Marketing Audit for Persil: Situational Analysis, USP, and Marketing Strategy

This report undertakes a marketing audit for Persil, analyzing its situational analysis through Pestle and Swot analysis. It also discusses the competitive advantage (USP) and current marketing strategy. The report recommends objectives, goals, and marketing strategies for Persil.

Individual Report

Executive Summary
Marketing is very essential function within business organisation and this has become
more important because of increased competition in industry and market. This report has
discussed about marketing and different elements of marketing for Persil. In this report
situational analysis was done through Pestle analysis and Swot analysis and these are two tools
for internal and external analysis of market and environment in which Persil is operating. In this
report other elements were also discussed which involved analysis of USP (Unique selling
proposition). This is very important for overall growth and success of marketing of Persil. Report
also involved some recommendations for goals and objectives of marketing and marketing
strategy of Persil.

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
Part 1................................................................................................................................................4
Situational Analysis.....................................................................................................................4
Pestle Analysis.............................................................................................................................4
Swot Analysis..............................................................................................................................6
Competitive Advantage (USP)....................................................................................................8
Current Marketing Strategy.........................................................................................................8
Part 2................................................................................................................................................9
Market Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning (STP)...............................................................9
Recommended objectives and goals for Persil..........................................................................10
Marketing strategies...................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
This report will undertake marketing audit that includes external marketing audit through
pestle analysis and internal marketing audit through SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis will
identify and determine strength weaknesses opportunities and threat. Followed by this report will
include analysis of competitive advantage or USP which refers to a unique selling proposition
along with evaluation of current marketing strategy. In second part of report segmentation
targeting and positioning of organisation will be analysed and on the basis of that objective and
goal for marketing will be recommended. On the basis of recommended objective and course for
organisation marketing strategies will be recommended based on marketing mix. This report will
contextualize Persil, German brand of laundry detergent that is manufactured and marketed by
Henkel around the world accept certain countries where it is manufactured and market bi
Unilever. Persil was introduced in 1907 bye Henkel and was also first commercially available
laundry detergent that combined bleach with detergent. On the basis of that is owned by two
organisations that is Henkel and Unilever and is available in international market.
Part 1
Situational Analysis
Situational analysis is a process that is aimed at evaluating internal and external
conditions that affect a business. Situational analysis helps in identifying current opportunities
and challenges for business and its products.
Pestle Analysis
Political- Political environment is effect of external environment that have significant impact on
business and its successful functioning in a market. Political environment includes politicians
and government in a country and decision making by Government and politicians have impact on
opportunities and challenges available for Persil (Perera, 2017). In context of political
environment in UK Persil have no challenges because political environment of UK stable and
this help in avoiding unnecessary complications in business function in because of unstable
political environment. However, Brexit is one of the elements of political environment that has

affected functioning of businesses and also have impact on Persil. This is because Persil brand of
detergent is owned by a UK based company Unilever
Economical- Economic environment includes factors that impact financial performance and
growth of an organisation in a country. In relation with economic environment of Persil
increasing cost of operations and increasing cost of fuel have resulted in increase in growth of
overall cost of Persil products. In context of economic environment of Persil, reduction in
economic growth of UK and unfavourable economic circumstances of UK because of Brexit has
affected growth and performance of Persil in UK. This is because unfavourable economic
environment of UK resulted in a form of reduced GDP and per capita income which means
reduction in purchasing power and buying capacity of people and have direct impact on sale of
product of Persil.
Social- This factor includes consumers and their taste and preferences and regarding detergent
people have become more conscious than earlier (Gupta, Gupta and Gupta, 2019). This means
that there are several ways in which individuals now use laundry detergent and this requires that
Persil is providing detergent that can fulfil different requirements of consumers. The reason for
different requirements of detergent is that there are several types of fabric have been developed
and this is why it is required that detergent it can be used for different types of fabric. Other than
this, use of washing machine and different types of machines that require different types of
detergent have emerged as challenge for Persil. Changing demographics is also a challenge for
Persil to ensure that it can meet requirement of consumers of different age and choices.
Technological- Technological factor includes use of technology for creating as well as selling
products of Persil. Persil has always believed in innovation and this is why have created different
types of products to fulfil varied requirements of consumers. In this context developing
Technology is both a challenge as well as an opportunity for Persil because use of latest
technology buy computers can effect overall all performance of Persil. Along with this adoption
of new technology also require significant amount of investment technology. However, use of
latest technology can improve quality of product as well as quality of operations of Persil and
can provide competitive advantage to company.

Legal- Legal factor of external environment includes all those elements that affect how a
business is governed (Fozer and et.al., 2017). In this context Persil gets affected by several
legislations and regulations through which its activities are governed. Adherence to this
regulations and legislations ensure that company is operating legally. Some of the legislations
and regulations that Persil gets affected by include consumer protection laws and regulation,
employment laws and regulations, laws and regulations regarding operations activities and
environment regulations.
Environmental- Environmental factor includes impact of environment on business organisation
as well as impact of business organisation on environment. This factor requires that practices of
Persil and Unilever by whom the product is manufactured and marketed are environment
friendly. This involves consideration of production activities and their impact on environment.
Along with this use of material and resources for production is also included in this (Islam and
Mamun, 2017). Environmental factor also include how ethical are practices of Persil and in this
context opportunities and threats mainly depend on activities of Persil.
Swot Analysis
Strengths
 Persil is owned by two market leaders and this makes it strength of Persil. Persil is owned
by Unilever and Henkel and this is highly e favourable for Persil when it comes to taking
competitive advantage.
 Persil has strong and high brand awareness because it is owned by two market leaders.
Association of Persil with Unilever along with Henkel is very beneficial for brand
awareness and recognition of Persil.
 Emotional connect of Persil with its consumers and its appeal to increase kids to involve
in outdoor activities and environment friendly attitude enables it to attract customers and
become strength for brand (Gürel and Tat, 2017).
 Technical expertise and innovation is also strength of Persil in which innovation like soap
powder with bleaching agent tablets and capsules have managed to change friends of
industry many times.
 Strong visibility of brand and International presence is also strength of Persil.

 Tagline and approach of pestle in UK is also strength of company which differentiates it
from all its competitors and make it easily recognisable.
Weaknesses
 Strong Emphasis of Persil on emerging markets are required to shift its focus from
established market and because of this Persil has to lose market share two competitors.
 Persil is owned by two giant organisations and that have also a weakness and which
Persil required to compete with other brands of its parent companies.
 Parent company of Persil that is Henkel has focused on product Technology because of
which its sell of needed products have reduced (Elavarasan and et.al., 2020).
Opportunities
 Environmental friendly products have a very strong market opportunity in current
marketing environment and this is why offering products by Persil that are eco friendly is
a very strong opportunity for Persil. This requires Persil to leverage its strength in UK.
 Introduction of new line of product that caters changing requirements of new age and
young customers can contribute in increasing sales of Persil.
Threats
 There are several competitors operating in market and because of that Persil has to
operate in highly competitive environment which create thread for its market position and
market share.
 Current economic condition of UK is also a threat for Persil in which reduction in
purchasing power of consumers lead towards reduction in purchasing of products by
consumers. Along with this reduction in purchasing power may also lead to shift of
consumers to low cost products (Pesce and et.al., 2018).
 Increasing cost of operations is also a threat for Persil in which its overall cost might
increase leading to reduction in profitability. However in another situation where Persil
keeps its profitability hi in such situation it will have to increase price of product which
can lead consumer to shift to other products.

Competitors of Persil include Ariel and Tide and other household detergent used by consumers
in rural sector. However because of dual ownership and strong brand image of Persil it is one of
the top detergent brand on the basis of market share. This means that Persil has strong position in
market compared to its competitors. Overall Tide is one of the competitors that has better
position than Persil in terms of market share and sales. Some of the reasons include high quality
product available at affordable price.
Competitive Advantage (USP)
USP of Persil is its marketing strategy in which it communicates selfless values by
encouraging children to play outdoor and not to worry about getting dirty (Ng'Ang'A, 2017).
Along with this, it communicates that washing clothes is pleasure because there is no chain for
stains to stay.
This means that USP of Persil is its ability to wash out all dirt and stains from clothes and
this is communicated through different ways that encourages consumers to buy Persil. By
communicating selfless values Persil also aims at creating positive brand image and attracting
consumers towards brand. Competitors of Persil have emphasis on price and quality and their
focus remains on communicating their attributes on the other hand Persil is concerned about
communicating selfless message. This becomes unique selling proposition and competitive
advantage of Persil.
Current Marketing Strategy
Sale of Persil is continuously increasing and its growth is increasing and sale of Persil is
affected because of use of washing machine. This means that increase in use of washing machine
has favourably resulted in growth of sales of Persil. Along with this, profitability of Persil has
also increased continuously.
Current marketing strategy of Persil on the basis of Ansoff Matrix is Market Penetration
strategy in UK. In this strategy Persil follows in which extensive promotions are used for
increasing market share of Persil in UK (Yu, 2019). Market penetration involves increasing
market share and sales of product in existing market of the brand. Under this strategy of
marketing, company can adopt different measures like price differentiation and sales promotion
among which Persil has adopted promotion for market penetration.

On the basis of Porter’s Generic strategies Persil follows differentiation strategy.
Differentiation strategy is one in which product have advanced features and elements compared
to its similar product. This means that Persil focuses on high quality of its detergent and
combines washing performance, top quality and modernity. High quality of Persil detergent
enables it to attract consumers and become one of the top detergent brands in UK. Differentiation
enables company to charge high price of their product on the grounds of quality of their product.
Differentiation also enables Persil to stand out from competitors and communicate how different
value that they provide to customers. This also makes products exclusive for their consumers.
Part 2
Market Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning (STP)
Market segmentation, targeting and positioning are there important decisions about
marketing of the product. These decisions of business lead them to make all other marketing
decisions. This is because on the basis of this organisation determine customers that it want to
provide or sale its products.
Market Segmentation- This is a process or practice of dividing potential market in different
categories (DIXIT, 2020). Few important and main categories of segmentation includes
demographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation, behavioural and geographic
segmentation. Persil is a detergent and this is why it is required for and suitable for all segment
of market. This means that all segments have been considered for targeting potential customer
group.
Market Targeting- This is a practice or process of determining which customer group, company
will target for selling their products or services. There are two strategies for market targeting and
these strategies include differentiation targeting and undifferentiating targeting. In differentiation
targeting, business develop and provide different products to each targeted customer segment
and in undifferentiated targeting similar product is provided by organisation for all different
target segments. Persil targets mass and middle and upper class families and household users and
especially those with kids.

Market Positioning- This is another major decision of marketing in which business determines
how it positions it in its target market. This is concerned with ensuring that target market of the
company perceives product in same way as company wants to be perceived by target market.
Market positioning strategy adopted by Persil is attributes positioning (Dolnicar, 2018). Under
this strategy product is positioned on the basis of special attributes of their product. Persil
positions, product on the basis of its attribute that is its capability to wash dirt effectively and it
also is useful in removing all stains and this becomes its attribute.
Recommended objectives and goals for Persil
 Increasing promotions on digital channels too increase brand awareness of Persil
 Increasing 10% market share of Persil by 2022
 Increasing sales of Persil by 2021 by 5% by increasing channels of sales
 Reducing cost of marketing by 2021 by 4% by increasing online promotional and
marketing activities
Marketing strategies
Ansoff Matrix suggests four marketing strategies on the basis of development of product
and on the basis of development of market and that are-
Market Penetration- This is a strategy in which business work on increasing its sales in existing
market through existing products of business. This is strategy in which sales promotion, price
differentiation and increased promotions are used to increase sales of product and this strategy is
successful in increasing short term sales (Martins, 2020). Currently Persil is using this strategy in
their marketing in UK in which they are using different channels and mediums to promote their
product.
Market Development- This is a strategy in which businesses develop new market for their
existing products. This involves identification of a potential market where company can sell its
existing products and in this company look for market which is similar to existing market that
Persil is targeting. This helps in ensuring that company will be successful in long term in new
market.
Product Development- This strategy involves development of new product and in this market of
the company remains existing market where it sale its new developed product. This requires

innovation and research and development and market research to determine changing needs and
requirements of consumers on the basis of which new products are developed.
Diversification- This is a strategy in which organisation develop both new product as well as
new market for new product (Martins, 2020). In this organisation can use and leverage its
existing capacity to increase revenue streams for Persil.
Among above strategies Persil can use market development strategy, in this its existing
presence is in upper middle class and middle class customers, and in market development it can
consider middle class consumers and above lower class consumers for new market.
Marketing Mix
Product- This is concerned with offering of the company and what company sell to its
consumers. This strategy involves determination of type and nature of product along with quality
and attribute of the product. Persil is a detergent brand and its product includes different types of
detergent. Persil sell high quality laundry detergent and their product is capable to remove all dirt
and stains on clothes and this is why they also say that dirt is good (Thabit and Raewf, 2018).
Persil mainly aims at removing tough stains and dirt from clothes and especially those on the
clothes of kids through outdoor activities.
Price- This is another element of marketing strategy in which business determine price of their
product that consumers are required to pay when they buy Persil detergent. This is very
important to determine right price strategy because it has significant impact on buying decision
of the consumers. Persil can adopt skimming price strategy in which consumers are required to
pay highest initial price. Persil can charge high prices on the basis of its high quality and strong
brand image and later this price is reduced overtime. This means that initially price of product is
high and then it is reduced to attract customers. This is very suitable price strategy for Persil in
which it can attract high class customers through high price initially and high price also indicate
high quality of product and followed by this later they can reduce price to attract new customers
from middle and lower class segments and increase market share of Persil.
Place- Place is concerned with point where buyer and seller meet each other and in this
distribution strategy of product is also included (Ndofirepi, Farinloye and Mogaji, 2020). Persil

is a laundry detergent and its target market is household users and this is why it requires to be
extensively available so that customers and consumers can easily buy detergent. Place strategy
includes offline and online and in online availability of product it is available on different online
channels and in offline it is available on different shops and retailer and supermarket from where
customers can but Persil detergent. It is very important that effective supply chain management
is done in order to ensure extensive and easy availability of products.
Promotion- This involves actions and practices through which Persil communicate with
consumers and encourage them to buy Persil detergent. There are several ways and channels
through which Persil can promote its detergent and among these strategies and ways Persil can
adopt online promotions (Azhar, Prayogi and Sari, 2018). Online promotions will increase brand
awareness of Persil and will also contribute in reducing overall marketing cost of company. This
is because online promotions are comparatively requires less cost and investment than offline or
traditional promotional measures. Online promotions can be done through several ways such as
social media promotion, Email marketing, digital media marketing and promotion through
several other online means. They enable Persil to increase its visibility and this is first phase
which leads to increase in sales. Online promotions are also effective as they can be easily
measured and controlled.
People- This involves employees and what type of and in what number, employees are required
for Persil detergent and how they can contribute in realising marketing goals of Persil. Regarding
realisation of marketing goals and objectives every employee in organisation contribute in
realising goals of marketing. Persil require employees who are highly creative and innovative
and can understand needs and requirement of customers. In order to enable employees for that
Persil also require that employees are trained regularly so that they remain aware and updated
with latest trends in market.
Physical evidence- Physical evidence is concerned with those elements of product that make it
recognisable and differentiate it from all other competitors of business (Wu and Li, 2018).
Physical evidence of Persil includes its distinctive packaging and logo which make it easily
identifiable and also attracts consumers to buy Persil detergent. Along with this logo and design
are also important elements and physical evidence also include bill that consumers receive after
buying Persil.

Process- Process is concerned with those activities through which business become able to sell
goods and services to consumers. There are several processes involved in practice of creating
goods and services and delivering them to consumers. Processes involved in this are supply
chain management, through which input is received by company and output is sent to consumers
(Sudari and et.al., 2019). Along with this, operations process and transactions are also included
in process of Persil through which products are created and sold to customers.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion, it can be concluded that marketing is one of the very
important function that is carried out by an organisation. This function plays vital role in overall
growth and success of company and its product in target customer group. Report discussed
different elements of marketing and in this Persil was considered for discussion. Persil is a
detergent that is owned by Henkel and Unilever and report involved situational analysis of Persil
through Pestle analysis and Swot analysis. These two models help in analysing internal and
external market and situation of Persil. On the basis of analysis, it can be concluded that Persil is
operating in a highly complicated and unpredictable environment. This is because changes in
environment are very unpredictable as well as very frequent which create difficulty for
organisation to prepare themselves for change that is taking place in external environment. In
marketing analysis USP and current marketing strategy of Persil was also considered and
analysed. USP of Persil have played very important role in its marketing success. On the basis of
overall analysis segmentation, targeting and positioning for Persil was also analysed in report.
On the basis of target market goals and objectives and marketing strategy was recommended for
Persil.

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