INTRODUCTION:
Procter & Gamble (P&G) is an American company headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning and personal care products. In 2011, P&G recorded $82.6 billion dollars in sales. Fortune magazine ranked P&G at fifth place of the “World’s Most Admired Companies” list, which was up from sixth place in 2010. Procter & Gamble is the only Fortune 500 Company to issue C Share common stock.
As of July 1, 2011, the company structure is categorized into two “Global Business Units” with each one further divided into “Business Segments” according to the company’s 2011 Annual Report. Dimitri Panayotopoulos is Vice Chairman of Global Business Units.
The following segment constitutes of P&G business:
Beauty segment
Grooming segment
Health Care segment
Snacks & Pet Care segment
Fabric Care & Home Care segment
Baby Care & Family Home Care segment
Manufacturing operations are based in the following regions: United Sates of America, Europe, Canada, China (31 wholly owned factories and other part of Asia, Philippines, Africa, Mexico, Australia, Latin America.
About the Brand:
Head & Shoulders is a brand of anti-dandruff produced by P&G
Matt Elliott got Procter & Gamble researchers to start making a new anti-dandruff shampoo in 1950. Nearly a decade of research went into making a new formula, which introduced pyrithione zinc into the shampoo. It was first introduced to the U.S. market in November 1961 as a blue-green shampoo formula.
Head & Shoulders is the world’s number one anti-dandruff shampoo. A power brand from P&G, this brand made it debuted in India in year of 1997. In the highly competitive shampoo market, which is estimated to be worth around Rs.1800 Cr, H&S is a major player in the anti-dandruff niche.
The entire shampoo market was dominated by HUL with whopping market share of around 46% when the brand was launched in India, the anti-dandruff market was in its nascent stage and dominated by Clinic-All-Clear. The high profile launch of H&S fueled the growth of this specialty market. Now anti-dandruff segment constitute around 15% of the shampoo market moreover P&G is the global market leader in the retail hair care market with over 20% of the global market share behind Pantene and Head & Shoulders. According to P&G’s annual report of 2011, the Beauty and grooming market share which primarily deals with the beauty segment constitute of ‘% of net sale of 24% and percentage of net earning account to 23%’ for P&G. The prominent brand is Head and Shoulders in this segment.
Strategic Planning Models:
SWOT analysis of Head & Shoulders:
Strength
Weakness
International brand with great brand equity.
Only segmented as an anti-dandruff shampoo whereas the competitor has wide range of shampoos with different features.
Strong financial position in market.
Mostly perceived as a harsh shampoo.
Brand loyalty.
Less emphasis on other new research based ingredients and formulas.
High quality & Services.
More specific to male gender.
Availability of products in different demographics areas, pricing and market good-will.
Large network for distribution.
Opportunities
Threat
With the inclusion of FDI policy, P&G can revive its brand equity.
Inflation in Indian economy.
Expansion of market aimed towards all age groups, including middle aged women which has significant market share.
High competitive market with new entrants like L’oreal and Dove in shampoo segment.
Have a great opportunity in new developing areas of India.
BCG matrix of Head & Shoulders:
BCG matrix stands for ‘Boston consulting group’. This is also known as Growth-Share matrix. This matrix helps us to classify a business of a company in four categories namely- Star, Question mark, Cash Cows and Dogs. The details of each are given as follows:
Stars: This tiles represents the high growth rate and high market share i.e. the business is leader in its area.
Cash Cows: This tile represents high relative market share and low market growth rate.
Question mark: Here the growth rate is high but the market share is relatively low.
Dogs: This is segment where the growth rate is slow and has low market share as in the business is lagging behind considerably.
Head and Shoulder can relatively be positioned in between the cross-sectional area of ‘Question mark and Star’. The reason can be: The market share of H&S is low but the growth rate is high. H&S needs to re-plan and revise it marketing plan as the opportunity is ample which can make into star category completely.
Customer Value:
Customer value can be defined as the consumer get in return to their money. The performance of a company is measured how the product or services gives the customer value in compare to what the competitor are offering.
Here H&S claims that the shampoo delivers 100% dandruff-free hairs even with low price, hence we can state that H&S delivers good customer value and satisfaction level.
The value delivery chains relates it-self to supply chain i.e. how it partners with suppliers and distributions from formulating raw material and distribution of its produced. H&S being a P&G’s daughter company, takes a good leverage of good distribution channel and supply chain. Prominently H&S sold in India is mostly shipped from Gulf countries. With the introduction of sachets of denomination Rs.1 and Rs.3, H&S reached the rural market easily. With more and more free sample distribution and blind-test, the company is quite successful in value delivery chain.
Marketing plan:
H&S is basically a product for men and women with dandruff and scalp problems. The want to acquire proper hygiene, maintain a healthy scalp and hair to gain the right confidence and have a sense of belongingness as they socialize/interact with other. The gap is that the other shampoo brands focus on enhancing or improving hair-condition.
Marketing mix and Strategy :
H&S removes dandruff and stops it from coming back in just one wash, with a product range that suits various hair and scalp needs. It uses T.V ads, print ads, sponsorship, sales promotion and social media. H&S hired actor Saif Ali Khan and actress Kareena Kapoor for their promotional activities. Nationwide distribution of H&S is good.
Marketing environment- Micro and Macro:
There are two types of environment which company deals with macro environment and micro environment.
Micro environment are as follows:
Customer
Stakeholder
Media
Public
Competitor
Supplier
Employee
Macro Environment
Political Environment
Technological Environment
Socio-cultural Environment
Economical Environment
Consumer Buying Behavior:
Men and women need to address their: hygiene, scalp health, social needs, self-actualization needs. They choose H&S over other anti-dandruff shampoos because of the following reason:
Product awareness, effectiveness, technology used, price, packaging, popularity of endorses, credibility of the manufacturing company.
Men and women expect the following when the use H&S:
Dandruff elimination
Revitalize scalp
Remove itchy scalp
Stop root cause of dandruff
Stops dandruff from coming back
Cools and refreshes the scalp
Remove visible flakes
More confidence in interacting and socializing with other people.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
It probably safe to say the best theory of motivation is Maslow’s. Maslow hypnotized in every human being there exist a hierarchy of five needs.
Physiological
Safety
Social
Esteem
Self actualization.
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Marketing Research:
Marketing research tools used by H&S-
Quantitative tools- H&S undertook research to generate new ideas for the product and market development. The researches engaged the customers in detailed discussion over different features of their products. As a result the personal interaction between the researches and the consumers was high, the major qualitative tools used by H&S included
focus group discussions
in-home visits
in context visits
in-store interviews
Focus group discussions: Here, a group of people who uses the H&S shampoo in brought under a discussion about the every aspect of it including quality, after-use satisfaction, thoughts of the user etc. The discussion is presided by a moderator who takes notes and feedback of the customers.
In-Home visits: This technique is more used in western countries where the product is taken to a home and then feedback is taken from a individual.
In context visits: To observe to practical difficulty consumer faces. Apart from gaining information on the way consumer actually uses a product, the researcher elicits theirs opinions on the product and weather they wish to suggest any modification.
In-Store visits: H&S used this strategy extensively to gather the information from the consumer right from where it buys the product. The surveyor uses some questionnaires to know the consumer’s opinions which helps the company to develop further strategy.
Segmentation, Target and Positioning:
Segmentation: A market segment consists of a group of customers who share a similar set of needs and wants. Rather than creating the segments, the marketers’ task is to identify them an decide which ones to target.
The available segments of H&S can be found based on demography, geography, pshychography or life style. But being an FMCG product a shampoo brand like H&S the demographic and geographic segmentation is not as important as it based upon the life-style as well as customer preferences despite of their above segmentation. The core segments are
Anti-dandruff
black hair
shiny hair
low-price
H&S started operating in the anti-dandruff segment. As a added benefit it also emphasized on smooth hair. In India, shampoo of H&S mostly segmented on basis of age and their wants. Its choose men and women of twenty to thirty-five age. Here they targeted them with different strategy like mind-set, social need and other factor.
Target Market:
Target market is the section of consumer which the business has decided to put marketing efforts. Target market is done after segmenting where they filter out the localized group and choose a particular section of consumer so that their product provides adequate brand equity and brand value.
The target market for H&S are the higher middle class people who are brand conscious, early adopter and who care about the overall health of their hair. H&S targets the people of middle age men ( in the beginning) having scalp and dandruff problems. At the initial period of its marketing strategy, it showed advertisement which show the facts with only one use of the product, the shampoo gives almost 100% relief from shampoo. It introduced many other features like menthol, volume boost, hair-fall therapy for the college going youth and young professional with hair conscious. H&S took the advantage of physiological mentality of this user group with adopting ads where prominent actors were used.
Positioning
Brand positioning refers to “target consumer’s” reason to buy your brand in preference to others. It is ensures that all brand activity has a common aim; is guided, directed and delivered by the brand’s benefits/reasons to buy; and it focusses at all points of contact with the consumer.
Brand positioning must make sure that:
Is it unique/distinctive vs. competitors ?
Is it significant and encouraging to the niche market ?
Is it appropriate to all major geographic markets and businesses ?
Is the proposition validated with unique, appropriate and original products ?
Is it sustainable – can it be delivered constantly across all points of contact with the consumer?
Is it helpful for organization to achieve its financial goals ?
Is it able to support and boost up the organization ?
H&S is positioned as anti-dandruff product which clear flakes with one wash. As the market leader it has successfully acquired the niche market of anti-dandruff segment. The effective distribution channel and deep penetration in the rural market has boosted up the sales in past year making it a leader. According to annual report of H&S 2011 the quote states “H&S was relatively small, primarily north American brand a decade ago. We invested in combination of marketing and product innovations and began to expand the brand globally. Since then w have more than tripled sales and H&S is now the largest shampoo brand in the world.”
Questionnaires
How often do you use a shampoo ?
a. Daily b. Alternate
c. Weekly d. Not in a regular basis
From the 5 shampoo listed below which one you use?
a. Sunsilk b. Pantene
c. Clinic All Clear d. Head & Shoulder
e. Dove f. If any other, please specify: ______________
While buying a shampoo, which option you keep in mind ?
a. Priceb. Quality
c. Brand d. Hair Type.
While buying a shampoo, which of the below listed options, do you consider in hair type?
a. Smell b. Moisturizing Capabilities c. Clarifying Capabilities
d. Shine factor e. Shampoo Colour f. Volumizing Capabilities
g. Other please specify ____________________
How many different shampoos have you used in the past 6 months?
a. 1 b. 2 c. 3
d. 4 e. 5 f. Will you care to specify _______
6. Do you prefer to buy a sachets or bottled one?
a. Sachets b. Bottled
7. Are you concerned about any chemicals that could be considered harmful to your scalp?
a. Yes b. No
c. Please specify ___________
8. How do you perceive ‘Head & Shoulder’ brand?
Specify ________________________________
9. Would you be interested in a free sample?
a. Yes b. No
10. Have you ever taken a scalp or a hair quality test clinically?
a. Yes b. No
If yes, would you like to share you outcome? ___________________________________
11. Who influence you to purchase a brand ?
a. Family b. Doctor c. Advertisement
d. Self e. Other
Name: _______________________
Gender: Male/ Female
Mobile Number: _______________
Email ID: _____________________
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