STP & Marketing Strategies

 

Importance of serving customers by grouping:

Segmentation:  

Surf Excel was launched in 1959 as a family brand with tough stain removal and a caring image. It was segmented for an audience which prefers washing their clothes with ease and comfort.

Segmentation is done on the basis of living standard measure (LSM), which ranges
from 1 to 15. 1 denotes those people who are living from hand to mouth, whereas 15 denote
extremely rich and elite class. LSM is measure by a number of variables such as no of mobile
phones in a house, no of cars, income bracket, etc. Surf Excel starts from 6 who can afford
washing machine for washing.

Targeting:

Surf Excel mainly targets housewives but the things have to be seen in context. Surf Excel is not just targeting the middle income category. With the broadest socio-economic footprint amongst consumer goods competitors, Surf Excel is also looking at lower income market as well as the higher income bracket with different sets of products.

Positioning:

Surf Excel is considered to be a trusted and premium brand because of its unique association. Unilever is positioning their product in the best of their customer satisfaction which also differentiate from their competitors. They are creating environment for people to have a life easy chance. As regarding the image there is message for the peoples to avoid on the occasions to restrict “when kids are in situation of doing something extra ordinary”.
They are also positioning as considering the fact of Strong’s competition .So they are also focusing different type of facilities.

 SegmentationàTargetingàPositioning is the sequence which marketers follow for effective target marketing.

If we change the sequence which marketers follow the following consequences can arise;

P-S-T:

·         When we position a product, we put it out in such a manner so as to create a distinctive image of the offering in the minds of the people we want to target.

·         If we try to position our product without knowing who our target is, there are chances that it will not be accepted by the majority who we have made an offering to.

·         Take into consideration the vehicle manufacturer Rolls Royce, if they position their luxury before segmenting the market, we will not know the behavioral pattern of the people in that particular market environment. After this if we target the segmented market, the surety of our positioning being is success is highly doubtful. It may or may not work.

·         This can cause unrest in the market and even cause the failure in our launching.

S-P-T:

·         Segmentation is done on the basis of Geography, Demographics, Psychographics and Behavioral patterns.

·         Once we segment the market, we get an idea of the kind of product and features a particular audience desires. Now, if we position the product as per the mass variety and value expected by different customer groups it will be impossible to satisfy the different needs of all the customer segments.

·         If we then target a particular group, it is sure to have unmet demands, needs and wants from our offering.

·         Hence, targeting has to be done before positioning to create and distribute the required value to the customer.

P-T-S:

·         If we position our product first, it will just lie in the market without anyone to go to. Thus we will have to select a particular audience who would understand our positioning. For this, we will have to target the right audience as per our positioning which would be a very difficult task as it is the reverse of our general path of targeting and then positioning.

·         Once we target our audience, there is no point in segmenting it further. It would only create additional cost to the market researcher and would not even be fruitful.

·         It is like trying to create the value of a service by not considering other customers as done in the Rapid Rewards case study. Liz Bast was not happy with the positioning by South West Airlines.

·         After positioning, when we target only a particular group, it is very probable that the interest of the group will be completely different from the product/service features which we have offered and the consumers will be dissatisfied.

·         Now if we target the market, it will create a segment of mixed customers which will exhibit the qualities of a rather mixed interest oriented audience rather than one which would be happy with a particular offering.

Thus, it is seen that the standard S-T-P approach will help to reach the target consumer effectively and help eliminate undue expenses and dissatisfaction from the consumer’s as well as the marketer’s side.

Organisational Buying Behaviour

How organizations buy: Differences with CB?

The buying decision-making process of an organization involves many individuals rather than that decision of an individual customer. Organizational buying behavior differs from consumer buying behavior in that of the following,

 (a) Normally, multiple individuals are involved - 

Here, HUL will procure all the chemicals and cleansing agents required to formulate the product called Surf Excel easy wash. The business market will involve major industries like manufacturing, transportation, communication, public utilities etc.

(b) Buying decision rules or standards may be applicable-  

The procurement department faces many decisions in making a purchase. The procurement team at HUL will have to abide by the Surf excel detergent quality policies as well as the policies of the organization befire making any purchase with a vendor.

 (c) Purchases occur as a result of derived demand- 

There is tremendous competition in the market for selling and buying goods/ services in order to formulate the final product. Demand for a detergent which helps reduce washing time as well as readily removes tough stains is the derived demand which creates purchasers to achieve the best deal in order to fulfill customer expectations as well as reduce company costs by increasing the value offered.

The Howard Sheth Model

The Howard Sheth theory of buyer behaviour is a sophisticated integration of the various social, psychological and marketing influences on consumer choice into a coherent sequence of information processing. It aims not only to explain consumer behaviour in terms of cognitive functioning but to provide an empirically testable depiction of such behaviour and its outcomes (Howard 1977). 

Utilizing the learning theory thoroughly and systematically, John Howard came out with the first truly integrative model of buyer behaviour. He was the first to introduce the difference between problem solving behaviour, limited problem solving and automatic response behaviour. 

The model is essencially an attempt to explain brand choice behaviour over time and therefore specially pertinent to our field. Focussing on repeat buying, the model relies on four major components - stimulus inputs, hypothetical constructs, response outputs and exogenous variables. 

Sales Management

Understand the sales function:

Marketing is the management as well as creation of demand. Sales on the other hand is converting demand to revenue.
Consumer becomes a customer when the sale is over.

According to AMA,
The planning, direction, and control of the personal selling activities of a business unit, including recruiting, selecting, training, equipping, assigning, routing, supervising, paying, and motivating as these tasks apply to the sales force. 

Sales management involves three interrelated processes: (1) formulation of a strategic sales program; (2) implementation of the sales program; and (3) evaluation and control of sales force performance.

 In formulating the strategic sales program, sales management involves a number of activities including development of account management policies, demand forecasts, and quotas and budgets; sales organization; sales planning; territory design; deployment; and routing. 

In implementing the sales program, sales management activities include supervising, selecting, recruiting, training, and motivating the sales force. In addition, implementation requires the development of compensation systems and sales force incentive programs. The evaluation and control of sales force performance involves the development and enforcement of methods for monitoring and evaluating sales force performance. Sales management activities typically required for evaluation and control include behavioral analysis, cost analysis, and sales analysis.

Bringing on an emotional connect with the consumer, Surf Excel has strived long to build a strong message around the idea that stains are good. And, the latest promotional campaign ‘The power of 10 hands’ strengthens it only further.

Distribution Decisions

Distributors:

Distributors are the institution through which availability of products is possible. Unilever’s

distributors have a very good relationship with them. And the important thing is that they must
integrate into total marketing mix because of time and money required to setup an efficient
channel.

Marketing Channels and Value Networks:

Thus, HUL follows a 3-Level Consumer distribution structure.

 

Importance of Marketing Channels:

Channels provide ease of distribution of the product of value to the consumers. They are the set of pathways a porduct or service follows after production. They are not created just to serve markets, Channels must be created to make markets.

 

The Role of Marketing Channels:

All channels have promotional material moving through them. The point wherein we can purchase along the channel is known as point of purchase.

 

The modern trade format comprises of the following three techniques:

Sales Promotion + Distribution + Personal Selling

 

Channels produce five service outputs,

 

1. Lot size - The no. of units one can purchase from the channel on one occasion.

2. Waiting and Delivery time - Fast delivery channels are preffered by consumers.

3. Spatial convenience - The degree to which the marketing channel makes it easier for customers to purchase products. HUL makes Surf available easily at various levels of the channel. Thus making it convenient to the consumers.

4. Product variety - The assortment provided by the channel creates a lot of choices for the consumer.

5. Service backup - Add-on services provided by HUL to provide greater service backup.

 

 

 

 

Promotion BTL

BTL Promotion:

Here, promotion is done at an individual level. The customer is directly given the product experience by introducing him face to face with the offering.

Here, the consumer does not have any doubt as to how the product will function once he procures it.

The functionability as well as the performance is viewable at the time of introduction of the product.

The following is a recent promotion using the BTL technique;

Surf Excel: TV Off on Facebook
The campaign aims to create dissonance about TV viewing habits in children and urges parents to take a pledge to encourage their children to spend less time with the TV.
Surf Excel, the detergent brand from the HUL Group, has launched TV Off - Life On campaign on Facebook. The campaign aims to create dissonance about TV viewing habits in children and urges parents from across the country to take a pledge to encourage their children to spend less time with the TV.

The campaign is launched in association with Techshastra, a digital agency, which came up with an app on Facebook to promote the idea. Following this, mothers will be encouraged to ask questions and air their worries about children watching too much TV.
The agency has also scheduled an expert in child development to address these problems and offer practical solutions on how mothers can address this.