Mark Constantine: The Willy Wonka of the Beauty Industry
| Case Code: LDEN046 Case Length: 24 Pages Period: 2002-2006 Pub Date: 2007 Teaching Note: Available |
Price: Rs.500 Organization : Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics Industry :Beauty Care, Cosmetics Countries : UK, Europe, USA Themes: Leadership, Entrepreneurship |
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts
Excerpts
The Body Shop Connection
In 1976, Constantine and his friend Elizabeth Weir (Weir) established a beauty business called Constantine and Weir Plc. (C&W). Weir was a trained beauty therapist. Constantine started developing a range of bath and body products that were manufactured in a workshop in Poole.
C&W also started supplying these natural-based cosmetic products to a number of retailers.
In the early 1977, Constantine sent Anita Roddick (Roddick), the co-founder of Body Shop, a few samples of his products, after seeing a picture of Body Shop in a magazine. Roddick agreed for a meeting with him and Constantine impressed her so much with his products that he walked away with a £1,200 order...
The 'Cosmetics To Go' Disaster
Constantine started a mail order catalogue business, Cosmetics to Go (CTG), as he was getting increasingly insecure at the prospect of Body Shop shifting its production in-house. In 1994, Constantine sold the manufacturing rights of his products to Body Shop and used the money to invest in the mail order catalogue business. CTG sold natural, handmade beauty products and perfumes that were not tested on animals. Preservatives and chemicals used in the products were very minimal....
Lush - Developing Evangelical Customers
Constantine's old friend Weir asked Constantine to join her in producing natural cosmetics. Another colleague Rowena Bird (Bird) told him that if he made cosmetics they would find a way to sell them. Constantine's suppliers too wanted him to get back into business.
The team which included Mo, Weir, Bird and Helen Ambrosen among others, rallied behind Constantine and pulled together £14,000, which they invested in their new venture, Cosmetic House...
Failed Bid to Buy Body Shop
In the late 1990s, while Lush was going from strength to strength, Body Shop was faced with many problems. Body Shop's problems had surfaced in the early 1990s itself. Many "me too" retailers had emerged who ran their businesses on the green environmental plank. The Boots Group Plc (now Alliance Boots ) launched the Botanics and Natural Collection range that directly competed with Body Shop...
B Never too Busy to be Beautiful
Buoyed by the success of Lush, Constantine launched a sister company called B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful (Be Never). Analysts termed it as a "super girlie" store and the company reinforced this positioning with tagline such as "Santa's wife shops here!" as opposed to the tagline "Santa shops here" for Lush (Refer to Exhibit V for a logo of B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful, and Exhibit VI for pictures of a B Never store).
As of December 2006, it had only three stores. This chain of stores focused on makeup and fragrances and the products sold were more expensive than those sold at Lush...
Constantine's Entrepreneurial Genius
Constantine was widely regarded as the pioneer in marketing cruelty-free cosmetics. He was credited with bringing the 'Against Animal Testing' slant into the marketing of cosmetics and was responsible for the original 'Against Animal Testing' campaign in 1985, which the Body Shop had been espousing ever since. He was instrumental in the UK government's decision in 1998 to ban animal testing for cosmetic products and ingredients...
The Future as He Sees it
As of end 2006, Lush had more than 400 stores in around 29 countries across the world. It had £63 million in annual sales revenues and a staff strength of over 1,500 employees.
Already two of Constantine's sons, Simon and Jack, had joined Lush. Though Constantine had originally intended this stint at Lush to be a launching pad for their separate careers, they stayed back. As of end 2006, Constantine's daughter Claire had yet to make up her mind regarding joining the business...
Exhibits
Exhibit I: A Photograph of Mark Constantine
Exhibit II: The Logo of Lush
Exhibit III: Some Products of Lush: Fit to Eat?
Exhibit IV: Views from inside Lush Stores: Welcome to the "Beauty Deli"
Exhibit V: B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful Logo
Exhibit VI: Views from B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful Store
Exhibit VII: Screenshot of Bnevertoobusytobebeautiful.com
Exhibit VIII: Countries where Lush Stores are Located
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