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Marketing strategy

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Executive summary
In order to remain viable and competitive in the market and to earn and maximize profit, a
company manager must plan its marketing strategy by focusing on market research and product
mix. Marketing strategies help companies to sort out such ways that will keep it connected to the
customers by delivering them their messages continuously and to keep a perfect combination
between sales and marketing activities.

In the first part of the study of Surf, to understand the external environment situation analysis has
been done. For this PESTEL analysis and SWOT analysis is shown. The strength, weakness,
opportunities and threats of surf is given in the SWOT analysis. To understand the current
market situation of surf next the differentiation advantage, competitive edge, evolution of current
marketing strategy are highlighted.

In the second part of the study STP process of Surf is given. For the new marketing strategy it is
necessary to have a new STP plan for Surf detergent. Surf wants to develop a new rural market
segment where it will market a mid-standard detergent in a medium price targeting the rural and
semi-rural audiences. Later the marketing objective and marketing mix strategies are
recommended for the new marketing plan.

Finally it can be said that effective marketing and strategic relation should be building up with
the suppliers. Through doing these activities marketers can increase the market share of Surf in
the rural segment.

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Contents
Executive summary ....................................................................................................................................... 2
Part 1 ............................................................................................................................................................. 4
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Situation Analysis ......................................................................................................................................... 4
PESTEL Analysis ......................................................................................................................................... 4
Differential Advantage of Surf: .................................................................................................................... 8
Competitive Edge (USP)............................................................................................................................... 9
Evolution of Current Marketing Strategy: .................................................................................................... 9
Growth: ......................................................................................................................................................... 9
Sales Trend: .................................................................................................................................................. 9
Profitability: ................................................................................................................................................ 10
Part 2 ........................................................................................................................................................... 10
STP (segmentation, targeting & positioning) ............................................................................................. 10
Segmentation of the Surf ............................................................................................................................ 11
Targeting of Surf detergent ......................................................................................................................... 12
Positioning .................................................................................................................................................. 13
Recommended objectives and goals for Surf detergent (SMART objective) ............................................. 14
Marketing mix strategy for Surf.................................................................................................................. 15
Product ........................................................................................................................................................ 15
Price ............................................................................................................................................................ 16
Place ............................................................................................................................................................ 16
Promotion.................................................................................................................................................... 16
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 18
References ................................................................................................................................................... 19

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Part 1

Introduction
A strategy denotes a process of figuring out the ways of achieving the objectives. And marketing
strategy refers to a set of procedures aimed at enhancing organizations’ sales, profitability and
earning competitive advantage in the market. It can be called the base of any business plan. In
order to remain viable and competitive in the market and to earn and maximize profit, a company
manager must plan its marketing strategy by focusing on market research and product mix.
Marketing strategies help companies to sort out such ways that will keep it connected to the
customers by delivering them their messages continuously and to keep a perfect combination
between sales and marketing activities.

Surf, a detergent powder, is a product of Unilever. It basically works as a flagship brand of

Unilever and was first developed in UK in the year 1954 (Unilever.com, 2015). This laundry
detergent offers astonishing cleaning power with amazing fragrance. It comes in various forms
such as, liquid, capsule and powder to meet different individual’s different needs. It has
successfully been in the market for a long time and managed to have an effective product life-
cycle in the market by dint of product innovations and effective marketing strategy (BBC, 2015).

Situation Analysis
Surf’s marketing strategy includes conducting with the external environment and environmental
situation of the company, so at first, we have to do the situation analysis and SWOT analysis in
order to identify its current market situation (Duncan, 2005). These are discussed as follows:

PESTEL Analysis
The environment of Surf detergent is analyzed by PESTEL analysis process which includes
analysis of political, economic, social, technological, environment and legal situations and
conditions (Kotler, 2010). It is discussed as follows:

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Figure - PESTEL analysis

Source- Kotler, 2010

Political Analysis:

Political factors affect a company’s performance and profitability to a great extent. Variation in
taxation policies, Governmental terms and conditions, auditing policies etc. have a great impact
on Surf’s marketing plans and strategies. As Unilever is a global company, it has to operate by
following local, regional and international rules and regulations (Cadogan, 2009). Though Surf
has managed to keep a good pace with the Government rules and regulations, sometimes its
economic performance has deteriorated a bit because of the negative publicity that occurs
because of change in any law. Auditing policy and unemployment reduction policy sometimes
put an adverse effect in Unilever’s economic performance as well as its overall performance.
Imposition of high tax rate of raw materials by local Government sometimes works as a barrier
too. Still Unilever is trying its best to cope with the changing economic policies and rules and
regulations (Duncan, 2005).

Economic Analysis: Though Surf is one of the established and renowned detergent brands in the
whole world, it has got a lot of competitors. So, Unilever has to face lots of competition in the
market which are cheaper in price. The main competitors of Surf include, Ariel from Proctor &
Gamble, Tide, Omo, Persil etc. Nothing is certain in this microeconomic environment and
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changes in market conditions and economic trends cause a very difficult situation for companies
to operate (Duncan, 2005). Convincing consumers to buy a particular product is not that easy as
many other cheaper substitutes are already available. But it is a matter of assurance that with the
increasing population, the uses of home-care products are increasing too and as a result, Surf has
managed to sustain its position in the market by growing customer demands.

Social Analysis: Surf has already created a brand image in the world market by both its cleaning
power and its hygienic value. This product is totally eco-friendly as it is made from enzymes that
are safe for human beings to a great extent. There has never been in any safety issue regarding
Surf. Rather it has breached such a fact that detergent shouldn’t cause any harm to hands or
lower clothes’ or fabric quality. It also underwent certain changes in its brand communication for
social benefit. It has encouraged the games and innovation of children by their slogan, “Dirt is
good” and they ensure to remove the dirt in the blink of an eye with its astonishing cleaning
power. It has managed to create a good value in the eye of people of every walk of life. . It adds
60% more value to the driving machine wash and 70% more value to direct application solution
wash (Surf-detergent.com, 2015).

Technological Analysis: The development of the detergent, its advertising and promotional
activities solely depend on technology. IT experts of Unilever have opined that, lack of
technological development will decrease the product’s validity and also lose its popularity. So,
Unilever has taken up all technological improvement projects to develop the product and
launching new flagship. The researcher of Surf’s R&D department has established a special
formula for its stain removal ability. Surf invented ’99 stain formula’ in year 2002 which saw
huge success. (www.unilever.co.uk)

Environment Analysis: Surf has managed to get a leading position in the market as a detergent
product. It has gained customer satisfaction by its good performance as a detergent and also as an
eco-friendly product. The raw materials of Surf are totally renewable and environment-friendly.
The detergent, no matter in which form they come, either as capsules or as liquid detergent,
guarantees safety of customers using it. It also sustains the quality of the fabric or material.
These qualities have enabled Surf to create a well-mannered brand image and gain more
customers (Surf-detergent.com, 2015).

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Legal Environment: As Surf is operating in UK, it has to abide by the laws, rules and
regulations of each country. Unilever successfully plans and coordinates its marketing strategies
in a different approach in different circumstances in accordance with different legal entities
(Puška, A. (2013).

SWOT Analysis: The strength, weakness, opportunities and threats of surf are given as follows:

Strength 1. It is a premium detergent brand of UK.

2. The quick-wash technology of Surf
reduces both water consumption and
time for rinsing for up to 50 percent (
www.surf-detergent.com.uk)
3. The brand visibility and ad campaign is
better compared to various other similar
products in the markets.
4. The strong distribution network
facilitates its marketing strategies in the
countries it operates in (Ratnasingam,
2006).
Weakness 1. Surf has got one of the most leading
brands as their competitors in the
market.
2. Its price is relatively higher, which
makes it less affordable to people of all
walks of life.
3. Similar products in a cheaper price rate
already exist in the market.
4. It is less available and popular to the
rural people (BBC, 2014)

Opportunities 1. Surf is easily coping up with changing

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customer needs and demands.

2. Its technological growth will certainly
increase its market position in rural
markets too.
3. It has got the ability to sustain its
position in the market and to remain
viable in the long run.
Threats 1. It has got some big threats from current
and future competitors, for example,
Ariel, Tide, Pestile etc.
2. The profit from detergent sector is
relatively lower than other sectors.
3. Existing detergent products in the rural
market possess a big threat to Surf to
operate in those areas (Wells, 2009)

Differential Advantage of Surf:

Differential advantage denotes to those advantages that a product enjoys over the similar
competitor products in the market (Mitchell, 2009). Differential advantage enables Surf to obtain
a more leading position in the market. The differential advantage of Surf is discussed as follows:

Surf has the advantage of a renowned brand image that it has attained for its good performance
over a long period of time. It has created a sustainable position in the local and regional markets
and has managed to influence customers in such a way that they now firmly believe that Surf is
the best detergent to remove dirt and stains from clothes and it gives clothes the fairest finishing
touch ever. The new path-breaking technology of quick wash Surf has also given its customer
value a new dimension, as no other detergents ensure time and water consumption for up to 50
percent (Wells, 2009)

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Competitive Edge (USP)

Unique Selling Proposition, in short USP, denotes a process of determining a company’s unique
position in the market and the particular areas where they will conduct its advertising and
promotional activities. Surf is promoting through TVC, RDC, billboards, quick game show,
powering TV shows, lottery, giving away gift hampers, promotional offers like ‘Win Breath-
taking Helicopter Flight’ etc. The USP for Surf is, this product has been ruling in the market
place for many years. Their outstanding stain removal power is their USP in the marketplace.
And this is the only detergent product that ensures less consumption of both water and time.
Their sustainable brand image can also be considered as their USP. In year 2013, Surf occupied
32% market share and it was greater than that of its biggest competitor Ariel (www.surf.co.uk)

(Mitchell, 2009)

Evolution of Current Marketing Strategy:

Growth:
Since its commencement in 1954 in UK, Surf has been growing in such a pace that it has attained
its brand image in the local and regional market. The growth of surf is really remarkable. With
the change of time, it has brought change in its product formation and marketing strategies too. It
was a bit higher in price before. But at present, it offers a variety of products at different price
range, keeping in mind all classes of people’s buying behavior and affordability (Surf, 2014).

Sales Trend:
In UK, Surf is leading among all other detergent brands. It has got numerous competitors in UK.
But it has managed to attain the biggest market share in terms of sales than any other brands.
Sometimes, higher price range works as a big hindrance to its sales trend (BBC, 2014). The
comparison of Surf’s sales trend in 2013 can be understood by the following chart:-

Brand Name of Detergents Market Share

Surf 32%
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Ariel 24%
Tide 16%
Persil 20%
(www.surf.co.uk)

Profitability:
Surf is one of the most profitable brands not only in UK but also in other countries it operates in.
this has become possible because of its USP, marketing and promotional activities, use of latest
technology in both processing and renewing the raw materials of the detergent, earning customer
satisfaction by quality products and getting involved in some corporate social responsibilities
(Moriarty, 2012). In year 2004, Surf’s return on equity was 56.23%, equity multiplier was
3.64%, net profit margin was 10.42%, total asset turnover was 1.48 and return on assets was
15.44 (unilever.co.uk, 2014)

Part 2

STP (segmentation, targeting & positioning)

Segmentation targeting and positioning is the consecutive process of performing a marketing
objective into reality. Identifying the desired market where the firm will execute its marketing
objectives will be the function of the STP (Kotler, 2010).

First of all the important function is to identify the market and the divide it into desired market
segment according to the resources and capabilities of the firm. Then the task is to develop the
market segments and evaluate market segments on the sets criteria. After the segmentation has
been done then targeting some of the segments should be done. In this phase the evaluation of
the market segments and developing profiles of each target market should be done. Subsequently
emerging the target market positioning approach and implementation of marketing mixes should
be developed.
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Figure- the STP process

Source- Loth, (2004)

For the new marketing strategy it is necessary to have a new STP plan for Surf detergent. Surf
wants to develop a new rural market segment where it will market a mid-standard detergent in a
medium price targeting the rural and semi-rural audiences.

Segmentation of the Surf

Segmentation is the procedure of describing the market and after that separating the market on
the foundation of certain acute like market appearances, structures etc. Marketplace
segmentation is the procedure through which marketplace is separated into specific comparable
groups which eventually competes with the goals and capitals of the company. In addition to that
segmentation is the procedure of assigning customers into distinct markets to related clusters
(Graham, 2010).

The new segmentation criteria of Surf can be summarized by following table-

The segmentation is done for the semi-rural as well as towns of East London.

Segmentation Target audience

Demographic  Women, aged 22 to 27

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 Housewives
 Upper and middle class income groups
Geographic Targeting the rural and semi-rural market
Psychographic Regularly updates about the new product ads
and news
Behavioral Targeting audiences who consider quality is
more important than money

From the above table it can be said that the new marketing strategy needs a new market segments
based on geographical segmentation criteria. In this segmentation base the rural and semi-rural
audiences will be targeted for the new plan. Basically Surf mainly produces products for urban
and premium class people but as competition is rising Surf wants to enter into the rural and semi-
rural markets with a new mid-level quality product for the semi-rural groups. For this they need
to do through analysis and research about the segmentation and characteristics of those markets.
Basically as competition grows up rural people are now becoming more conscious about quality
of the product. And thus they are ready to pay for the products more than in previous decades. In
this situation segmentation of rural area of Surf is necessary (Graham, 2010).

Targeting of Surf detergent

For targeting the new segments information of the markets should be gathered for the target
market. For Surf it will be tough to access into a market where availability of substitute products
is higher. In terms of UK rural areas there are different types of rural customer based detergent
powder available in the market. For this selection of target market is necessary in an effective
way. There are some factors that should be considered before planning for the targeting. These
features are appeal of the segment, reasonable clusters of the segment, competence to be
operative of the segment, and the company’s aptitude to efficiently participate. The target market
factors of Surf detergent is given below-

Targeting factors of Surf 1. General rural consumers

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2. Consumers who are color sensitive

3. House wives and working women
4. Consumers who wants environment
friendly detergent powder.

In the urban market of Surf it follows a single segment concentration to highlight on the
consumers that have been recognized as the Surf Mom. But in the rural areas new Surf will be
extended their market for semi-rural customers. In this case specific product specialization
aspects or strategies will be followed for this arena to capture the rural target market. Targeting
will be effective if proper needs and wants of the market segments are matched with the targeting
factors mentioned above (Kotler, 2010).

Positioning

Positioning in the market means creating an image in the minds of the consumer’s thorough
developing effective and distinctive features of the product. This image has to be such that
customers may relate the image with product immediately. A product can be positioned on two
stages one is consumers and another is competitors. When positioning is on the client oriented
the promotion messages and campaigns are directed to the customers. Those advertisements will
offer the benefits of the product that can be got through using the product. On the other hand if
positioning is developed targeting the competitor’s campaigns then the product advertisement
will try to say that they are better than their competitors’ products (Ferrell, 2009).

Surf has a popular advertising campaign of ‘Dirt is good’. Through this campaign Surf has
reached a wide range of consumers. In this new target market the advertising campaign will be
quite different from the previous one. Here, the main emphasize will be Surf as an environment
friendly product with standard quality that removes toughest stains (Elliot, 2002).

Some positioning strategies of Surf are given below-

 Semi premium products for the rural and semi-urban population of the market segment.

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 Better technological usage for removing the hardest stains.

 Convincing customers that dirt is good as Surf is there to remove them in easy wash.
 Developing a trusted brand image and brand association in the minds of the consumers.

New positioning

1. ‘Win with white wash’ campaign

This positioning strategy will be developed by targeting school going and house wives of rural
areas.

2. Highlighting Corporate Social Responsibility

Here two types of CSR can be developed one is highlighting the education scholarship program
and another one is highlighting the environment friendly detergent powder (Schultz, 2014).

Recommended objectives and goals for Surf detergent (SMART objective)

The new objectives of Surf detergent for the rural target market audiences will be to gain 20%
more market share in the rural areas by 2017 and to make the top most preferred brand as
detergent powder to the house wives and working women of rural areas.

To achieve this objective following time period can be segmented-

The timeline is based on targeting the semi-rural and rural areas of East London

Year Activity
Year 1 Market research and product development
strategy
Year 2 Implementation of the strategy and
promotional campaign
Year 3 Monitoring the effect of the campaigns and
measuring the market share effect
(Schultz, 2007)

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Marketing mix strategy for Surf

Figure- 4P of marketing mix

Source- Kotler, 2010

Product
Product is the perceptible substances that can be untaken to the customers to please the wants
and requirements of the buyers. The new product line of Surf is for semi urban and rural areas
house wives and working women. There are different categories for Surf for different types of
consumers like surf liquid, surf bar, surf blue etc. The product will mid standard quality and
medium price product. The distinctive features of the product will be its environment friendly
washing powder and toughest stains remover. To enhance the fragrance Surf can add some
different fragrance like lemon or jasmine flavor for the rural target market (Czinkota, 2010).

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Price
Price is the value which is exchanged by offering a product or services to the customers. It is the
most important and most challenging elements of all parts of marketing mixes. In this strategy a
marketers has to think about the competitors pricing strategy and movement. For surf there are
many competitors who provide quality detergent with low price. In this case it will be tough for
surf to enter into a new market with high price. So the marketing strategy will be developing a
cost effective detergent powder for the rural people so that it can be marketed in a lower price
than the regular premium price of the Surf detergent. As marketing into the rural places
distribution prices should be considered by Surf marketers. Sometimes the channel cost may
increase the price level (Croué, 2003).

Place

Place is the elements of marketing mix which determines how the product will be delivered to
the final consumers. This delivery and packaging is done by the distribution channel. It is
necessary to build a cooperative relationship with the suppliers. Surf has their own distribution
channel members to distribute the products. As it will enter into a new market it should develop
some new relationship with new channel members. For doing this relationship marketing with
suppliers should be build up. Moreover the rural penetration is necessary for the new product
line. To capture the rural areas strong and capable suppliers should be developed to reach at the
corner of the target market. Moreover availability is a big challenge as competition is high there.
That is why superior and active supply members should develop. Moreover for developing
penetration strategy successfully warehouses facilities should be building (Cadogan, J. 2009).

Promotion
Promotional tools are important elements of marketing mix that mainly inform customers about
the product, latest news and offers of the products etc. Promotional tools are mainly effective if
proper strategy is followed. For Surf new product line different promotional campaign can be
used. And as it is targeted to increase its market share effective promotional offers are necessary
(ConsumerAffairs, 2015).

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Advertisement

For effective campaign in the rural segment Surf should do something different from their
popular advertisement ‘dirt is good’. For this new advertisement or new campaign with new
tagline can be effective.

Here the corporate social responsibility can be highlighted like education scholarship or
environment friendly detergent for all etc. same campaign in both rural and urban area will not
be effective. That is why effective CSR program can be highlighted through advertisements
(Elliot, S. (2009).

Sales promotion

Sales promotion offers will be effective in the rural areas. They mainly prefer new discount
offers, coupons, exciting prizes and concessions etc. For new product line some effective events
and sales promotion tools can be effective in the initial stage.

Content marketing

In this new era content marketing will be effective in promoting the new product line for the
rural segments of Surf (Buckley, P. 2002).

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Conclusion
Surf is a detergent product that has been executing certain actions to move its current patrons as
well as inflowing into a different segment to catch particular new buyers. To figure out actual
customer devotion and brand advancement the business requires emerging a plan that will be
supportive for the firm for branding (Berkowitz, 2002).

The goal of the corporation is to endorse a different product line for the rural customers and to
go in aninnovativesection of semi-urbanzones. To do this extensive research and strategy
development should be necessary. The needs and wants of the consumers should be known as
well. Effective marketing and strategic relation should be building up with the suppliers.
Through doing these activities marketers can increase the market share of Surf in the rural
segment.

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