Lakmé is an Indian brand of cosmetics, owned by Unilever. Lakme started as a 100% subsidiary of Tata Oil Mills (Tomco), part of the Tata Group; it was named after the French opera Lakmé, which itself is the French form of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, also renowned for her beauty. Indian cosmet Lakme was started in 1952, famously because the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was concerned that Indian women were spending precious foreign exchange on beauty products, and personally requested JRD Tata to manufacture them in India. Simone Tata joined the company as director, and went on to become its chairman. In 1996 Tata sold off their stakes in Lakmé Lever to HLL, for Rs 200 Crore (45 million US$), and went on to create Trent and Westside. Even today, when most multinational beauty products are available in India, Lakme still occupies a special place in the hearts of Indian women.
Lakme also started its new business in the beauty industry by setting up Lakme Beauty Salons all over India. Now HUL (Hindustan Unilever Limited) has about 110 salons all over India providing beauty services.
Business
Major beauty cosmetics
Strengths
§ Brand name
§ High quality manpower resources
§ Vast range of products and service
§ Unilever global technology capability
Weaknesses
§ High service cost
§ Use or hard chemicals
Overall market reputation: very good.
Nominal Value: Rs. 540
