MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATIONSRM SCHOOL OFMANAGEMENT

A PROJECT REPORTON

UNDER THE GUINDANCE OF

MRS. SUJATHAIn partial fulfillment of the requirementsFor the award of the degree in MBA

SUBMITTED TO,Mrs. SUJATHA

SUBMITTED BY, Sundip Prasad - 3511010731 B.Supriya - 3511010732 Supriya Kumari - 3511010733 Suraj kumar Rajak - 3511010734 Suraj Mohandas - 3511010735 Suresh.M - 3511010736

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Not a single gram can whole the vessel This is common saying and it is perfect. Any project is not an outcome of single person participation but is a team work. With all thankfulness to the undersigned personalities, we hereby extent all our gratitude and respect for the able and fruitful guidance provided by them which has made possible the completion of the projects on MARKETING II

We have great pleaser to express my deep sense gratitude to our guide faculty Mrs. SUJATHA as it would have been a tough for me to complete this project without his keen interest, moral support, suggestion and encouragement, guidance and the constant scrutiny for the successful completion of the project.We express my gratitude towards my friends, those who have helped me directly or indirectly in completing the project.Finally, We would like to thank our subject in charge sir Mrs.SUJATHA.

Brand Wars:

Introduction: Introduction It is a sales promotion technique that compares the products or services of one undertaking with those of other competitors. It is designed to highlight the advantages of the goods or services offered by the advertiser as compared to those of a competitor. It drives sales by comparing the features or services of a brand with that of its closest competitor.

Brand War Reasons: Brand War Reasons Some of the reasons for brand wars are: To generate attention and larger number of views. To make certain claims that they are better than their competitors. A creative way to show that competitors claims are not sensible.

RIN PRODUCT PROFILEIntroduction of Rin: Introduction of Rin It is a product of HUL. Rin was launched in India as a bar in 1969 with the iconic lightning . Rin powder was launched in 1994 as Rin Power White. The advertising campaign 'ZARA SA RIN ' which means 'just a little of Rin' achieves superlative whiteness. This was hugely successful in establishing a superior brand image in the consumer's mind. Rin

Clothes talk for us. Rin plays an integral part in enabling us to look good by providing demonstrably superior whites, giving us the confidence to realize our ambitions.Sparkling white - clean clothes not only help us form great impressions on the people we meet but also provide us confidence to realize our ambitions. Rin understands this need and strives to deliver best in class whiteness through continuous innovation and product improvements supported by memorable campaigns like Uski saari, meri saari se safed kaise in the 90s to Safedi ka Shehanshah with Amitabh Bachchan. In 2007, Rin introduced the first ever shade in the laundry category, offering proof of whiteness to consumers with the Kya Saboot Hai campaign with Boman Irani.In 2008 Rin has been re launched and now provides Dugni Safedi, Dugni Chamak as compared to ordinary powders.Rin Matic, a specialist washing machine powder, launched in July 2008, is based on the insight that ordinary powders do not deliver under machine wash conditions, thus requiring intervention. Hence, leading to a situation aptly articulated in the tagline Machine kare maaze, Biwi ghar pe kapde ghise. Now with Rin Matic consumers can delegate laundry back to machine, because Chamkti safedi hai, machine aur Rin Matic ka kaam.Key Facts1. Rin was launched in India as a bar in 1969 with the iconic lightning mnemonic.2. Rin powder was launched in 1994 as Rin Power White3. Rin Matic for washing machines, launched in July 20084. Sold in developing markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America.5. Sold as Brilhante (Brazil), Rin (India) and under other local brand names.From Our RangeRin BarRin PowderRin Jasmine Powder

Company profileHindustan Unilver Ltd ( HUL ) is a master marketer. The owner of some of the iconic brands in the Indian FMCG space, I used to look at the marketing practices of this company with a sense of awe and admiration.

And at the same time, this is a company known for getting the brands & consumers into a state of utter confusion. In the name of change, HUL brand mandarins experiment with their brands and some of the strategies can drive Philip Kotler to suicide.

Take the case of Rin. Rin is a power brand in the HUL's brand portfolio. This 500 crore brand is deeply etched in the mind of the Indian consumer with its strong association with whiteness.Then there is the iconic Surf. The brand has remained in the top slot thanks to sustained product and communication innovation.

Now in the past two years, HUL has been trying to find out how to mess up these two brands in the detergent cake market.In April 2007 , HUL had initiated a process to migrate Rin Supreme to Surf Excel bar. The brand migration was a high profile one. The ads screamed : Rin Supreme is now Surf Excel.

After a couple of months later, ads of Rin detergent cake began to pop up in TV. Now there is a high profile campaign featuring Bomman Irani for Rin Advanced Detergent cake. So Rin detergent cake is still alive ?

The new ad talks about Sabooth ( proof ) of whiteness. Now Rin Advanced comes with a whiteness chart which will prove to the consumers that Rin offers better whiteness than other cakes.So what about Surf Excel bar and Rin Supreme ?

Well . I suppose I need to take a lesson on brand portfolio management from HUL .

Ok Lets go back to history of this brand . During early 2000, Rin had two variants Rin Shakthi and Rin Supreme. Shakthi was a low priced detergent cake and Supreme was the premium variant ( Product line extensions ). Some where down the line, HUL dropped Rin Shakthi . Then in 2004, Rin Shakthi was relaunched as Rin Advanced.Then in 2007 Rin Supreme was migrated to Surf Excel.

For What ? Frankly speaking I am clueless. Is it a brand rationalisation or brand confusion ?

The result of all these is visible in the Economic Times' Brand Equity Survey results for the last 4 years.Rin was featured among top ten brands in the list during 2004,2005 & 2006. In 2004, the brand was in number 8 , in 2006 the brand was in number 3 and in 2006 the brand was in number 9.

In 2008, Rin was not even in the top 20 list , it had the rank of 21.

As a customer I walked into a super market in 2000 to buy a detergent cake. I see two variants of Rin : Supreme and Shakthi. I take Shakthi and happily walk away.

In 2004 I walk into the store to buy Rin Shakthi and I find that Rin Shakthi is not there but there is Rin Advanced and Rin Supreme. I walk away with Rin Supreme.

In 2006 I walk into the store to buy Rin Supreme , I find that now Rin Supreme is Surf Excel . I walk away with Tide detergent cake.

In 2008 , I still buy Tide.

If your strategy cannot be explained in one minute, then your strategy is not worth considering.

TIDE PRODUCT PROFILEIntroduction of Tide: Introduction of Tide It is manufactured by Procter & Gamble. The brand in India was launched with only two types of products namely Tide detergent and Tide bar. Consumers believe that white clothes once dirtied or stained can never look new again. Tide wanted to change this very belief of the consumers by bringing to life the Tide dirt magnets property.

Tideis the world's biggest selling detergent brand, as well asProcter & Gamble's #1 brand in its core market, the US. Although Pampersoutsells it globally, no other brand in the company's portfolio is as important in a single territory, or has been as significant historically. In fact the so-called "washing miracle", the world's first synthetic detergent, has been the main motor for the company's massive expansion since the brand's launch in 1946, leading its charge into other product sectors in the US, as well as around the globe. StablemateArielis the worldwide #2 laundry detergent, and P&G's main brand outside the US.

The History of Tide Laundry DetergentBy Lisa M. Russell, eHow ContributorLaundry innovations.In 1946, Tide was not just another laundry soap; it was not soap at all. Tide was the first heavy-duty synthetic detergent. Prior to this product, traditional laundry soaps left clothes stiff, dull and dingy. Tide and the automatic washing machine (that debuted the same year as Tide) changed the wayfamiliesdid laundry.1. History6. Soap and detergent are not created equal.Rationing during World War I forced the invention of chemical alternatives to laundry soaps. Proctor and Gamble introduced Dreft in 1933, but it was only able to clean lightly soiled laundry. In 1943, P&G created Tide combining synthetic surfactants (works on the surface of fabric) with builders that penetrated clothing to remove heavy soils. The research continued with 22 improvements in Tide during its first 21 years; P&G produces new products to meet the current customer needs.1. Problems7. Soap scum was a problem in the washtub.David "Dick" Byerly, holder of the key Tide patent, recalled that after 10 years of experimenting with basic cleaning agents there was no satisfactory, heavy-duty, non-soap product. Despite World War II shortages, manufacturing issues and company delays the correct formula was discovered. Within one week of introducing Tide, the detergent that "washes cleaner than soap," it became a best seller.

1. Solution8. Detergents: the chemical solution.8. By the 1950s, synthetic detergents outsold laundry soap; surfactants and builders replaced naturally produced soap. Detergents overcame the soap scum problem and the poorly washed clothes.

1. Features9. New washing machines for new formulas.9. The discovery of the correct surfactants in the chemical composition of Tide provided the breakthrough Tide inventors needed. Surfactants work on dirty fabric by suspending, dissolving and separating the soil so it will not re-deposit on the clothing.

Company profile

Type Public Traded as NYSE:PGDow Jones Industrial Average Component Industry Consumer goods Founded 1837 Headquarters Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. Key people Bob McDonald(President and CEO) Products See List of Procter & Gamble brands Revenue US$ 78.938 billion (FY 2010)Operating income US$ 16.021 billion (FY 2010) Net income US$ 12.736 billion (FY 2010) Total assets US$ 128.127 billion (FY 2010)

The War Begins:The War Begins Initially Tide was trailing behind Rin but since 2007, sales picked up, and its market share rose posing a threat to HUL whose share started eroding. In December 2009, P&G Home Products introduced Tide Natural, a new version of Tide, at a price lower than HULs Rin brand targeted at the rural segment. Competitive intensity had increased after the launch of Tide Naturals by P&G in the mass segment. HUL had responded with aggressive price cuts in Rin and a formulation change and thus the war begins .

Price Wars: Price Wars In Jan 2004 new Rin powder was launched with double whiteness proposition. Rin was priced at Rs. 42 for 1 kg pack, and Rs. 20 for 500 gms and Rs. 10 for 250 grams. Seeing the bold & confident move from Hul and realizing that pricing being of one reason for not being accepted by market even P&G slashed the prices of Tide. The Price was brought down to Rs. 23 for 500 gms as against previous price of Rs. 43 , Rs. 50 for 750 gms as against Rs. 70.

The Ad Campaign: The Ad Campaign Rin launched a commercial in 2010 comparing Rin and Tide naturals. In the ad the boy using rin questions AUNTY CHAUNK KYU GAYI ? with the obvious reference to tide caption CHAUNK GAYE ! Thus claiming better whiteness than tide naturals at an affordable price.

Tide Vs Rin: Tide Vs Rin P&G takes HUL to court over Rin advertisement. The practice of pulling down rivals in ones marketing communications is not new in India, yet, the ad took the industry by surprise because it was an open war declared by one powerful company against the other. P&G has filed a case in theCalcutta HighCourt againstHindustan Unilever's new ad campaign, whichopenly challenged the superiority of its product Rin over P&G's Tide.

Marketing Strategy: Marketing Strategy The price wars enabled P&G to popularize the brand and increase the penetration. Tide had found its formula highlighting its whitening power against HULs Rin which has the same positioning. On the other hand war entered a new episode when HUL launched its RIN SAFEDI KI CHALLENGE campaign . Apart from this there is also a layer of celebrity power in the form of bollywood actor Kajol as an additional punch .

Brand Update : Rin Vs Tide , The Strategy According to latest news report, the Calcutta High Court has restrained HUL from airing the controversial campaign against Tide. HUL has been given 72 hours to comply with the order .

The high decibel comparative ad of Rin generated huge buzz in the market. The direct comparative campaign evoked mixed reaction across the media. That single controversial ad generated crores worth of buzz about the brands in question

The current high profile aggressive stand of Rin has a background story. There was a proxy war going on between Rin and Tide since December 2009. During December, P&G launched the low priced variant of Tide branded Tide Naturals. Tide Naturals was priced significantly lower to the Rin. Tide Naturals was launched at Rs 50 per Kg , Rs 10 for 200 gms and Rs 20 for400 gms. Rin was priced at Rs 70 per Kg at that time.

The reduced price of the Tide variant was an immediate threat to Rin. Since Tide already has an established brand equity, Rin was bound to face the heat. Although HUL had another low priced brand Wheel priced at Rs 32/Kg, Tide was not in the same category of Wheel.

Rin had to cut the price to resist the market share erosion. As discussed elsewhere in the blog, HUL was facing a steady erosion in the market share in most of the categories. In the detergent category itself, the brand faced a market share fall of 2.5% in December 2009. With P&G starting a price war, HUL had to react and it did by cutting the price of Rin by 30% to Rs 50 per Kg. ( Source).

HUL also reacted to the Tide Natural's price war in a ' Guerrilla Marketing ' way. It took P&G to the court regarding the Tide Natural's advertisement. The contention was that Tide Naturals was giving the impression to the consumers that it contained natural ingredients like Sandal. The court ordered P&G to modify the campaign and P&G had to admit that Tide Naturals did not contain any Natural ingredients. ( another example of a brand swaying over to unethical marketing practices).

While P&G opened a war in the price front, HUL retaliated by opening two war fronts. One was the direct comparative ad and other through the court order asking P&G to modify Tide Naturals Ad and to admit that Tide Naturals is not ' Natural'.

I think that it was Rin which won the Round 1 of this war. It generated enough Buzz about the brand with all the media talking about the campaign. Rin was also able to neutralize the aggression of P&G to certain extent.

Tide chose not to respond because further fuel to the fight can highlight the fact that Tide Naturals does not contain any 'Natural Ingredients " which may negatively affect the brand's standing in the consumer's mind. So it is better to play the role of a " poor" victim at this point of time.

P&G can celebrate because of the free advertisement it got for Tide Naturals because of the comparative ad of Rin.

It is interesting to see the academic angle of this concept called Comparative advertising. From my little digging of information, it was evident that the academic research is also clueless about the effectiveness of comparative advertising. There are enough evidence to prove that comparative ads work better than non-comparative ads and vice versa. So academicians are as clueless as the practitioners in this regard.

According to academic literature, Comparative ads are those ads which involves directly or indirectly naming competitors in an ad and comparing one or more attributes in an advertising medium ( Alan T. Shao, Yeqing Bao, and Elizabeth Gray,Comparative Advertising Effectiveness:A Cross-Cultural Study Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Fall 2004)

There are two broad types of comparative ads. One is the Direct comparative ads which compares the competitor in more than one attribute. The second type is the Indirect comparative ad which projects the brand as the Leading Brand rather than comparing on certain attributes.

In the marketing world ( globally) comparative ads are commonly used across categories. Some of the relevant observations regarding comparative ads are given below.

1. Comparative ads are perceived to be beneficial to the consumers since more information is provided to him by the competitors. Comparative ads are encouraged in certain markets like USA by the regulators because it increases transparency and provides more information to consumers.

1. The comparative ads generally result in counter arguments which often creates such a noise that it discounts the original argument/information. Consumers tend to discount the claims by both the competing brand because of the arguments.

1. Comparative advertising strategy is more effective for smaller brands rather than established large brands. By challenging a larger brand through comparative ad , the small brands tend to derive more acceptance and awareness than the larger brand.

1. Comparative ads are found to be more effective for categories where consumers tend to use their analytical mind. Comparative ads tend to fail where consumers use imagery while evaluating the brands. For example, products like automobiles use comparative ads extensively and with effectiveness.1. There are also studies which shows that male consumers are more attracted towards comparative ads compared to female consumers.

Although Indian marketing world have seen lot of comparative ads, the current Rin Vs Tide is a rare case of direct comparative ad where the brand has taken the competitor brand's name and challenging it head on. That is the main reason behind the media noise about the campaign.

P&G India always was a laid back competitor in the FMCG market . Despite having the product portfolio and market strength , it never realized its potential. The company was happy with their minuscule market share in the various categories in the FMCG business . I am not sure whether P&G will react aggressively to the current HUL onslaught and if at all they did ,will it sustain the fight for long.

FINDINGS1) LARGE NO.OF POPULATION IN INDIA PREFER USING BOTH DETERGENT AND BAR

2)MAJORITY OF POPULATION INDIA PREFER WASHING AT HOME AND AVOID LAUNDRY.

3)TIDE IS CHEAPER AS COMPARED TO RIN

4)TIDE HAS BETTER ADVERTISEMENTS.

5)FRAGRANCE AS ONE OF THE FACTORS FORPURCHASING A DETERGENT.

6)ADVERTISEMENTS PLAY A BIG ROLE IN THE SALES.

7)CHANCES ARE THERE THAT TIDE MIGHT BE THE MARKET LEADER IN THE FUTURE.

SUGGESTIONS

1)AIR BETTER ADS TO ATTRACT MORE EYES.

2)USE FAMOUS PERSONALITIES FOR AD CAMPAIGNS.

3)REGULAR UPGARDATION AND CHANGES IN LOGO,DESIGN,COLOURS,SLOGANS ETC.

4)ATTRACTIVE PACKAGING.

5)AVAIL VARIOUS ATTRACTIVE SCENTED FRAGRANCE

ConclusionThe rule of caveat emptor wonderfully fits into today's marketing environment. Advertisements, more specifically comparative advertisements are the brainchild of our creative advertisers. These advertisements are just the tools in the hands of people who are designing them, so any complaints or criticisms need to be addressed to and against their makers and not against the tools (comparative advertisements). Marketers and advertisers must remember that it's easy to look at a competitor and find gaps in his product or services. It's harder, but definitely more valuable, to fill these gaps in one's own offering and build real competitive advantages with which you can offer delight to the customer rather than just satisfying them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. WEBSITES:1. 1)GOOGLE 2)WIKIPEDIA 3)WWW.TIDE.COM 4)WWW.HUL.CO.IN

1. NEWSPAPERS:1. 1) ECONOMIC TIMES