005). Marketing ( ), 21.

9 Lush Fresh Hand Made 9 We Believe. (n.d.). Lush Fresh Hand Made Cosmetics. Retrieved October 12, 2014, from OurStoryShow?cid=lush-life