PROJECT REPORT

Of

RURAL MARKETING – SURF EXCEL WASHING

POWDER

MBA Class of 2020

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Business Administration – Marketing & Sales

SUBMITTED TO: - SUBMITTED BY:-

Dr.Ritesh Dwivedi Aditya Singh (A – 56)

Assistant Professor Shubham Chaudhary (A-32)

Department of General Management Himanshu

Akash Bhat

AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

AMITY UNIVERSITY UTTAR PRADESH
SECTOR 125, NOIDA - 201303, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Aditya Singh, Shubham Chaudhary, Himanshu, Akash Bhat
student of Master of Business Administration – M&S at Amity Business School, Amity
University Uttar Pradesh has completed the Rural Marketing project Report on “Surf Excel
Washing Powder”, under my guidance.

The report has been checked for Plagiarism and is within limits of acceptance.

Dr.Ritesh Dwivedi

Assistant Professor

Department of General Management

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In pursuing and completion of my MBA and other commitments, we undertook the task of
completing my Rural Marketing report on “SURF EXCEL WASHING POWDER”

We fortunate in having sought and secured valuable guidance, continuous encouragement and
strong support at every stage of my guide and supervisor Dr. Ritesh Dwivedi and I deeply
grateful to him.

We want to acknowledge the help provided by my guides. The precious inputs provided by
them have helped in compiling this report.

We express our deep-hearted thanks and gratitude to all of those who helped me in this Project.

Aditya Singh

Shubham Chaudhary

Himanshu,

Akash Bhat

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 Table of Content
Chapter No. Topics Page No.
Certificate i
Acknowledgement ii
Table of Content Iii
List of Tables and Figures iv

1 Introduction 1
1.1 History 1
1.2 Vision, Mission & Philosophy 2
1.3 Major Products 3
1.4 Surf Excel washing Powder Competitor 3
1.5 Various variant in Washing Powder under Surf Excel 4
2 Data Collection Tool 5
2.1 Data 5
2.2 Sampling 5
3 Data Analysis and Interpretation 6
4 Conclusions and Suggestions 9

Annexure 10

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 LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Title Page No.

Table 1.1 - Surf Excel washing Powder Competitor 3

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Title Page No.

Figure 3.1 - Preference for Washing Clothes 6

Figure 3.2 - Brand 7

Figure 3.3 - Buying Frequency 8

Figure 3.4 - Quantity 8

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 Chapter 1: - INTRODUCTION

Unilever was created in 1930 when the British soap-maker Lever Brothers merged with the Dutch margarine
producer, Margarine Unilever in year 2003.The leading consumer products company in India, a multinational
with deep roots in the country. Change is inevitable and a leader must be willing to embrace change rather than
resist it. When new technology opens the possibility of a new market rather that may threaten the existing one, a
successful firm should consider entering the new market so that it will have the first-mover advantage in it. For
example Surf loss it leadership as Ariel came with a better technology powder safe for hands and tough on dirt.
Surf did recently a marvellous campaign of Dirt is Good. The company has been able to maintain its leadership
position because it used its resources to make a move into competitive arena.

Mission Statement

The leading consumer products company in India, a multinational with deep roots in the country.

Meet the everyday needs of people everywhere – to anticipate the aspirations of consumers and
customers and to respond creatively and competitively with branded products and services which raise
the quality of life.

Drive to serve consumers in a unique and effective way.

Attract and develop highly talented people, who are exited, empowered and committed to deliver
double-digit growth.

Serve everybody needs of all the consumers everywhere for foods. Hygiene and beauty through
branded products and service that deliver the best quality and value.

Strive to maintain an ever simple and enterprising business.

Use superior consumer understanding to produce breakthrough innovation in brands and channels.

Committed to making continuous improvements in the management of our environmental impact and to
the longer-term goal of developing a sustainable business.

Brands capture the heart of consumers through outstanding communication.

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 With branded products and services which raise the quality of life.

Through managing a responsive supply chain management, they maximize value from suppliers to
customers.

They are exemplary through commitment to business ethics, health, environment and involvement in
the community.

Company Values

Unilever Vision, Mission, Values, and Code of Business Principles are the principle belief of the
company.

Employees are ambassadors of Unilever, both inside and outside the work place.

Respect Individual differences and provide equal opportunity regardless of gender, ethnic or social
background.

Treat each employee and contacts with respect, regardless of grade and job title.

Set the business priority accordingly.

Respect time enthusiastically to achieve growth.

Company search for new ideas even by the consumers.

Every person is a potential Unilever customer, they treat all with respect.

Ensure superior quality products and services and aiming for zero complaints.

Never lose a consumer, Own the problem, win them back and ensure they feel positively treated.

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BRAND INTRODUCTION:
Industry Profile

For many centuries, soap was primarily used for laundering. However, laundry detergents have essentially
replaced soap because they perform over a broad range of water hardness levels.

Laundry Detergent and washing powders have become an important part of every consumer’s life. The market
offers a variety of washing powders, each brand claiming to wash the cleanest at unbeatable prices to
consumers. Laundry detergents, however, exert a hidden but taxing cost on the environment and consumer
health due to their environment-damaging properties. Phosphates are one of the main ingredients in most
present-day laundry detergents and are also the primary culprits in polluting water bodies - a situation in water
bodies like lakes, rivers and ponds which results in ultimate death of the water system. Undoubtedly,
phosphates (STTP - sodium tripolyphosphate - the most commonly used phosphate in laundry detergents) beef
up a detergent’s cleaning properties by softening hard water and preventing carbonates from settling on the
clothes washed, but once the washing is done, phosphates wreak havoc on the environment when they are
washed down the drain.

Laundry detergent is also widely used in the India market, the average per annum consumption of laundry
detergent is approximately 33,000 tons - One tone detergent costs around 138,000 Rs.

Since the last two years, the market trend (India) in the laundry detergents has taken a good pace, and many
consumers are switching from the bar soaps to laundry detergents. In terms of percentage, the increase ratio is
about to 20-25% per annum.

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Surf Excel

Surf Excel is the global name for a portfolio of value 'Omo' brands around the world.
These brands are challenging conventions in the laundry category. For example, Surf
Excel challenges the assumption of 'you get what you pay for' by providing products
that provide great results at a low price

Launched sometime in 1960, Surf Excel was the first in the India detergent powder market. Over the years,
Surf Excel has anticipated the changing washing needs of the India homemaker and constantly upgraded itself.

Surf Excel is India's largest selling compact detergent powder, it promises to tackle the toughest stains without
damaging the colour of the fabric. This is because only Surf Excel has smart sensors that can differentiate
stains from colours. Now consumers don't have to worry about tackling the really tough stains, especially on
coloured clothes anymore. ‘Surf Excel Hai Na!’

Surf excel with active oxygen is formulated to remove a range of stains such as chocolate, ink, egg yolk, blood,
turmeric and coffee. It gives clothes a complete cleaning while caring for the fabric. It is recommended by
Singer (Manufacturer of Electronic appliances) for use in top loading washing machines.

The green speckles penetrate deep into the fabric to help remove tough stains. The blue speckles give shine to
whites and brightness to coloured clothes.

Its refreshing fragrance keeps the fabric smelling fresh long after they have been washed. It is being
recommended by leading washing machine and apparel manufacturers around the world.

Those preferring the modern and convenient way to wash can rely on Surf Excel Liquid. The liquid form
penetrates deep, allowing great wash results. For really tough stains, consumer can apply the liquid directly on
the body of stain and tough stains being tackled with ease.

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Branding:
Consumer loyalty is fast becoming a disappearing phenomenon with an increasing demand for brand variety

In an increasingly borderless world, consumers are getting exposed to both information and choices overload,
making them increasingly confused about brands, Surf Excel branding strategy based on corporate branding
strategy, where the product of a company has its own name without any company name added, the product
belief in ‘complete cleaning and care’.

The ‘Brand image of Surf Excel ‘with reference to the other products in term of percentage is:

Surf Excel - 49%

Ariel - 31%
Brite - 15%
Express - 5%

Surf was losing its identity on its own, ‘People ask for Ariel Surf, Brite Surf or Wheel Surf.’ Or even Surf
Excel.

Surf has become a very generic name over the years. There was thus a fear that customers would switch over to
some other competing brand, unknowingly, even without paying attention to the brand of the product. The
movement is being seen as an attempt to give a more specific and clear identity to the established brand. After
more than 40 years, the brand will dissolve into a new identity — Surf Excel. They migrated from Surf to Surf
Excel, as Surf has become generic and many people today refer to any detergent as Surf. Besides, they feel that
this brand has the chance of attracting new users under the Surf Excel name

From time to time they changed their brand names as under

Surf Ultra
Surf Micro
Surf Power
and now Surf Excel

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TARGET Market & Segmentation:
Mainly housewives but the things have to be seen in context. India’s middle income group comprises about 35
million consumers. They have a combined spending power of Poland. But 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 higher income bracket with different set of
products.

That was the income bracket but if we analyze the commercial aired on tv or radio or via print media we will
notice that most of the communication is done by the help of children through tag line Dirt is Good. The
philosophy behind this is the children are the best influencers for the deciders. The children with this eyes
catching phrase try to influence the decision for their parents who are the deciders.

Market segments are group of customers having similar needs / wants and preferences. It enables the
organization to more closely match it marketing mix with the customers of same needs or demands.

Consumers can be grouped and served in various ways based on geographic, demographic, psychographic and
behavioural basis.

Ideally every consumer is a different market segment, but in order to maintain the balance between mass
production and focused on individualism Surf Excel divides the market on the basis of income group, For each
identified segment they market the product in various sizes,

Surf Excel is the Market leader in the laundry detergent market; it caters all the segment of the society by
offering different sized of Stock Keeping Units - SKU(s) segmentation based on different family sizes and the
income groups.

The reason for those SKU(s) is to pass maximum alternatives to the different segments based on various
economic classes and segments, Company also launched a 15 gms packing in order to penetrate deeply in the
less income group whose income may less than 6,000 Rs., their SKU(s) are:

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 Segment Packing Price (Rs.)
2Kg 400
Higher
1 Kg 190
700 gms 155
Middle 400 gms 85
100 gms 55
35 gms 25
Lower
15 gms 10

35 and 15 gms SKU(s) are also called hanging SKU(s), it targets in lower class of society areas, like Orangi
Town, Sohrab Goth, Shair Shah. Company gives special focus on the availability and visibility of these
particular two SKU(s) (35 & 15 gms) in all shops of those low-line areas.

The purpose of focussing on these SKU(s) is to cater the demand of the consumers as per their low purchasing
power and capacity to buy the well known brand and to generate more and more trials among the consumers to
make them brand loyal. That is why the company calls these small SKU(s) a trial generation SKU(s).

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PRODUCT

Surf excel believes that stains ae good. This is because when children go out and play and get dirty, they don’t
just collect stains. They experience life, make friends, share with each other and learn from each other. last year
however, surf has taken the concept of Dirt is Good because Dirt = play & play is good to a deeper level and
addresses the issues surrounding children’s play; the idea of learning through play, the obstacles towards play,
the impact of not enough play for our children. As a socially responsible company and brand, it believes that
they can create a platform on which they can take this message forward to showcase how playing helps children
mentally and physically. the

Regional brand team meets and decides where to launch which product. Market insights should match with
local insights. Surf Excel mainly unilever has a new phenomena. It consults all 3 trade models while designing
packaging for surf excel.

PRICE

Surf Excel is available in different sizes and quantities in the market for different prices. Its competitors in
upper class segments are Ariel which is product of P&G and brite total. The company has offered 1kg of surf
excel in the market for 190 Rs. Besides that it is also available in market in sachet and half kg. It is priced for
every consumer according to his or her financial status.

In 2007-08 unilever adopted one of the price adjustment strategies which have discount and allowance pricing
as they offered. Through this strategy promotional pricing strategy also came in progress as their product was
promoted through it sales increasing rapidly. But as its competitors also reacted for this change through
customizing their offerings and price cuts surf excel was finally focused towards price increases.

Several other offers have also been introduced by ariel and brite in the market using promotional, discounts and
psychological pricing strategies and for that surf excel have also responded efficiently through its strategies.

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DISTRIBUTION PRICING STRATEGY

Unilever---->Distributor---->GT/LMT
Unilever-->IMT through annual pricing plan

For case 1
List price Rs 175
Add Distributor price (5%) Rs 182.5

Add trade price (5%) Rs 189

Add retail price (10%) Rs 210

For case 2
List price Rs 190
Trade price (10.25%) Rs 210

Surf excels also launches temporary price reduction (TPR) such as 0.25/unit for a week or for a month. They
also give bonus such as 25 cartons----.5/case

PROMOTION

Sales force in Surf Excel is divided into three types: General Trade (general stores, Kiryana stores, Medical and
General stores), Local modern trade ( super stores such as Aghaz, naheed, D-mart) and international modern
trade ( Large house such as makro and metro).

Merchandising drives: It depends on channel the team is choosing to communicate its product (surf excel).
They may ask the retailer to have at least 50 pieces of surf in their shelves along with POS materials ( poster
banner shelves)

Outdoor Media Agency is appointed for the advertising campaigns via billboard and signboards. These OMA
classify different regions under Strata, ranging from 1 to 6.
Strata 1 includes cities like Karachi and Lahore, Strata2 includes cities with comparatively less density and so
on. They may select sites as per the following example:

Strata 1 would have 60% advertising sites

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Strata 2 would have 40% advertising sites
Strata 3 would have 20% advertising sites
Strata 4 nil

They may book the site either for 30, 60, or 90 days depending upon the nature of the product, budget of the
campaign and rent of site selected. The most effective advertising site in India is Sharah-e-Faisal. The effective
billboard which is displayed on the left of the driver and is at a height of 40 to 50 feet with an exception of
flyovers, bridges and high altitude road.

The plus point of the marketing strategy of surf excel is that when all other brands were campaigning against
stains and how dirt is bad for clothes, surf excel came up with tagline Dirt is Good.

PLACE

Mind share is the Media Buying House for unilever in India. The airtime is purchased depending on the relative
price and numbers of spots the brand is getting. These spots must be enough so that recall value is created
within the customer, mind. Frequency of target market is also analyzed. In electronic media, especially
Television PTV and ATV has the biggest country viewership. Whereas in Private sector Hum tv and ARY are
the biggest tv production and broadcasting house. The selection of print and electronic media depends on the
nature of product and marketing strategies. The ration is divided for print and electronic Media in the beginning
of the compaign. As on Hum tv top brands advertised in the given ration

No Brand Time share%

1 Sunsilk shampoo 5.0

2 Pepsi 3.7
3 Walls 3.4
4 Pel product 3.0
5 Clear shampoo 2.9
6 Zong 2.8
7 Surf excel 2.7
8 Brooke Bond supreme 2.2
9 Peak freans biscuit 2.1
10 Knorr 2.0
11 Hilal pan pasand 2.0

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Moreover retailing consumer product is unilever’s bread and butter. The company has the biggest retail in the
country with the company servicing 500,00 outlets of which 50% are covered direct by the company
distributors and the balance through wholesalers. For company the main business is done by General trade as
compared to IMT or LMT, therefore different incentives and preferences are given to general retailers
wholesalers and distributors.

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Chapter 2: - DATA COLLECTION TOOL

Research Design: It is a framework of methods and techniques chosen by the researcher to

combine various components of research in a logically manner so that the research problem is
efficiently handled.

2.1 Data

Data Collection:
There are two ways of collecting data i.e., primary and secondary data. This report data has
been collected through both the sources.

Primary data:
The Primary data was collected from the people through structured questionnaire and also
through observation, discussion with people, and observe their reactions while giving their
reviews about the Nirma washing powder.

Secondary data:
Secondary data collected through offical website of the product and wikipedia.

2.2 Sampling

Sample Size:
Total 145 peoples who lives in rural area.

Sampling Area:
The research was conducted on rural area at Uttar Pradesh (Shahdara Village & Villages in
Rampur District)

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Chapter 3: - DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

PREFRENCE FOR WASHING CLOTHES

Washing Powder
35%

SOAP
65%

Figure 3.1
Figure 3.1 shows that 65% people use the soap for washing their clothes and 35 % use washing
powder for washing their clothes.
As the people in rural market are inefficient to purchase the washing machine as they can’t
afford it which reduces the usage of washing powder. On the contrary the soap is much more
efficient as it is value for money and it’s consumption rate is less somewhat from washing
powder.

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 BRAND

Patanjali
25% Nirma
29%

Tide
11%

Surf excel
35%

Figure 3.2

Figure 3.2 shows that 29% people choose nirma, 11% people choose tide, 35% choose surf
excel and 25% people choose Patanjali.
As a detergent, Surf Excel and Patanjali are more preferred brands in comparison to washing
soap. The reason can be the quality of product is more liked as a detergent than as a washing
soap. 29.0% of rural respondents are preferred Nirma detergent powder over other brands. The
reason can be its affordable price.

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 BUYING FREQUENCY
5 or more
10%
1 time
30%

2-4 time
60%

Figure 3.3
Figure 3.3 shows that 30% people buying 1 time 60% people buy 2-4 time and 10% people buy
5 or above

QUANTITY
1 kg
15%

25 gm
500 gm 55%
30%

Figure 3.4
Figure 3.4 shows 55% people buy 25 gm packing 30% people buy 500 gm and 15% buy 1kg
The purchase of larger quantity pack is done in very large family or where they are also
carrying out laundry work for extra income. They intake the packet of 1kg or above. Many
large family have purchase intake in distributed manner as they purchase differently.

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 Chapter 4: - CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

CONCLUSIONS

1) Most of the people prefer to buy soap rather than the washing powder and the reason we get is
soap has more life than the washing powder
2) Surf excel has 35% share in the Shardra village market as the provide their product in all
quantity like 25gm, 500 gm, 1kg while nirma has 29% market share
3) In shardhra market people prefer to buy washing powder in small packet instead of in large
quantity

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 Annexure

Surf Excel/नि रम (Washing Powder/ कपड ध ि क प उडर)

Survey/सर्व क्षण

1. NAME/ न म DISTRICT/जि ल

2- AGE/ उम्र a)18-30 b) 30-50 c) above 50

3- Gender/ ल ग a) Male/ परुष

ु b) Female/महिुला

4- Occupation/ व्यर्स य a) Farming/खे ती b) Labour/श्रम c) Homemaker/घरवाली d) Student/छात्र

e) Other/अन्य

5- Family Size/ परि र् ि क आक ि a)2 Members/सदसुय b) 4 Members/सदसुय

c) 6 Members/सदसुय
d) Above 6

6- Monthly Income/ म लसक आय

7- Which brand you use for washing clothes/ आप कपड ध न क ल ए ककस ब ि ड क उपय ग
कि त ह

a) Nirma b) Surf excel c) Tide d) Patanjali e) Others/अन्य

8- What you prefer for washing the clothes/ आप कपड ध न क ल ए क्य पिसद िकत हैं

a) Soap/साबन b) Washing powder/कपडे धोने का पाउडर

9- what is the reason of buying washing powder/ र् ल ग प उिड खि दन क क ि णक य ह

a) Life b) Easy to use/परयुोग करनुे मुेु आसुान c) Price/कुीमत
d) More benefit from soap/अधधक लुाभ

10- What is the reason of buying washing soap / ध न कस ब खख दन क क ि ण क्य ह

a) Life b) Easy to use/परयुोग करनुे मुेु आसुान c) Price/कुीमत d) More benefit from
washing powder/अधधक लुाभ

11- Why you are not buying the nirma washing powder/ आप ननि म र् ल ग प उिड क य नह ि
खि दि ह ह

a) Availability/उपलबुधतुा b) Not available in small pack/छुोटुे पुक मुेु उपलबुध

निुुीुीु िुु
c) Not provide good washing/अचुछुी धुलुाई कुी वुयवसुथुा निुुीुीु िुु d)
Other/अनय

12- How frequently you buy the washing powder in a month/ एक मह न म आप ककतन

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ब ि ि प उिड खख दत हैं
र् ल ग

a)1 b) 2-4 times/बार c) 5 or above/या ऊपर

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13- Which quantity pack of washing powder you buy most of the time/ रर् श प उडर क क ि
ग
म तर प क आप ज य द तर समय खर दत हैं स

a)25g / 25गरुाम b) 500g / 500 गरुाम d) 1kg/1ककलुोगरुाम

14- Did you buy every time nirma washing powder? / क य आपि हर ब र प उडर
नि रम रर् श ग
खर द ह?

a) yes/िुुाुाु b) no/ निुुीुीु

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