PRESENTED BY: JYOTI NAYYAR KRATI SARASWAT NIKITA KHANDELWAL

DETERGENT MARKET
The size of the Indian detergent market is roughly estimated to be 12,000 crores. (Source: http://business.mapsofindia.com/top-brands-india/topdetergent-brands-in-india.html) In India HUL holds 38 per cent market share in the washing powder segment clearly standing as the winner.

CHART

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 Excels strength.

PRODUCT RANGE

PRICE CHART
SIZE SURF EXCEL QUICK WASH Rs.2/Rs.23/Rs.56 Rs.109/SURF EXCEL BLUE Rs.2/Rs.20/Rs.41 SURF EXCEL AUTOMATIC Rs.80/Rs.155/-

SACHET 200gm 500gm 1kg

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

PORTERs 5 FORCES

BARGAINING POWER OF CUSTOMERS

The Buyers of Surf Excel are divided in two groups END USER Detergent is a low involvement product with small fragmented customer base. Weak and do not possess much

RETAILERS
HUL uses GTM (Go To Market) to reach their retailers via Mahindra Logistics.

bargaining power.
But, they possess the power of choice.

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 doesnt 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 doesnt 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 Ps of Marketing

PRODUCT
In product some elements are involved which are Variety, Quality, Size, Features, Brand Name, Packaging and Services. Variety Surf Excel is at present situation available in two varieties Surf Excel Surf Excel Matic

Quality Surf 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 Distributors The 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 Retailers Unilever 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 Consumers Company influences prices charged by retailers. So retailers are bound to charge fix price to ultimate consumer.

PLACE
Coverage Surf 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 Spacing Surf Excel gets prominent shelf space at any retail outlet, due to its strong brand image in the market. Inventory As 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
National Sales Distributor Regional Sales Distributor Common Distributors

Detergent Industry

Wholesalers Retailers Retailers

Final Consumer
Macro Outlets

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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