Overview 1

Helene Curtis, Inc 2

Suave 3
Shampoo Market 4
Competitive Environment 5
Brand Loyalty 6
Trade Promotion & Advertising 7
Advertising Debate – The Two Alternatives 8
SWOT Analysis of the Two Plans 9
Marketing Mix of Suave 10
Market Segmentation & Targeting 11
Positioning of Suave 12
Recommendations 13
To determine the two-advertising media plans for Suave shampoo & analyze
which is a better alternative for the shampoo which would help the company:

• To fight the current & upcoming competition

• Help them in their fight to maintain their retail shelf-space.

•Tom Kuykendall, group manager of suave had different views for the fiscal 1985
advertising campaign of Suave as compared to Ellen Vallera, the brand manager.

•Ellen Vallera proposed the $7.8 million plan which focused on day time & prime
time television, whereas, Kuykendall proposed a $ 10.2 million plan focused
entirely on prime time television.

•Competitors like Gillette with brand White Rain & Procter & Gamble with brand
Ivory, were soon planning to introduce a new low priced shampoo & others were
also planning a flood of new products.

•With such competition, the fight for retail shelf space would be fierce & suave
had to come up with a different advertising strategy to maintain its position.
•Created, manufactured and marketed hair-care and other personal care
products.

•Four marketing divisions; Suave being a part of the largest division, Consumer
Products.

•In fiscal 1984, it generated $10.4 million in net earnings on$330 million in sales.

•Leading marketer in conditioners and second largest in shampoos in U.S.

•Suave was a men’s hairdressing in the 1950’s & the first shampoo under the
name “Suave” was launched in 1962

•Suave products were used in 16 million homes, more than 90% shampoos.

•Finesse was launched with a $ 20million in advertising & was one of the heavily
promoted hair care brands in the industry. Finesse had a much higher gross
margin due to the price differential & generated twice the dollar profit per case
as compared to suave. Hence, Suave had taken a back seat to Finesse.

•Yet, suave had the longest line of shampoos in the industry, with a total of 40
SKU’s & average of 12 in any grocery store. New product variations were
constantly introduced to maintain brand’s vitality & to allow suave users to
switch within the suave line.
•Shampoo market was highly fragmented.

•Sales had been relatively flat in recent years.

•The market was considered mature, industry experts predicted slow growth in
coming five years.

•Firms sought untapped consumer segments to sustain growth.

•Shampoo market is loaded with new products supported by heavy advertising
and promotion.

•New shampoos were introduced catering to the specialized needs of the

consumers.

•Five major competitors were to launch new brands with unprecedented

marketing support.

•The industry advertising to sales ratio declined from 13.2% to 10.1%.

•The action in the business is taking place in high and low end of the price
spectrum, middle being squeezed.
•Brand Loyalty was not very evident in the shampoo industry as the industry was
filled with fickle consumers.

•To develop & maintain loyalty, longer shampoo product lines were marketed to
allow consumers to switch among the types of shampoo, but remain in the same
shampoo family.

•The reason for such low brand loyalty in the industry was because consumers
preferred having number of brands on their shelves since they get bored with
shampoos easily.

•Also, they had the tendency to try different brands & types of shampoo.

•However, suave yet had the highest loyalty levels in the industry. But, these
customers were very fickle & could switch loyalties easily irrespective of any
advertising techniques.
•Trade Promotion has been allocated higher budgets in the past compared to
advertising. (Ex-2)

•This was due to the fact that retail support was critical to stimulate growth & to
satisfy retailers, trade promotion was given higher budget.

•For fiscal 1985, Ellen Vallera’s plan allocates 60% of total spending to trade
promotions & 28% to advertising. This follows the previous trend where suave has
been successful .

•So, this plan gives adequate attention to advertising & trade promotion. Trade
promotion should not be increased more than the allocated 60% which should be
sufficient.
Suave had two advertising media plans for the fiscal 1985:

1. Ellen Vallera’s $7.8 million plan:

• $7.1 million would be allocated between day time & prime time television & $
700,000 to the print campaign
• Out of $7.1 million, approximately 43% was allocated to prime time & 47%
was allocated to day time network & the remaining to the print campaign.

2. Tom Kuykendall’s $10.2 million plan:

• $ 9.5 million was allocated to the prime time network & nothing during the
day time.
• The rest $700,000 approximately was allocated to the print campaign
S W
Analysis

O T
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Suave’s line of products for hair care:
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Suave positioning & USP was it low pricing strategy. (per ounce)
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 Other Marketing
7%
Advertising
28%

Consumer
Promotions
Trade Promotions 5%
60%
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 Mass Merchandise
20%

Food Stores
Drug Stores 65%
15%
•Heavy shampoo users (more than 144 ounce/ year)
•Household women between age 18-45
•Large families with young children ( family of 5+)
•Middle level income earning who have a preference for low price
•On the basis of price compared with its competitors
•Men between age 18-45 also have been segmented with different variety of
products
• “Suave makes you look as if you spent a fortune on your hair”
•“Salon hair-Suave Price”
•“Beautiful hair does not have to cost a fortune”
•“Say yes to beautiful hair without paying the price”
Accept Ellen Vallera’s $7.8 million plan & maintain the same ratio of
advertising. Prime time has been allotted 43% approx &
day time network has been allotted 47%.

Unit volume should not be affected

More reliance on trade promotion in the past raised

doubts about the advertising plan
 Higher proportion of budget must be allotted to prime time
network since this will ensure wider audience reach.

Target the light users by using the product development &

m market penetration growth strategy.
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document without a watermark .
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