RURAL MARKETING – SURF

EXCEL WASHING POWDER

PROJECT REPORT
 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
 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 marvelous 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.
 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 color of the fabric. This is because only Surf Excel has smart
sensors that can differentiate stains from colors. Now consumers don't have to worry about
tackling the really tough stains, especially on colored clothes anymore. ‘Surf Excel Hai Na!’
 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.

 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 behavioral 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:
 Marketing Mix
PRODUCT

Surf Excel is a leading detergent & soap brand which is synonymous with cleaning
clothes & apparel. Surf Excel categorizes its product offerings as a part of its
marketing mix into Hand wash and Machine wash sub segments. The hand wash
category is targeted at mid-rise population who cannot afford to have washing
machine or because of preferences. Surf Excel products in the category include Surf
Excel liquid detergent, Surf Excel bar and detergent powders such as Surf Excel Quick
Wash and Surf Excel Easy Wash. For machine wash, Surf Excel has launched its
product under the sub-brand name of Matic. Matic line of products are specially
manufactured for the front load and top load washing machines. Its products include
Surf Excel Matic Liquid front load, Surf Excel Matic Liquid top load, Surf Excel Matic
front load detergent powder and Surf Excel Matic top load detergent powder.
 PRICE
Surf Excel targets premium and mid-tier consumer with maximum market share
pricing strategy. All its products are priced lower than the rival P&G brand Ariel.
This is due to price sensitivity of Indian consumers across the market segment.
Surf Excel deploys product line pricing by pricing its products line targeting
premium segment higher than the price of products targeting mid-rise segment.
The company sells its product in different packet sizes based on weight to
capture the customers who want to spend less in one time. Surf Excel follows
product-bundling price strategy for the selected line of products which it wants
to promote. Surf excel offers periodic price discounts and revises its prices quite
often in response to market changes. The discounts offered are broadly of two
types, one is quantity discount available on bulk purchase as it wants to
inculcate the habit of bulk purchase in Indian consumers to achieve efficiency in
its operations and second it gives seasonal discounts.
 Place

◦ Surf Excel line of products are available in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,
and Pakistan. Major portion of brand’s revenue comes from India. The
product line similar to Surf Excel is marketed by Unilever globally under
different brand names like Ala in Brazil & Argentina, Omo in Bolivia, and
Persil in United Kingdom. HUL had country wide distribution network as a
part of its marketing mix in all these countries. In India, the brand was
available mostly through traditional channels of distributors and
wholesalers. As on 2014 data the Surf Excel had the direct coverage in
over 1 million retail outlets and had a network of 7000 stockists and more
than 2000 suppliers and associates. HUL though sales Surf Excel also in
rural markets with smaller pack size through rural retailers but its focus is
largely on selling Surf Excel in Urban markets.
 PROMOTION
Surf Excel adopts 360-degree promotion for its products. The company has based all
its campaign on the baseline of “Dirt is Good”. HUL has adopted both above the line
(ATL) and below the line (BTL) promotion strategy for the brand. In ATL, the company
focuses heavily on effective TV advertisements. To establish emotional connect with
the customers, Surf Excel has featured children in its ad campaign using various
themes. The company has used various TV and movie celebrities for its ad campaigns.
The company has also used billboards, posters, print media such as newspaper,
magazines, and major radio channels. In its BTL campaigns the company has
organised various competitions like hand painting competition. It has launched
initiatives like “Surf Excel and You” to suggest mothers to inculcate the habit of active
learning in their children. On this forum, mothers can share their pride stories and
special moments with their children. Surf Excel has also used social media platform
like Facebook and Twitter to build the community relationship. Hence this concludes
the marketing mix of Surf Excel.
 Surf Excel SWOT Analysis
Strengths

1. Premium Detergent Brand for HUL introduced in 1959

2. Surf Excel quick wash is powered with a path-breaking technology- it
reduces water consumption and time taken for rinsing by 50%
3. Strong distribution network by HUL, which is beneficial for the product
4. Good brand visibility and advertising with new ad campaigns to keep
brand top-of-the-mind
Weaknesses

1.Slightly Higher price prevents it from reaching to the mass of

customers
2. Product awareness not high among rural markets
3. Legal issues due to brand wars
Opportunities

1. Rapid market growth with further rural penetration

2. Adapting to changing customer needs & improving life styles
Threats
1. Low profit margins in detergent sector
2.Threat from existing and new players in the market
 Future penetration in rural area
According to the research firm, Euromonitor, “A laundry detergent as a whole is
expected to reach a degree of saturation in terms of volume growth rates in the
forecast period. Thus, the shift from bar to hand wash detergents and from hand
wash to automatic detergents is pivotal to the category.” The future value growth of
the category may also be adversely affected by the consistently high inflation rates
since 2010. During the end of 2010, two leading players, HUL and P&G, hiked their
detergent prices up to 8 to 12 per cent. Rising product prices may discourage
consumers from switching to relatively premium products, or investing in the value-
added category of laundry aids. The national firms also get tough competition from
regional and small-unorganised players who account for a major share of the total
volume of the detergent market in rural India due to low pricing. “Increasing rural
distribution network, value for money positioning and smaller packs are the three
success keys for companies to strength their position in rural India,” says Jolly. Today,
brands are investing heavily on innovation, R&D and distribution so that their offering
becomes more localised, accessible and affordable to consumers.
THANK YOU