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Sunsilk Shampoo

Seven Sprits

MAR 2323: Marketing Management

Department of Business Economics

Faculty of Management Studies & Commerce

University of Sri Jayewardenepura

i
Contents
1) Executive summary...................................................................................................................1
2) Company Background............................................................................................................2-4
3) Current Market Situation..........................................................................................................5
3.1 Macro environment analysis........................................................................................5
3.2 Consumer behavior......................................................................................................6
3.3 Competitor Analysis..................................................................................................7-8
4) SWOT Analysis.....................................................................................................................9-10
5) Marketing objectives and issues.............................................................................................11
6) Marketing Strategy.................................................................................................................12
6.1 Market Segmentation of Sunsilk Shampoo................................................................12
6.2 Target Markets of Sunsilk Shampoo...........................................................................12
6.3 Positioning and differentiation of Sunsilk Shampoo...................................................12
6.4 Product strategy....................................................................................................13-15
6.5 Pricing strategy...........................................................................................................16
6.6 Distribution strategy...................................................................................................17
6.7 Communication strategy......................................................................................18-19
7) Conclusion..............................................................................................................................20

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 Executive summary
Unilever is a multinational company which operates around the world. We chose Brand
“Sunsilk” out of the shampoo products availablein Unilever portfolio to deliver our
marketing report. Details related to Sunsilk shampoo are included in this report. The main
aim of Sunsilk is to identify and fulfill the needs of its target customers by offering a high
quality product at affordable price and deliver perceived benefits to them.

This report describes the history of Unilever, its operations, products, resources, services
and image. Additionally it includes information about macro environment analysis,
competitor analysis and customer analysis. Our group conducted a survey on Sunsilk
shampoo brand preference and the details collected from students of University of Sri
Jayewardenepura are annexed to the report. By using SWOT analysis we elaborated on
Sunsilk brand’s strengths, weaknesses (Internal) and opportunities, threats (External).
Objectives of Sunsilk and issues related with the brand are included in the report.

Details about the segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies of Sunsilk shampoo
and the marketing mix elements are mentioned here. When it comes to the Product
strategy,the descriptions related to product range details, branding decisions, POP, POD
are included.Here we talk about different shampoo types that are suitable for different
hair types. Pricing of Sunsilk is very important in differentiating and competing for the
market share. Since price is the most sensitive and only revenue generating option they
must carefully control it. Unilevers combine different distribution channels in order to
deliver value proposition to the customers. More over this report describes Promotional
tool elements like advertising, sales promotions, direct marketing etc. Finally this report
mentions the conclusion about brand Sunsilk. Annexures, References and
recommendations are attached at the end. As a group we are offering this report with a
great pleasure to the readers to enhance the knowledge about marketing of Sunsilk
shampoo.

1
 Company Background

160 million times a day, someone somewhere chooses a Unilever product to feed family,
to keep their homes clean and fresh.

Unilever is a well-known, leading multinational company in Sri Lanka.In the 1890s,

William Hesketh Lever, introduced sunlight soap to the market and it was the origin
of Unilevers’.This revolutionary new product introduced for purpose of cleanliness in
Victorian England. Now it crosses three centuries, Unilever's success has been
influenced by the major events of the day such as unpredictable economic situations,
world wars, changing consumer lifestyles and rapid changes in technology.

In the late 19th century the businesses became the more philanthropic with the Industrial
revolution. After that the company spreadand today theyoperate inMiddle east countries
like Egypt, Iran,Iraq,Oman, Kuwait, European countries likeItaly, France, Greece,
Spain, Asia pacific countries like Australia, Sri Lanka, India,Japan, china, American
countries like Argentina,Peru, Bolivia, panama, USA, African countries like Libia,
Kenya, Uganda Ghana.

Unilever Sri Lanka is one of the biggest companies which have a diverse portfolioof 29
brands that are market leadersand they produce 95% of their products locally with a 75
year long manufacturing presence.They believe success as'the highest standards of
corporate behavior towards our employees, consumers and the societies and the
entire world’. Over the years they have launched and participated in projects to protect
environments, support local communities and owns 174 000 people in 100 countries
worldwide as their Human resource, and supports the jobs of many thousands of
distributors, contractors and suppliers.

The business type of Unilever is that, they have fast moving consumer goods with local
manufacturing facilities, reporting to the regional business groups for innovation and
business results.The most significant asset that unilevers own is their Goodwill and it is
recorded as 18.278 million of pounds.They have 7.9 billion worth of property plant and
equipment and inventries higher by 0.7 bilion ,cash and cash equivelent were 0.3 billion
pounds on lower at 2.3 billion compare to the 2009.They have many Financial and Non-
Financial resources all over the world.

2
Unilevers’ operates their business mainly under three categories;

 Home care
 “sunlight” the most famous product under unilevers was first launched
in England
 Surfexel became the most popular washing powder with innovative
features such as reducing the amount of water needed for rinsing.

 Personal care
 Signal have teamed up with the world's largest dental federation, the
FDI, which represents over 750 000 dentists around the world
 Lux became the first mass-marketed soap when it launched in 1924.
Today it achieves annual global sales of over €1 billion.
 Foods
 Lipton tea drinks also very famous and it range in North America and
Lipton Yellow Label, the world's favorites tea brand.
 Flora products have been recognized as the most significant advancement
in the dietary management of cholesterol in 40 years.

Various Brand names under Unilever

Astra,Axe,Bru, Ceylonta,Clear,Close Up,Comfort,Domex,Dove,Fair &

Lovely,Flora,Vim, Laojee,Lipton,Lifebuoy,Lux,Marmite,Pears, Ponds,
Pureit,Rexona,Rin,Signal,Sunsilk, Sunlight,Surf Excel,Vaseline

Product categories

Unilever’s product categories distributes with Household care, fabric cleaning, skin
cleansing, skin care, oral care, hair care, tea, spreads, toilet cleaning, personal
grooming.They have 400 brands of foods 14 categories of home, personal care and foods
products.

Home care Sunlight, Vim, Rin, Surfexcel, comfort, wonderlight

Personal care Lux, Lifebuoy, Signal, Rexona, Ponds, Sunsilk, Fair & Lovely
Food Ceylonta, Lipton, Laojee, Bru, Astra, Flora, Knorr, Marmite

3
They are constantly enhancing their brands to deliver more intense, rewarding product
experiences. And also they invest nearly €1 billion every year for research and
development, and maintain five laboratories around the world that help for continuous
innovations and techniques to help develop their products.

Sunsilk is a hair care brand, primarily aimed at women, produced by the Unilever group
and it is the second largest in shampoo. It was launched in the UK in 1954, and by 1959 it
was available in 18 different countries and now it becomes Unilever’s leading hair care
brand, and ranks as one of the “billion dollar brands". Sunsilk shampoos, conditioners and
other hair care products are sold in 69 countries worldwide.The brand is strongest
in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.No 1 brand in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India,
Brazil.

Social welfare activities/Services

Unilevers’ have established a federation specifically for their CSR activities named
Unilever foundation. Through this foundation they are taking actions to help more than
1 billion people improve their health and well-being.“Mehewara” is a formal scheme
designed to accommodate the desire of many of Unilever Sri Lanka’s employees. More
precisely Unilevers’ different brands have conducted many events to uplift the living
and improve health and safety of the people. For example Signal “Sina bo wewa
programme”, Flora “health and safety programme” etc.

Image

Furthermore, Unilever Sri Lanka was ranked as the fourth most respected entity in Sri
Lanka by LMD in 2011, and was rated the number one employer of choice in a survey
conducted by TNS. The reason is the plans, sustainability projects,strategies that
unilevers conducted to build up its corporate image. After evaluating performance they
were awarded with; Silver award for Signal for the “21 day Challenge” campaign, Fair
and Lovely awarded by a bronze award for its “Unbuyable Bike” campaign, Lifebuoy
won for its work on the “Germ Fighters Force” activation. Those became strength to
unilevers to overcome barriers when they need to withstand on behalf of the society. So
today as a result they hold an excellent corporate image around the world.

4
 Current Market Situation

3.1 Macro environment analysis

For any product or service it’s surrounding environment play a vital part in various
aspects .Any organization has to focus on those macro environment factors in order to
perform well in the market .Since there are rapid changes in macro environment forces
organizations need to monitor it carefully in order to grab opportunities and avoid threats.
Environment analysis for Sunsilk shampoo is as follows.

 Demographic factors:
Simply this indicates the population characteristics of a country. Factors such as
gender,age,income,density etc. are included. In the context of Sunsilk
age,gender,income become prominent where as in terms of age young adults (age
20-30),in gender wise females and the range of high to low income holders are
focused in Sri Lanka.

 Cultural/social factors:
In modern context people are in busy lives, woman plays a dual role, more
working girls and consequently life style changes have arisen. (Straight hair,
conditioners, co-creation gave solutions to people).on the other hand Sri Lankan’s
positive attitude towards Ayurveda mixtures/herbals as Asian country.

 Economic factors:
Sri Lanka as a developing country majority of the population consists of low to
middle level income earners. Sachets, small sizes are used to reach those
customers and large sizes of bottles and even unique products to luxury level as
well. Moreover sachets provide convenience while travelling and also prevent
down trading.

 Technological factors:
Now there is high proximity to internet in Sri Lanka where as social network sites
(Facebook/Twitter) become popular as well.Therefor online advertisements,
competitions, blogs are used highly by organizations. In addition mobile
penetration and browsing usually to seek information can be seen today.

5
3.2 Consumer behavior

Consumer is very valuable for any organization because success of it depends on the
satisfaction of its customer. Therefore, need to give priority to identify the nature of
consumer behavior for a particular product. How consumer buy it, why they buy it, how
often they buy it, price sensitivity are some factors that need the marketer’s attention. Here
we have conducted a simple survey to gather information about the customer preference
towards Sunsilk shampoo through a questionnaire. Sample size of 50 respondents was
randomly selected from the university.
In the context of Sunsilk shampoo consumer expectations can be demonstrated as
follows.

Expect from Sunsilk shampoo

smoothening/black shiny
21%
11% 47%
21%

This chart clearly shows that most of the respondents preferred (47%) smoothening and
black shiny from Sunsilk shampoo whereas expectations to prevent hair fall and construct
damaged hair was preferred by 21% of respondents for each category. Only 11% has
chosen Sunsilk shampoo to avoid dandruff.

PRICE NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE %

high price 3 17%
normal price 11 61%
affordable price 4 22%
The above table shows that majority of respondents consider Sunsilk shampoo as a
normal price which indicates its effect to middle income holders.

Reasons affect to prefer Sunsilk

9% 13%
1 2 3 4
22%
57%

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This chart reveals that 56% of respondents preferred Sunsilk for need satisfaction as we
considered previously and 22% selected it due to its fragrance, package and
colour.Additionally our results shows that most of Sunsilk consumers using shampoo
three times a week (50%) and some using it twice or regularly in a week(22% for each
category).

As a whole our analysis of consumer behavior for Sunsilk shampoo has revealed that
Sunsilk shampoo has been positioned as a leading cosmetic shampoo brand in Sri
Lanka.It is derived from the evidence of consumer’s expectation for smoothening and
black shiny product from Sunsilk. Less respond to avoid dandruff shows the need of a
specific shampoo from Sunsilk to satisfy that expectation. Moreover Sunsilk brand have
to consider about the package,fragrance of its product and about promotions as well(9%).
They may have to change colour, fragrance, promotion tactics etc.

3.3 Competitor Analysis

Competitor analysis simply means identifying and quantifying relative strengths and
weaknesses of a particular company compared to its competitors. Any organization
should consider this area in order to gain competitive advantage and for a sustainable
future. As for the Sunsilk shampoo in Sri Lanka we have identified various competitors as
below. It should be noted that our sample represents the young adults (university
students) who normally using shampoo.

preference for shampoo brand

16% 1
2
36% 3
4
26%

22%

The above chart shows that 36% of our respondents preferred the brand Sunsilk and
second preference goes to dove with 26% of a share.Lifebuoy has taken up 16% and rest
of the share is consisted of other brands available in Sri Lanka. Dove is the closest
competitor of Sunsilk because dove also positioned as a cosmetic shampoo. It is likely
7
that dove can reach to market share of Sunsilk because it also has a range of shampoo
types for each need satisfaction same as Sunsilk.(e.g.: silky and smooth,prevent hair fall,
construct damage hair). Apart from it lifebuoy plays a key role as a competitor by
catering well to another expectation of consumers. Other category contained brands such
as Clear, Pantene, Natures secret, Dandex and Garnier.

DOVE
Let’s consider about what dove consumers expect from using the dove
shampoo(maximum two options) and reasons affect to select it(only one option).

expectation Percentage % Reasons affect Percentage %

smoothening 46 price 10
Prevent hair fall 31 Fragrance,colour,package 28
To avoid dandruff 8 Need satisfaction 57
Construct damage hair 15 promotions 5

This demonstrates that dove has been selected mainly by consumers to smoothening
expectation(46%) and to prevent hair fall which led to be the direct/close competitor of
Sunsilk. Need satisfaction has become the first reason affect to selection of dove and
follower one is fragrance and color.

LIFEBUOY

expectation Percentage % Reasons affect Percentage %

smoothening 12 price 31
Prevent hair fall 25 Fragrance,colour,package 23
To avoid dandruff 50 Need satisfaction 30
Construct damage hair 13 promotions 16

This table reveals that lifebuoy was preferred by majority to avoid dandruff (50%) and
main reason affect to selection are need satisfaction and price of brand lifebuoy(30%).as
we said earlier lifebuoy is catering to another need which is to avoid dandruff. This
allowsSunsilk to think about a new shampoo to avoid dandruff.

8
 SWOT Analysis

SWOT is a systematic investigation of Business environment relating to a certain

product. In this analysis we mainly focus on 04 forces and they can be shown as follows.

Strengths : Characteristics of the micro environment that gives it advantages over

others.

Weaknesses: Characteristics of the micro environment that gives disadvantages

relative to others.

Opportunities: Elements in the macro environment that causes for the benefits of the
organization.

Threats : Elements in the macro environment that could badly affect to the
organization.

SWOT analysis of Sunsilk can be described as follows.

Strengths

 Loyal customer base:Number one in Asia, Latin America & the Middle East with
sales of more than 1 pounds billion a year.
 Diversified products: Available in various variants to suit every type of hair needs
(i.e. Anti-Dandruff, hair fall,etc.)
 Global brand strategy: The brand is strongest in Asia, Latin America & the Middle
East & is the number one hair care brand India, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia,
Bangladesh,Sri Lanka & Thailand.
 Aggressive Promotions: Madonna, Shakira, Marilyn Monroe, Priyanka
Chopra,etc. are the brand ambassadors and lead to excellent branding &
advertising campaigns.
 Image & well positioned in the market: Launched in 1964, with a presence to
cover 80 countries.
 Strong management team
 Financially sound
 Efficient & effective supply chain.

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Weaknesses

 Poor penetration in semi urban & rural markets.

 Target market is limited to just teens & 20’s age group.
 Competition intense in the hair care segment.
 Lack of industry focus.
 Absence from premium market.

Opportunities

 Improve their community through online web sites (Sunsilkgangofgirls.com).

 Sunsilk co-creations partnering with 7 0f the world’s best hair experts for new &
improved products.
 Acquisitions, Emerging markets & Expansion abroad
 Widening consumer base and Innovations
 Stronger, focused hair care portfolio

Threats

 Multiple competitors with similar offerings &strategies & lower price range.
 Not prevalent in the rural markets.
 Competition From in- house brands like “Clear”, etc. (brand Cannibalism)
 Price war and High import duty
 Niche brands gain favor

According to the results of SWOT analysis we can identify the environment of the
product that has to be faced and the organization should take necessary steps to minimize
the weaknesses while maximizing strengths and get benefits from the opportunities while
facing to threats successfully.

. STRENGTHS: WEAKNESSES:
Diversified product range Target market is limited just only
Internal

 Anti-Dandruff teen and 20’s age girls.

 Hair fall It loses there profit targeting
It helps to reach target market easily. males and other age categories.

OPPORTUNITIES: Since many THREATS:Threat from other

females have straighten their hair it strong brands such as clear head &
External

was an opportunity for uniever to shoulders or any MACRO

launch an Innovative product called environment condition in the
Sunsilk Perfect Straight. market. 10
 Marketing objectives and issues
Objectives

 Assess the concept of product acceptability, credibility and perceivedbenefits.

 Examine consumer’s assessment of the product,in terms of productperformance
and its related benefits and explore their reaction on packaging.
 Understandingconsumer’s perception of quality advertisement (Maximize
profitability through customer satisfaction /Growth of market share&survival)
 To compete with competitors using different competitive strategies.
(E.g. Sunsilk must know how to compete with Dove as well as Komarika)

Issues

Issues related to Advertising

Since Sunsilk is an international brand need to think about each countries culture &
behavior patterns of the consumers. Advertising promotes the brand and create
awareness among customers to buy it. The message must be consistent.The brand
ambassadors matters a lot in advertising.Ethical marketing and correct method must
be chosen in order to deliver an appealing message to the set of consumers.

Issues related to Usage

Sunsilk is a personal care product & we must decide whetherit matches with our skin
type and hair type. Will anti-dandruff help to remove dandruff? Will the straight lock
help us to keep our hair straight and will the hair be strong and healthy? So as
consumers when we purchase the products we need to be a rational customer by
knowing how to use the product correctly. Product Knowledge is important to identify
ingredients, price, and Expiry date etc.

Issues related to Production

There may be many issues of production such as poor labor productivity, shortage of raw-
materials, poor suppliers’etc. chemicals might cause environment pollution. Machine
defects will be a major bottleneck which limits the production. Conflicts in decision
making will create a lead time in value chain. More green products are introduces as a
solution for the environment pollution matter.

11
 Marketing Strategy

Marketing Strategy can be defined as,“An organization’s strategy that combines all of its
marketing goals into one comprehensive plan.”

6.1 Market Segmentation of Sunsilk Shampoo

When analyzing about the segmentation of Sunsilk, we can identify they have segmented
the whole market under three segmentation factors. They are,

1. Age and Life cycle stage

2. Gender
3. Income

6.2 Target Markets of Sunsilk Shampoo

Under the following segmentation factors the main target market of Sunsilk Shampoo is
female between the age group 16-40 belonging to the middle and lower income classes.
But their promotional activities cover the whole market without considering income
classes.

6.3 Positioning and differentiation of Sunsilk Shampoo

The intended positioning of the Sunsilk brand has changed from time to time. In the early
ages Sunsilk Shampoo positioned as “Shampoo plus Cosmetics”. After some time it was
positioned as “Beauty Shampoo”.

But the newest positioning of Sunsilk Shampoo is “Core-creation”. They came with this
idea to capture the market and to be superior in the market. From 2009 Sunsilk started
working with a number of professional hair experts to develop new and improved
products. So most of the time, Sunsilk has positioned their Shampoo as a better solution
for the hair related problems such as dull hair, dry hair and damaged hair. Their
advertisements mainly focused to show young women getting their hair problems solved
by using Sunsilk Shampoo.

Based on different customer needs Sunsilk offers different variants.

 Black and Shine Shampoo- for dull hair

12
  Dream Soft and Smooth- for dry hair
 Damaged hair Reconstruction- for damaged hair
 Hair Fall Solution- hair fall problems
 Thick and Long- for all types of hair

6.4 Product strategy

Sunsilk is a tangible product that can be perceived by our sixsense organs. This product
was made for hair treatment Also it has extra features that added to the promotions. It has
different types of brands for different hair types. It can offer a hair treatment for frizzy
hair; it also makes hair smooth. If consumers want to have a good hair shape they also
have available brand types to repair the shape of your hair. They also have anti-dryness
for those who have dry scalp and so on and so forth. This made the Sunsilk very popular
and trendy in the market. It can be classified as necessitybecause consumers buy it
regularly for cleaning purpose.

The current Sunsilk shampoo product range consists of;

 Soft and smooth sunsilk with Bio Proteins from Vegetable Extracts:
Normal hair needs wholesome nourishment. New Sunsilk
with Bio Protein extracted from Vegetable milk has
nutrients that deeply penetrate each hair strand, to nourish
it leaving hair strong and beautiful.

 Black shinesunsilk with Melanin from Plant Extracts:

Dull hair needs a rich black shine. New Sunsilk with
Melanin extracted from plants serves this purpose very
effectively. It helps in the growth and retention of the
black color of hair, giving it a rich black shine.

 Green sunsilk with Fruitamins Vitamins from fruit Extracts:

Thin and limp hair needs extra body and volume. New Sunsilk with
Fruitamins has natural extracts from fruit that contains Vitamins. These

13
 vitamins help in giving extra body, shine and amazing manageability to the
thinning and lifeless hair.
 Thick and long sunsilk with essential Oils from Flower Extracts:
Dry hair needs wholesome conditioning, extra shine and style ability. New
Sunsilk with essential oils makes the dry hair full of life. Its especial
ingredients moisturize each hair right to its tips leaving it shiny and
beautiful.

 Damaged hair reconstruction sunsilk with active nutrients:

The advanced formula of orange Sunsilk is the result of
the latest research. This shampoo is especially designed
for oily hair type that looks flat and greasy due to the
excess of moisture.
 Hair fall solution sunsilk:
Hair fall is something that causes much heartache to several women
across the world. To combat this, Sunsilk has brought out the Hair
Fall Solution Shampoo and Conditioner. This has been co-created
by Dr. Francesca Fusco, Scalp Care Specialist who is a world
leading expert in dermatology and scalp care.
 Sunsilk Perfect straight:
There is a magic moment between wet & dry hair when your hair looks
perfectly straight and beautifully aligned. But as it dries, it starts to puff up
and lose shape. Sunsilk expert Yuko Yamashita has co-created Sunsilk
Perfect Straight, the ideal shampoo for straight hair every day.

Sunsilk has teamed up with seven pioneering global hair expert to bring to worlds first
co-created product range for all specific hair type.

The seven handpicked hair expert have combined 50 years’ experience working in the
hair industry and were selected for their expertise after an extensive that lasted almost
year.

Branding decisions

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Branding strategy is one of the most vital decisions taken by marketers. It is a strategy
which brings lots of positive feedback for the firm.Unilevers follow individual name for
setting brand name for different product such as Sunsilk,Dove, ponds and etc.

Memorable-Every consumers mind catches their short brand name such as Sunsilk

Meaningful- consumer has a clear meaning about Sunsilk .consumer think about Sunsilk
as a product which solve their problem relating to hair.

Likeable-From our analysis we found that most of the people like thee brand verbally and
visually

Protectable-The brand name is legally and competitively protectable. The brand retain
their trade mark right

Adaptable- Enabling different pack size and new formulas that are easily acceptable by
consumer.

Brand funnel of Sunsilk

Attributes-unique packaging, different varieties, innovative and health care

Functions- sense of style and elegance,feel good to use, expert formula

Values - Pride and sophisticated, creditability, exclusively

Personality-Trust worthy, professional accomplishment

Logo Name-The Color of the font will be bold black

Color-There are variety of colors have been introduce n recent time by susilk

Shape- Unique shape which shows the shape of long hair.

Font-The name and logo will be appeared to highlight their product with eye catching
colors

Slogan-Life can’t wait

Point of parity (POP)
Points of parity are associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but may in
fact be shared with other brands. For an offering to achieve a pointof parity on a

15
particular attribute or benefit, a sufficient number of customers must believe the brand is
“goodenough” on that dimension. Like others SUNSILK consists of such POPs:
Dream soft &smooth, Stunning Black Shine, Lusciously Thick & Long, Anti-Dandruff
Solutionand Hair Fall Solution.
Point of Difference (POD)
Points of difference are attributes or benefits consumers strongly associate with a
brand, positively evaluate, and believe they could not find to the same extent with a
competitive brand. With point of difference, the brand must demonstrate clear superiority
therefore Sunsilk has teamed up with seven pioneering global hair expert to bring to
worlds first co-created product range for all specific hair type.

6.5 Pricing strategy

They use market penetration to penetrate their market. They lower the price to attract
their target audiences to buy the product because it is a need and consumers find
irresistible whenever they buy this product. It is good strategy for the company to lower
the price so that it can reach even to the lower class people of the society. They also used
promo pricing. They give promos to all the buyers and the users of the product. It’s like if
they buy a dozen sachet of shampoo they can get a free half dozen of it.

Lever also practice value-based pricing in which the customers’ perception of the
product’s price provides a starting point for developing the marketing mix of the product.
The research department determines this price usually by using focus groups. The price of
Rs.7.00 for Sunsilk shampoo sachets shows how the price also reflects a concern to make
the purchase more convenient, since the rupee is denoted in this value. But Sunsilk has
maintained its prices and their prices are much lower than P&Gs’, which is a major blow
to P&G because being a poor country people go for products which are within the range
of Rs.120-210.(Sri Lanka).

The primary importance of this value-based pricing is that the product demand will be
much higher if its price is in line with the customer’s perception of its value. One crucial
concern for value-based pricing is strict management of cost in order to be able to make a
profit at the value-based price. After the initial price is determined, Lever then uses target

16
costing in order to achieve the required profits. With the marketing plan now being
termed as ‘Annual Contract’ the importance of meeting the profit margin requirements
has increased. Target costing thus provides an essential tool to manage cost effectively.

The characteristic of monopolistic competition typifying the market sets the threshold for
pricing. This market consists of many buyers and sellers trading over a range of prices.
The key element is differentiation, which allows the seller to gain market share in contrast
to competitors. Given this market condition, Lever differentiates its products and also
sells them in different price ranges to cover at least a large portion of the market. Also
this makes Lever more sensitive to price changes of competitors’ products.

6.6 Distributionstrategy

“To reach as many towns and villages as we can”

In Sri Lanka 50 distributors whose function is to sell to wholesalers directly. There are
different distributors for different areas. They are carefully selected and their performance
is constantly evaluated. They appear extremely satisfied with their channel systems and
have a good rapport with them.They feel that this is essential since these are not too many
levels, thereby preventing channel complexity and allowing Lever greater control and
therefore retailers are very satisfied with Lever’s distribution system, which allowed well-
stocked shelves. This is an added advantage, since the consumers undergo habitual
buying behavior.

Sunsilk has a very good distribution network all over the country. They have struggled
hard to adopt such channels that guarantee the perfect results regarding the placement of
their product.

These distributors are given clear instructions regarding the selection of the retailer and to
make sure that the retailer;
 Knows about the significant characteristics of the product.
 Places the product along with its major competitors like P&G.
 Displays the sachets distinctly.

17
They give off and on offers as trade promotion incentives to their distributors. The
distributors contribute to the promotion of Sunsilk by word of mouth.

6.7 Communication strategy

The two main communication objectives of Sunsilk is Build top of the line consumers’
awareness and creating a personality of the brand. In promoting Sunsilk, they try to
create, maintain and expand the product market. Expansion of the market will increase
the demand for the product and then brought out a large-scale production, thus reducing
production cost and enable them to earn higher profit. On the other hand, they also trying
to create brand or trademark image of the product, its approach is to highlight the
“Dominant Value Point” of the product, make a difference characteristics and make the
product stand out in the range of product. So, the customers are capable to identify the
product and be impressed.

There are three major themes of the promotion which is inform, persuade and remind.
The current promotion theme of Sunsilk is to remind. Usually based on Product Life
Cycle businesses select the promotion method that appeals and increase the effectiveness
of promotion. It consists of five stages which is Research and development stage,
introductory stage, growth stage, maturity stage and decline stage. Sunsilk is now exist at
maturity stage so that they choose the promotion’s theme of remind. Theme of remind is
to remind consumers about the presence of the product or service, enable them to
maintain the loyalty and interest in the original product and does not pay attention to
others brands. Inform - This is a new!Persuade - This is good!Remind -Don’t forget
it’s good!

Advertising

Unilever believes that message about product delivered by credible source can be very
persuasive. In Sri Lanka they use hair care expert like Lal Weerasnghe to add more value
to the brand and helps to build up an expert image.Moreover Sunsilk use mass media such
as Television, Radio, Newspapers and Magazines in order to communicate large target
audience. One of the famous methods used by Sunsilk is out door advertisement. It is
very effective tool to create brand image.

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Direct marketing

This means marketing is immediate and customized to each customer‫׳‬s specific need by
using online catalogue and direct mails.

Sales promotion

Sales promotionconsists of short term incentives to encourage purchase or sales.Sunsilk

use sales promotional tool in many ways.

 Giving out free samples during launch of new product

 Coupon discounts

 Provides twin packs /combo purchase customer for cheaper value

 Premium for after purchase

 Organize contests,games and challenges to attract customer who like challenges

Public relations

This aims is to build up good relationship with company‫׳‬s public by obtaining favorable
publicity and good corporate image therefore Sunsilk organize special event such as,
Sunsilk purple lock down 24 hours party,Sunsilk academy fantasia,Sunsilk popup
saloonthey also give corporate identity material, Sunsilk bags with Sunsilk product inside
public services done by unilevers is also a promotional tool which helps company to build
corporate image.

Personal selling

Customer can get direct advice from sales promoter or hair consultant on which product is
suitable for each hair type

Interactive media

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Sunsilk use social network such as face book,twitter with different languages. There are
fb fan pages for Sunsilk products. Those help to identify the customer requirements.
Since majority is young females who join these social sites it is a good opportunity for
Sunsilk to identify their preferences for brands. For example by looking at the amount of
likes that a particular shampoo get we can reveal sales of that shampoo is high. (These
days many girls prefer straight lock shampoo and conditioner). Many sites help to post
and share videos, images, status etc. Brand loyalty could be built up gradually through
these Medias.

Conclusion

Sunsilk shampoo brand targets the lower and middle income level women in the age
range of 20-30 in Sri Lanka. And also Sunsilk shampoo has obtained a % market share in
Sri Lanka. Sunsilk has obtained such a large market share by developing strong
distribution media and adopting pricing and packaging strategies. For example, Sunsilk
has introduced sachet packets and smaller 100ml packages to capture the lower income
earners and also they have large sizes of bottles and unique products for luxury levels.
But we can observe that Sunsilk shampoo and conditioners are sold separately to their
consumers. But we would like to suggest that they should introduce 2 in 1 shampoo plus
conditioner which would be highly demanded in the market. And also we can see that
Sunsilk shampoo only targets the female consumers. But one of its major competitor
Head & shoulder doesn’t segment the market by “gender”. They target both men and
women in the market as a whole. That is a major reason for “head & shoulder” to having
a larger market share than Sunsilk. So we would like to suggest that Sunsilk shampoo
must introduce a shampoo for male consumers and it will help Sunsilk shampoo to
possess a greater market share than they possess at present.

We can see that Sunsilk shampoo incur large advertisement expenditure to promote their
shampoo among consumers. But we would like to suggest that they should focus more
about their social responsibilities and cut their advertisement expenditures and then they
can build a good image about their brand. It will help them to increase their market share.

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Finally when considering about all factors we can say that if Sunsilk focus more on their
social responsibilities and crate more attractive marketing programs they can attract a
larger number of consumers and achieve a large market share.

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 Seven Spirits
Group Members

Name Reg.No Index No Signature

1.G.W.P.Hansika MC 69812 CPM 10472

2.Y.M.M.Karunarathne MC 69932 CPM 10569
3.K.G.Panditharathne MC 70145 CPM 10577

4.N.H.H.C.Kumari MC 69989 CPM 10624

5.A.A.S.N.Senarathne MC 70355 CPM 10993
6.C.N.Kahaduwa MC 69900 CPM 11176
7.J.P.B.P.Jayaweera MC 69895 CPM 11312

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Refrences recommendations annexures

iv