sion may wish to discuss their perceptions of the company’s inter-
nal marketing activities.
Case 4.3: The Body Shop International: The most honest
cosmetic company in the world
This case is written by Andrew Campbell, one of the Directors of the
Ashridge Strategic Management Centre in London.
Abstract
The Body Shop International originates, produces and sells natu-
rally based skin and hair products and related items through its
own shops and through franchised outlets. It opened its first shop
in Brighton in 1976 and, despite a recession in retailing, the
company has grown with great speed. This case study examines The
Body Shop’s development from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, by
which stage it had a turnover of over £85 million and 457 shops.
The Body Shop is an unusual company which relies very much on
referrals from its satisfied customers and which undertakes no
advertising. It has been highly successful in developing relation-
ships with a wide range of influence markets, including the press,
local communities and environmentalists. It has also benefited from
referrals from its existing customers.
Learning points
Unlike the two previous case studies in this section, which show
how two companies failed to manage their relationships with refer-
ral and influence markets and suffered dramatically as a result, The
Body Shop International case study is an excellent example of how
to manage relationships with diverse groups of constituents in the
influence market domain. There are many learning points in this
case study which relate to strategic and marketing issues as well as
relationship marketing issues. These include:
Broad marketing and strategic issues:
● the development of a sense of mission
● the illustration of ideological strategy
● the importance of the characteristics of the chief executive.
The referral and influence market domains 251