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Marketing strategy

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Executive summary

Ariel is a name of detergent powder which is made by Proctor & Gamble. It is a laundry

detergent and it is a flagship brand of P & G. Marketing is the process of dealing with the

external environment and initial situation of a company and its formulation, expansion, and

choice of market oriented strategy and after that contributing to the goals of the company.

It is the process through which the environment of the Ariel detergent can be analyzed. Political

factors have huge impact on the development of a business. As P&G is a global company it has

to maintain local, regional and global rules and regulations. Ariel has to deal with high number

of competitors in the market. Thus the microeconomic environment is very competitive and

uncertain. Ariel has developed a good reputation over many years for serving bets detergent of

the market for example sustainable development and usage of renewable resources etc. On the

other hand the strong competitive advantage of Ariel is that it has set up a stimulus in the minds

of the target audiences that no detergent can better remove the toughest stains than Ariel. In STP

analysis in these criteria the marketers will segment the market on the basis of some criteria

geographic segmentation, user status, marketing type. Ariel mainly does segmentation on the

basis of user status. In terms of marketing mix to increase the declining brand image and to

promote the new product line the brand of Ariel should adopt some marketing mixes strategy

that will be beneficiary for the company in near future. Proper implementation of marketing mix

and STP analysis will be helpful in making a brand promotion successful.

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Contents

Executive summary ......................................................................................................................... 1

Part 1 ............................................................................................................................................... 4

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4

Situation analysis ............................................................................................................................ 4

PESTEL analysis ............................................................................................................................ 4

SWOT analysis ............................................................................................................................... 7

Differential advantage of Ariel ....................................................................................................... 9

Competitive edge (USP) ............................................................................................................... 10

Evolution of current marketing strategy ....................................................................................... 10

Growth .......................................................................................................................................... 10

Sales trend ..................................................................................................................................... 10

Profitability ................................................................................................................................... 11

Part 2 ............................................................................................................................................. 11

STP ................................................................................................................................................ 11

Segmentation of Ariel detergent ................................................................................................... 12

Targeting of the Ariel detergent .................................................................................................... 13

Positioning .................................................................................................................................... 14

Recommended objectives and goals for Ariel detergent (SMART) ............................................. 15

Recommended strategies and programs to include amongst the other strategies relating to 4Ps . 15

Product .......................................................................................................................................... 16

Price .............................................................................................................................................. 17

Place .............................................................................................................................................. 18

Promotion ...................................................................................................................................... 18

Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 19

References ..................................................................................................................................... 20

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Part 1

Introduction

Marketing strategy is the aim of increasing the company’s sales and developing competitive

advantage. It includes basic and all types of long term activities that will ultimately increase its

sales and profitability. It is the process of dealing with the external environment and initial

situation of a company and its formulation, expansion, and choice of market oriented strategy

and after that contributing to the goals of the company.

Ariel is a name of detergent powder which is made by Proctor & Gamble. It is a laundry

detergent and it is a flagship brand of P & G in various countries like some parts of Europe,

Mexico, Japan, Brazil, Pakistan, India, China etc. this detergent power mainly first developed in

1967 in UK market. The compact powder of Ariel is mainly known as Ariel Ultra and it was

reformulated as Ariel future in nineties. In 2003, Ariel brought out a new version of detergent

known as quick wash action to its detergent evolution. It has now become one of the most

popular detergent powder brands in many parts of the world. Aerial mainly follows enzyme

technology. The best feature of Ariel is that it has superior cleaning in a choice of fragrance

(Ariel.co.uk, 2015).

Situation analysis

To analyze the current situation of Ariel detergent powder environment analysis and its overall

SWOT analysis are necessary (Gronroos, 2006). They are given below-

PESTEL analysis

It is the process through which the environment of the Ariel detergent can be analyzed. The

PESTEL analysis of Ariel detergent is given below-

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Figure- PESTEL analysis

Source- Winer, 2010

Political- political factors have huge impact on the development of a business. As P&G

is a global company it has to maintain local, regional and global rules and regulations.

Failure to maintain these rules and regulations can significantly damage by adverse

publicity associated with a breach of law (Needham, 2006). Changes in taxation and

dimension to reduce unemployment have significantly affected the Ariel detergent

economic performance as well as the company performance. For example it has reduced

its sales over 5% in a year (Needham, 2006). Moreover in some regions local government

has imposed heavy duties on raw materials and had a negative impact on production

capacity. But overall P&G is good in managing good relation with governments.

According to Guardian, (2012) the R&D of P&G is more than 60% bigger than its

competitors and more than most of the competitors. Approximately 2billion pound is

spending every year for research & development. The political

Economic- Ariel has to deal with high number of competitors in the market. Thus the

microeconomic environment is very competitive and uncertain (Needham, 2006). As a

result consumers do not want to buy expensive products having available substitute in

market. P&G Company’s business mainly depends on continuing the demands for its

brands like Ariel. Hostile economic condition has caused in some damages of intangible

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resources which are in the practice of brand names. But recession has increased the home

care products like Ariel which is a positive sign for P&G (Chen, 2003).

Figure- product wise market share of P&G in UK

Source- Economist, 2012

In UK proctor & gamble gain 19% market share from Ariel detergent and its subsequent

product lines.

Social- Ariel has developed a good reputation over many years for serving bets detergent

of the market for example sustainable development and usage of renewable resources etc.

moreover Ariel is conscious about the health issue and safety of its consumers. The

vision of Ariel detergent is to make people feel good, look good and to provide good for

others (Guido, 2010). Moreover P&G is now highlighting its logo in Ariel which is a

positive sing of promoting social desirability. Ariel has successfully built an image of

environment friendly product.

Technological- the company of Ariel is highly dependent on technology. To improve the

brands quality and its image it has developed e-marketing as well. Ariel IT experts

believe that failure to meet up the demand of the consumers and lack of technical

capability will soon pull of the detergent from the market as high competition exists in

global market. That is why P&G is now trying to reduce the cost of production of

detergent through IT efficiencies at a global level (Khoury,, 2010).

Environment- Ariel has developed a good reputation over many years for serving bets

detergent of the market for example sustainable development and usage of renewable

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resources. Already it has developed a brand image of environment friendly product in the

eye of the consumers (Kotler, 2003). The company is continuously trying to develop an

era of environment friendly products evolution in considering the health and safety

issues.

Legal – Ariel needs to be very careful about the rules and regulations of different

countries it is operating currently. But the main fact as different countries has different

laws Ariel Company needs to develop marketing and production strategy considering

those different rules and laws. But as P&G is maintaining good relation with

governments it has good reputation all over the world (Minarti, 2005).

SWOT analysis

Ariel detergent strength, weakness, opportunities and threats are given below-

Strength Ariel is the world leader in laundry detergent segment. In UK it has

19% market share for detergent powder over other competitors.

Quality detergents- It is one of the Quality detergents which claim

that it can remove toughest stains. Innovation- It has made the strong

base in the minds of the consumers by various innovations in

marketing. It spends 60% of its budget on R&D. but in 2011 it was in

down ward curve. Fragrance introducer- Ariel is the first brand that

has introduced fragrances in the market. Pioneer- It is the pioneer of

enzyme technology in the market (Pride, 2010).

Weakness Substitute- Various lower priced products or substitutes available in

the market. Unilever has 18% market share of detergent in UK.

Competitors- There are some strong competitors in the market like

Henkel, Surf, Persil etc. Low recall significance- Ariel has no

advertisement recall significance.

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Figure- emerging market sales comparison

Source- (Sheehan, 2011).

Opportunities Rural market- Big unexploited rural market could be a great

opportunity for Ariel. About 15% revenue can be gained from this

portion. Brand traces- It can use its brand image traces in the minds

of consumers to increase the customer base. Leadership- It also has

the potentiality to hold the leadership position (Pride, 2010). As 19%

share is already gained in the market.

Threats Threats of competitors- Existing players are the main threats of Ariel

Availability of new entrants- Spurious products or substitutes

available in the rural areas. Pricing war- There is existence of

aggressive price competition among surf, Persil, Henkel etc.

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Figure- innovation leads weakness

Source- Winer, 2012

Differential advantage of Ariel

Differential advantage means the exclusive benefits and features of a firm, goods or programs

that set it above of the products of competitors in the market. It means a set of exclusive

characteristics of a business and its goods that are observed by the target audience as important

and greater to those of the rivalry. Differential advantage is the way a company can assure its

leadership in the marketplace. It is one of the important aspects for a business where competition

is high of a particular product (The Economist, 2015).

The differential advantage of Ariel detergent are given below-

Brand symbol is one of the sustainable competitive advantages of Ariel detergent. Then it is one

of the trusted and premium detergent brands of the world. The strong competitive advantage of

Ariel is that it has set up a stimulus in the minds of the target audiences that no detergent can

better remove the toughest stains than Ariel. Moreover some corporate social responsibilities has

also played important role in creating competitive advantage for Ariel detergent (The Economist,

2015).

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Competitive edge (USP)

USP means Unique selling propositions. It is a marketing concept which is first proposed as a

theory or pattern that clarifies successful advertising campaigns. According to Levitt (2002)

differentiation is the most important strategic and tactical activities in which a company

continuously engaged. This term is used to explain the personal brand of a company. But now it

is used to describe the similar objects from other objects or competitors (Severi, 2011).

The unique selling proposition of Ariel is that the product has been existed for many years in the

marketplace and it has established an image as a detergent that can remove the dirtiest and the

toughest stains from cloths (van Ham, 2005).

Evolution of current marketing strategy

Growth

Ariel is now positioned as in the premium category of detergent powder and it is the most

expensive hand available in the UK market. The company has recently promoted some mid-

priced brands to compete with the competitors of low priced detergent. It is mainly developed to

compete with the low priced detergent which is mainly covered a wide area of the market. On the

other hand recently it has significantly reduced the sales because of the improper advertisements

and promotional offerings (Ariel.co.uk, (2015).

Sales trend

From the below graph it can be said that there are high competition exists between the

companies. The detergent markets of UK are highly competitive as there are different detergents

brands exist equally. Moreover these brands provide products at a lower price which is more

threatening to Ariel.

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Figure- market share of Ariel

Source- abbrands.net, 2013

Profitability

In terms of profitability Ariel has been done great so far compare to other rivalry groups. As a

premium product the price is high and it is related to the quality and revenues. It is one of the

leading detergent brands of all times. In UK the profitability is higher in comparison to other

brands like surf, Persil, fairy or tide (Ariel.co.uk, (2015).

Part 2

STP

Segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) is the process through which an important idea in

understanding marketing and the strategies of the firm. First of all the function of STP is to

define the market, then creating marketing segments, evaluating the segments on sets criteria.

While the approach provides a good instruction then target marketing selection should be taken.

In this stage the evaluation of the market segments and constructing the segments profile is

needed. After developing the market target positioning strategy and developing and

implementing marketing mixes should be applied.

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Figure- STP process

Source- segmentationstudyguide.com, 2013

Segmentation of Ariel detergent

Segmentation is the process of defining the market and then dividing the market on the basis of

some critical like market characteristics, features etc. So market segmentation is the process

through which market is divided into some similar groups which ultimately matches with the

objectives and resources of the company. In other words segmentation is the process of

allocating consumers into defined markets to similar groups (WANSINK, 2003).

In summary the segmentation of Ariel detergent market segments should be

Demographic- Family size (small, medium, large)

Benefits Quality, service, income,

Marketing type Niche marketing

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Geography Urban and semi urban (existing segment),

semi-rural (new segment)

User status Regular user, potential users, & non-users

In these criteria the marketers will segment the market on the basis of some criteria geographic

segmentation, user status, marketing type. Ariel mainly does segmentation on the basis of user

status. But as there are immense scopes in semi-rural area the new geographic segmentation of

Ariel detergent will be semi-rural area. In semi-rural area consumers are now more aware of the

quality of the detergent and willing to pay for the quality product. So by reducing prices a little

bit in the semi-rural area Ariel may do business successfully with a proper marketing strategy

(Ariel.co.uk, (2015).

Targeting of the Ariel detergent

With details information of each segments marketers of Ariel detergent will decide which market

segments can be best served by the company. For Ariel as a premium product hard to enter into

the semi-rural areas because it is already captured by the competitors. So there are many factors

to consider at the time of choosing the target market (WHEELER, 2005). These factors are

attractiveness of the segment, competitive groups of the segment, capability to be effective of the

segment, and the firm’s ability to effectively compete. In Ariel detergent target market the

targeting idea should be-

Target audiences

General consumers

Color sensitiveness of cloths

Washing machine users

Newly married couples

Working Women and housewives.

From the premium product segment people who want quality and also willing to pay more for

the product are mainly the target audiences of Ariel detergent. But in the new target market

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people of the semi-rural areas who are upper middle class or middle class segment will be the

target audiences of the Ariel detergent market (Winer, 2010).

Positioning

In the positioning strategy it is competed to select the target audiences and to set up a brand

image in the minds of the consumers (Winer, 2010). The most challenging part for Ariel

detergent in recent times is to set up a sense that it is not only for the premium class people but

also now it will serve the semi-rural upper middle class people as well in a reduced price. To

convert from premium product to a new marketing group will be a tough job for Ariel. Some

general positioning strategy of Ariel is given below-

Premium as well as semi premium segments for both urban and semi-rural folks.

Superior technology for removing the toughest stains

Fragrance oriented detergent

High quality emphasis

Low temperature washed detergent

Sustainable and environment friendly products

Contains double action systems

Gives a shines to cloths

Gives brightness to white cloths more than any other powder detergent.

Easy to wash (Winer, 2010).

Additional strategies are-

Content marketing – it is effective alternatives to advertising. It will be helpful to reach socially

networked folks easily.

Usage of social media- for example Ariel detergent can do sniff contest through Facebook and

invite consumers to purchase a packet of Ariel and smell the scent and after that share a brief

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story about the experience. This type of events may create buzz among the consumers (Aveline,

2006).

Tie up with companies- this is a unique way of converting promotional strategy in an exclusive

way. In this a company can introduce with a new company to promote their products together.

Ariel already follows up this strategy so branding the new product lien it can be an effective way

(Aveline, 2006).

Recommended objectives and goals for Ariel detergent (SMART)

The objectives and goals of Ariel detergent is given below-

The objective of Ariel detergent for the new semi-rural segment is to make the Ariel detergent

preferred brand of working women and housewives of England semi-rural regions by 2018.

The objective is SAMRT because-

Specific- Ariel will be launched a new product line for the semi-rural folks to improve its

brand image.

Measurable- it can be within 3 years with an expected profit of 30 million

Achievable- it achievable through high brand promotion

Realistic- P&G has the required resources to achieve the objective

Timed- the probable time period of achieving this objective is within 2018 (Cravens, D.

(2009).

Recommended strategies and programs to include amongst the other strategies relating to

4Ps

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Marketing mixes is the combination of product, price, place and promotion. In recent times three

more elements has been added to this criteria they are people, process and physical evidence. All

to gather these seven elements can be said as 7ps of marketing mix (Kotler, 2010). But 7ps is

mainly used for services marketing. The 4ps of Ariel detergent power is given below-

Figure- 4P’s of marketing mix

Source- Kotler, 2010.

Product

Product is the tangible objects that can be offered to the consumers to satisfy the needs and wants

of the consumers. Ariel new product line for semi-rural consumers is basically service consumer

goods. The differentiation strategy for this product line can be form, features, performance and

reliability etc. Moreover, this product will follow superior technology and also will take some

corporate social responsibilities. Ariel corporate social responsibility programs may include

education or learning programs for unprivileged students, raising funds, providing scholarships

etc. Moreover, product packaging line of Ariel will be more attractive than the previous

approaches. Ariel new product line should have a catchy tag line for the product. As it is

considered as a premium product, new tag line would be a promotional tool to attract new

consumers. Ariel has already established its positive brand image in the minds of consumers. It

should create some more semi premium product image to the mind of the consumers (Severi, E,

2005).

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Price

Price is the value exchanged by the consumer for the product or benefits they gain from a

company. It is one of the major elements of marketing mixes that should be handled carefully.

Price is an obvious element that consumers highly considered while purchasing (Chandler,

2004). In terms of household care, people especially women highly consider this object. Ariel

mainly sets up its position in the mind of the consumers as a premium product. So the price of

this product is high. But as Ariel is now willing to open a new brand which will also serve the

semi-rural folks then it has to reduce its price a bit. Previous price percentage changes of proctor

& gamble is shown below-

Figure- percentage of price change of P&G and Unilever in terms of detergent powder

Source- Chen, 2009

For this Ariel may consider optional feature pricing. As a new product line it can also consider

product line pricing. For developing effective pricing considering the cost effectiveness Ariel

new product line can be used cost-plus pricing. To hold the competition in the market of semi-

rural detergent marketers needs to considered the competitive pricing. And finally distributing

pricing should be done for effective relationship with channel members. Overall all types of

pricing criteria should be evaluated carefully before launching the new product line of Ariel

(Doyle, P. 2008).

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Place

Place or location is the strategy which determines which way the product will be delivered to the

ultimate customers. From the production the final consumers all the delivering activities is being

done by the distribution channel. The company needs to consider carefully the place strategy of

Ariel. For the new product line Ariel may consider in-store placement strategy. Already existing

in urban areas and has strong links with the suppliers. New links and connection should be

building up in rural areas. Rural penetration is necessary for the development of new product

line. Ariel should develop marketing channels as robust and penetrated so that it would advance

entree to remote areas. For developing penetration in the remote areas it needs to develop

strategic location of warehouses. It will be better to relocate the products for quick delivery and

to increase the availability (Doyle, P. 2008). Moreover Ariel needs to develop wholesaler’s

distribution in small towns that can cover the nearby areas or villages as well. National coverage

would be distributed with by aggregating the company’s warehouses and generating C&F agents

in the smaller towns.

Promotion

Promotional tools are the different and effective ways of informing about the products to the

consumers (Coakes, E. 2003). There are many ways of promoting a product to the consumers.

Ariel mainly follows different media to promote their products. For the new product line Ariel

may use advertisements targeting women and housewives of rural or small towns’ areas

highlighting fragrance oriented detergent as people of small towns appreciate fragrance. Eco

friendly product could be a better way to promote the product. Various promotional offers like

price discount, free gifts can be effective in the launching period. Newspaper advertisement and

billboard advertisement could be better ways to promote the product. Additionally Ariel may

highlight its corporate social responsibility activities very effectively to promote in the rural

areas by showing how they are contributing to the society (Coakes, E. 2003).

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Conclusion

Ariel is a detergent brand that has been performing some activities to reallocate its existing

customers as well as entering into a new segment to capture some new purchasers. To build

effective customer loyalty and brand promotion the company needs to develop a strategy that

will be helpful for the company for rebranding.

The objective of the company is to promote a new product line for the mid-level consumers and

to enter into a new segment of semi-rural areas. To do this Ariel needs to strategically define the

market segment and then collect information to highlight how they can develop a new strategy

for the new segment. For this proper R&D is necessary. For marketing proper knowledge of

marketing mix analysis is also necessary. The needs and demands of the rural areas should be

acknowledged properly (Aveline, J, 2003). Thus to increase the declining brand image and to

promote the new product line the brand of Ariel should adopt some marketing mixes strategy

that will be beneficiary for the company in near future. Proper implementation of marketing mix

and STP analysis will be helpful in making a brand promotion successful.

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References

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