Group Members

SHAHNOOR KHAN (20)SHAHNOOR KHAN (20) HUSSEIN LUKMANI (29)HUSSEIN LUKMANI (29)

TABASSUM NAGOTHANEKAR (34)TABASSUM NAGOTHANEKAR (34) TALHAH PATEL (40)TALHAH PATEL (40)

ABDUL K.SHAIKH (46)ABDUL K.SHAIKH (46) PRASHANT SHEJWAL (53)PRASHANT SHEJWAL (53)

PRESENTED TO:PRESENTED TO:PROF. ARVIND INAMDARPROF. ARVIND INAMDAR

INTRODUCTION

• Surf Excel was launched in 1954 and has been present in the Indian

Market for over last 50 years.

• It has managed to create a strong brand name over the past 5

decades.

• With punch lines like ‘dhoondhte reh jaoge’ and ‘jaise bhi daag

ho,surf excel hai na’ Surf excel has managed to create a place for

itself in the Indian market.

• Bringing out innovative products at alternate intervals has been Surf

Excel’s strength.

PRODUCT RANGE

30 gms 2kg125gms 1kg

PRICE CHART

SIZE SURF EXCEL QUICK WASH

SURF EXCELBLUE

SURF EXCEL AUTOMATIC

SACHET Rs.2/- Rs.2/- -200gm Rs.23/- Rs.20/- -500gm Rs.56 Rs.41 Rs.80/-

1kg Rs.109/- - Rs.155/-

COMPETITORS

• Nirma

• P&G ( Tide,Arial)

• Henkel India (Mir, persil, porwall, vernel, purex)

• Reckitt Benckiser ( Vanish)

• Local Detergents (for e.g. National Soap Depot,etc.)

STRENGTHS

• Strong Brand Portfolio

• Innovation (Strong R & D)

• Distribution Network

• CSR

• High Quality Manpower

• Good Will in the market

• Abundant Financial Resources

WEAKNESSES

• Pricing Strategy

• Huge Inventory Stocks of Raw Materials

• Highly Competitive Segment

• Substitute Products

OPPORTUNITIES

• Growing demand for detergents

• Rural Market

• Diversification

• Increasing Usage Frequency

• Increasing the Brand Image

THREATS

• Competition

• Local Products

• Environment Effects

• Low Profit Margins

• Increase in Prices due to rise in fuel price

PORTER’s 5 FORCES

BARGAINING POWER OF CUSTOMERS

The Buyers of Surf Excel are divided in two groups

END USER RETAILERS

• Detergent is a low involvement

product with small fragmented

customer base.

• Weak and do not possess much

bargaining power.

• But, they possess the power of

choice.

• HUL uses GTM (Go To

Market) to reach their retailers

via Mahindra Logistics.

BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS

The suppliers of Surf Excel can be broadly classified as :

1. Sodium Tri Phosphate Supplier (STPP)

2. Packaging Paper Supplier

3. Manufacturers

Surf Excel purchases raw material, STPP from Tata Chemicals Limited.

HUL holds a 2.14% stake in TCL thus exerting some influence directly

in the decision making process.

Additionally TCL at present doesn’t seem likely to enter the detergent

market, thus risk of forward integration is mitigated.

Moreover there are other suppliers for STPP like Bond Impex Pvt.

Ltd, Saral Chemicals, etc. thus HUL can have a supplier of choice.

All raw materials and packaging materials are provided by HUL to

Vashisti Detergents Limited, for which VDL is given

conversion/processing charge.

Thus, we see that the suppliers of HUL do not possess much

bargaining power and HUL doesn’t have any potential threat from the

suppliers.

THREAT OF SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS

Threat from liquid detergents and detergent bars.

Expert believes that liquid detergent give better washing quality than

detergent powders because liquid detergents are better when it comes to

retaining the brightness of the clothes.

Liquid detergents are used for specific type of clothes like woolen or

delicate ones.

So if a liquid detergent comes out in market which can appeal to a large

segment (with price and quality) for all types of clothes then it may

give a serious competition to Surf Excel.

THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS

Detergent Market is an innovative market where many variations of

detergent powders exist and many more can come.

Likewise a new product which can cater to other changing needs of

customer can pose strong competition to Surf Excel.

INTENSITY OF COMPETITIVE RIVALRY• Surf Excel faces intense competition from Ariel in Premium Market

Segment.

• While Surf Excel is preferred in the Northern and Eastern states, Ariel

is preferred in Western and Southern part of the country.

• Ariel is also available in various variants and thereby gives intense

competition to Surf Excel.

• 95% of Indian consumers use a combination of detergent powder and

detergent bar.Detergent Bars occupy 43% of the total detergent

markets.

• Nirma occupies 55-60% of rural market share whereas, Surf Excel has

10-15% of market share (rural).

POLITICAL

Surf Excel should keep an eye for any changes the Government

might make to its tax policies.

For example,

• if the Government introduces new policy, then Surf Excel might

have to increase its prices which might have a negative impact on

sales.

• Also, the chemicals used for producing the product may harm the

environment and the human body. In future, if the Government

introduces any mandatory legislation against such chemicals, it may

prove to be a huge hurdle for Surf Excel.

ECONOMIC

• In the current economic slowdown, people tend to spend

conservatively. In such a situation, relatively expensive products

like Surf Excel may not be preferred despite its high quality.

• Therefore, Surf Excel should keep this in mind while evaluating its

pricing and sales promotion strategies.

• Surf Excel should focus on imports and exports. By doing so, it can

capitalize on the low cost production opportunity by importing as

well as enter new markets by exporting its products.

SOCIAL

• As the lifestyle of the consumers change, customer expectations also

keep changing.

• Surf Excel should concentrate on the dynamic needs of the customer

and come up with variants that satisfy their needs. The customer

tastes and preferences change with the changing fashions as well as

changes in the weather.

• Keeping this in mind, Surf Excel should keep modifying its product

to suit the change in the material being used.

TECHNOLOGICAL

• One of the strengths of Surf Excel has been the innovations it

brings about in its products from time to time.

• In order to improve the quality of its product and to lower its cost

of production, Surf Excel can focus on further innovations and

technological development.

• It should focus on Research and Development and come up with

new technologies to make the Surf Excel brand even more

environment friendly, thereby improving its image.

4 P’s of Marketing

PRODUCT

In product some elements are involved which are Variety, Quality, Size, Features, Brand Name, Packaging and Services.　VarietySurf Excel is at present situation available in two varieties· Surf Excel· Surf Excel Matic　QualitySurf has continued to change according to consumer needs. Since the brand has undergone numerous product quality improvements to offer best cleaning results.　

PRICE

Surf Excel is using the following methods for price setting.

Price to DistributorsThe company provides products to the distributors for the prices decided keeping in view the cost, the target revenue and competitors prices. All distributors are being equally treated.

Prices Charged by Distributors to RetailersUnilever gives margin of certain percentage to distributors so in this way prices to be charged by distributors to retailers are fixed.

Prices Charged by Retailers to Ultimate ConsumersCompany influences prices charged by retailers. So retailers are bound to charge fix price to ultimate consumer.

PLACE

CoverageSurf Excel is one of the top brands of HUL, and hence it is available right from the big retail chains to the local panwallah shop on the street.

Shelf SpacingSurf Excel gets prominent shelf space at any retail outlet, due to its strong brand image in the market.

InventoryAs Surf Excel is a convenient product, huge amounts of inventories are to be maintained. Through which it will be possible to facilitate the market on time.

PROMOTION

• Regular education and awareness-building campaigns

• Stock availability in relevant outlets

• Moreover, as consumers become more aware it is important to build

credibility of an offering like Surf Excel Matic

• Using TV advertising and radio as well as news papers and

billboards

• Regular advertising will be used which will transcend any

communication barriers

DISTRIBUTION STRUCTURE

POSITIONING STRATEGY

Journey of surf excel:

1. 1996: Surf excel was launched in 1996 offering ‘complete cleaning and

care’ . This was communicated through the campaign ‘Jaisa bhi daag ho, Surf Excel hai Na’.

This type of positioning is based on the concept of Functional positioning (solve problem).

2. 2003: In 2003 Surf excel was positioned to address a key concern of the country: shortage of water. The brand was tied up with eminent celebrity Shabana Azmi to propagate the concept of saving two buckets of water along with getting stain free cleaning. This campaigning was based on the combination of two positioning concepts, namely, symbolic positioning (social meaningfulness) and functional positioning (Provide benefits to customers).3. 2003: Later on it was re- launched as surf excel blue with a tagline ‘Jayega nahin Jayega’. This variant would remove tough stains without fading color.

4. 2005: In 2005 surf excel came up with the concept of vice is nice by using the tagline ‘Agar daag lagne se kuch acha hota hai to daag ache hain’. To hold their market share surf excel adopt this philosophy to propagate the concept that if a child learns something and gets stained in the process then those stains are good. To make ‘Dirt is good’ a meaningful campaign stains are linked with learning of values. This type of positioning is based on the concept of Experiential positioning (provide cognitive stimulation).

SUGGESTIONS

The pricing strategy of Surf Excel is such that it projects itself as a premium brand and thus is priced at a price on the higher side of the market. Thus it is losing some of its market share to the low cost competitive products like Tide from P&G which is actively involved in promoting its product. Hence, HUL should revise their pricing strategy.

HUL should also look to get a surf variant in to fight Tide on the price front.HUL has faced very high inventory costs and should try to reduce them by streamlining its distribution network. The zero inventory initiative by HUL is in this direction but is still in its nascent stages and needs to be implemented across the country to become cost effective.

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