Marketing Strategy Analysis of Ariel Detergent Brand: A Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Ariel's marketing strategy, focusing on its past performance, situational analysis, and competitive advantages. It includes a detailed SWOT and PESTLE analysis to identify internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats. The report evaluates Ariel's current marketing strategy, covering segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP), and proposes SMART objectives and marketing strategies based on the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) to enhance market share and profitability. The introduction highlights Ariel's history and market position, while the conclusion summarizes key findings and recommendations for future strategic direction. The report emphasizes Ariel's global presence, innovative products, and customer loyalty, while also addressing challenges such as price sensitivity and competition. The analysis aims to provide insights for improving Ariel's marketing efforts and maintaining its market leadership.

MARKETING
STRATEGY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Part 1................................................................................................................................................1
About company and its past performance..............................................................................1
Situational Analysis................................................................................................................2
Competitive Advantage (USP)...............................................................................................6
Evaluation of Current marketing strategy..............................................................................6
PART 2............................................................................................................................................7
Segmentation Targeting & positioning..................................................................................7
SMART Objectives................................................................................................................7
Marketing strategy as per 4P’s...............................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Marketing strategy can be referred to as the future oriented course of action which aims
at gaining the attention of a large number of people so as to develop awareness about the
offerings of entity and gain a strategic and competitive advantage in market place (Baker, 2014).
This is a crucial part of business plan of an organisation which is associated with persuading the
customers to make a purchase and satisfying them so that they can remain connected with the
entity for a long duration of time. Marketing strategy has to necessarily be devised by every
company so that organisational goals and objectives can be achieved in a timely manner. The
following assignment takes into account the marketing strategy as well as the strategic
management of Ariel that is the detergent brand company of Procter & Gamble.
This assignment is classified into two tasks. The first part deals with marketing audit of
organisation consisting of SWOT, USP, evaluation of marketing strategy and competitive
positioning in market place. Second part of report is concerned with goals and objectives, STP
and the measures through which profit and market share of organisational can get raised.
Part 1
About company and its past performance
Within the hyper competitive era, Ariel is globally regarded to be a well established and
renowned detergent brand. The respective company entered United Kingdom in 1967 and
became the first organisation to launch detergent with stain removal enzymes. This was
considered to be a unique idea and regarded as an innovation within the old times. While in
historical phase, other detergents could only brighten and whiten clothes for two or three wash,
Ariel gained massive recognition for the features held by its detergents. During 1992, the
respective entity introduced innovation in terms of bleach free detergents possessing the abilities
to brighten linen without letting it get faded. Within the year 2001, the respective company
introduced liquidates which saved time and efforts (Baker, 2016). By next 2 years, Ariel
introduced a quick-wash action underlying in its detergents that gave access to consumers to
conduct laundry upon a quick-wash cycle. During 2005, this organisation came up with an
effective marketing campaign in UK by using star faces such as Tim Henman and Daniel Stuart
Stanton in order to gain the attention of a large number of people. This advertisement was
broadcast across the UK for around 2 months and assisted in building a huge customer base.
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Situational Analysis
Ariel is a globally renowned organisation which has its operations and outlets within
various geographical locations of world. This enterprise has an exceptional history of innovative
products and thus it becomes essential for management of this company to carry out a marketing
audit of this brand.
SWOT ANALYSIS
This framework has been utilised to attain comprehensive knowledge of internal
strengths and shortcomings of Ariel.
Strengths
Global Market Share: Ariel is a well established brand that is worldwide regarded as an
entity which possesses largest market share across the global market (Belz and Peattie, 2012).
This owes to the high quality offerings of this corporation which possess the ability to remove
the deepest and darkest of stains while ensuring that clothes don’t fade. Except in India, this
organisation is at the first position with highest market share. Surf leads the market place in India
owing to which Ariel is at the second position there.
Ideal for Machine Wash: Leading wash machine producers like Bosch, LG, Hoover,
Hotpoint, Beko etc. have always recommended the usage of Ariel as detergent to consumers
(SWOT Analysis of Ariel, 2019). This largely illustrates the trust that even the other big
corporations hold in this company as well as its power to persuade the mindsets of
complimentary entities. This has been one of the most prominent reasons due to which Ariel is at
market leading position today.
Dedicated base of customers: One of the biggest reasons of the continuous top ranking of
Ariel detergents across the globe is their strong and loyal base of customers. A consumer who
once uses Ariel is not willing to switch to any other brand due to its effective stain removal
qualities. This reflects that the customer sustainability of this enterprise is very strong.
Give selection options: Ariel maintains a wide variety of products owing to which its
customers have the choice to select the most appropriate and relevant detergent as per their
requirements (Bertay, Demirgüç-Kunt and Huizinga, 2013).
It is evident from the company’s website whereby customers can browse and then purchase
commodities as per the need, type or dosage device. This company became the first ever
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organisation to launch detergents incorporated with fragrance. Further, the detergents of Ariel are
accessible to customers in a variety of forms like powder, gel, washing capsule and liquid (Ariel
laundry detergents by type, 2019).
Weaknesses
Cost-sensitive market: It is usually seen that people use two kinds of detergent products,
one is for daily use clothes and the other one is for expensive and lucrative linen (party wear).
People intend to purchase low cost detergents for clothes of regular use and premium cleaning
product for party wear clothing. The products of Ariel are found to be premium priced which
implies the lower likelihood of people to buy this detergent for regular clothes. All of this causes
a decline in demand for offerings of Ariel across global market place. In this regard, it can be
said that the respective entity has the potential to come up with low cost offerings so as to appeal
to consumers as a daily use detergent (Berthon and et. al., 2012).
Extensive Rivalry: Ariel offers optimum quality offerings while keeping the price of
products high. The pricing strategy is devised by entity taking into due consideration the
attributes of its detergents to remove the strongest of stains. This creates an advantage for
competitors to launch low cost products and appeal to them by maintaining optimum quality of
offerings. It is due to this as well as the usage of robust marketing that Surf Excel is a leading
position within India, after which Ariel comes at second position.
Opportunities
Exploring unique locations: Ariel can feasibly gain access to unique and untouched
locations with an aim to expand its existing global market share. The scope for this organisation
is to gain entry into emerging marketplaces and/or rural areas. This illustrates the increment in
loyal customers of company, thereby implying enhanced sales as well as profitability.
Penetrative Variants: The respective company has the potential as well as capability to
come up with low-cost offerings to appeal to people dwelling within rural areas. In case Ariel is
successful is executing this without causing damage to its existing brand value in market place,
the share of company in global market will rise by a significantly fair margin implying enhanced
sales and profits (Ferrell and Hartline, 2012).
Threats
Existence of competitors: With respect to rural areas, a large number of counterfeits are
available in market which possesses the ability to replace Ariel. This significantly declines the
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overall revenues of entity which consequently results in reduction of profits. This acts as a major
threat for the organisation as the stake of entity in market can be hampered due to presence of
rival firms such as Mr Muscle and Vanish which appeal that they do cleaning of linen in a better
way.
Price-sensitive marketplaces: Across the world, there are many cost-sensitive markets
such as India and China. Such locations pose threat to the sustainability and positioning of Ariel
across the globe as the offerings of this organisation is available at premium prices which cannot
be easily afforded by people of these areas for daily use (Grant, 2016). The respective
corporation must consider this duly so as to protect itself from this risk and maintain its market
leading position across the globe.
PESTLE Analysis
This is a strategic framework that is taken into use by corporations with a view to gain
holistic knowledge of influence of macro environment on the activities and processes of
business. In this regard, the management of Ariel has conducted this analysis so as to determine
the probable opportunities as well as threats that the external environment holds for the
respective company. In this regard, PESTLE conducted upon Ariel is presented as follows:-
Political- Stability within UK’s political systems and related procedures presents
opportunities for Ariel to significantly gain knowledge of the existing regulations and thereby
conduct operations in a manner such that none of them is breached. When entity operates in a
legal manner and brings about innovative products at regular intervals, the government of UK
provide their support to organisation in the form of tax credits and other such benefits. Further,
the government of this nation has levied heavy duty upon raw materials in certain areas which
has led to a significant impact upon the production capacity of Ariel.
Economical- The economy of UK is strong and effective. The strong economic system
presents opportunities for Ariel to produce unique and innovative detergents by making use of
excellent infrastructural facilities, raw material availability, excessive labour force and
communication. When these innovative offerings are introduced in market place, they provide
assistance to organisation in enhancing its market share as well as profitability to maintain its top
most position across the globe (Kapferer and Bastien, 2012). However, BREXIT has been a
phenomenon that has caused a massive shift in demand for a number of industries as the price of
pound has decreased along with the purchasing power of consumers. This acts as a severe threat
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for entity as the products of this organisation are available at premium prices which means that
they are not easily affordable. To deal with this, Ariel should introduce cost friendly detergents
which can appeal to every economic section of society.
Social- The trends and lifestyles of people keep on changing in a rapid manner which
cause shifts in demand and supply. In this regard, Ariel has introduced detergents in various
forms and types so as to ensure fulfilment of needs and wants of customers prevailing in
different parts of the globe. Further, the raw materials used by organisation to manufacture the
detergents are of high quality due to which the offerings of this corporation possess the ability to
remove the strongest of stains in minutes (Kapferer and Bastien, 2012). Ariel has its leading
position in market place owing to the choices that it presents in front of people to select
commodities as per their needs. However, the launch of a high quality and low priced detergent
may lead to dampening of image and market positioning of Ariel within the domestic country,
i.e., UK.
Technological- Constant advancements take place in technology across the globe in a
rapid manner owing to which the face of many industries has transformed (Wu and et. al., 2013).
In this regard, Ariel also operates on the same belief and regards innovation to be the key to
success of company. Over years, this corporation has come up with a number of products
varying in terms of types and forms so as to gain the attention of a large quantum of population.
Further, fragrant detergents were also first introduced by Ariel. In addition to this, e-marketing is
used by the respective entity with an aim to significantly enhance its brand image and stake in
market place. However, the presence of rival firms such as Mr. Muscle, Surf Excel and Vanish
pose threat to the sustainability of Ariel as these companies also possess the resources as well as
potential to tap the advantage of technological advancements and solicit the loyal customers of
Ariel.
Environmental- In the present era, operating in the interests of environment and society
has become the need of hour. In this regard, Ariel has also adopted eco-friendly processes and
techniques in order to establish its brand image in market (Kim and Mauborgne, 2014). The
respective entity encourages sustainable development and also ensures that the carbon emissions
owing to the production procedures taking place within the organisational premises are least.
This has helped the organisation in maintaining an image of eco-friendly company in the eyes of
customers. Owing to this, Ariel enjoys the market leading position across the globe except India.
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The corporation should continue to adopt measures which can lower down the adverse impact of
organisational procedures upon the environment as well as society.
Legal- Within the corporate world, the significance of abiding by the laws and
regulations cannot be ignored. In this regard, Ariel has its operations spread across the globe.
This organisation abides by all the laws in order to avoid legal adversities to maintain its name in
the eyes of customers. Further, such laws act as guidelines to ensure that entity operates in
accordance with ethical standards and do not indulge in unfair practices (Kumar and et. al.,
2013). With this, Ariel aims at gaining the trust of people and instilling a sense of loyalty among
them.
Competitive Advantage (USP)
USP refers to Unique Selling Proposition. This outlines the differentiation of business or
its offerings from others (Tiago and Veríssimo, 2014). Ariel is universally regarded as the
detergent which can be utilised for removal of strongest of stains. Further, the unique fragrances
tend to increase its USP.
Differential advantages of Ariel
Brand symbol is one of the competitive advantages of Ariel detergent. This brand has set
up a stimulus in the minds of its target consumers that no other detergent can remove the stain
better than Ariel.
Evaluation of Current marketing strategy
Growth- Ariel has the premium position in detergent market. It has been recently
promoted some mid priced brands to create competition for its competitors. Promotional
strategies and advertisement methods also help in the growth of the company (Leonidou and et.
al., 2013).
Sales Trend- There is high competition in marketplace in relation to detergent products.
a number of competitors exist in global market such as Surf, Mr. Muscle and Vanish. The sales
of this organisation has been continuously rising because of its high quality offerings and
innovative approach that gives it an edge over rival firms prevailing within same industry.
Profitability- Ariel increases the profits and economic performance of the company with
the help of its good quality commodities and premium pricing strategy.
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PART 2
Segmentation Targeting & positioning
STP is a process of evaluating and understanding important ideas to analyse the
marketing strategies of the firm. It is broad framework that summarised the process of
segmentation (Kim and Mauborgne, 2014).
Segmentation- It is a process of dividing a market of consumers in ton groups or
segments according to the features and characteristics of a particular product and service. The
segmentation of Ariel is mostly done on the basis of user status because in semi rural area, it is
known by the customer by its good quality.
Targetting- Arial targets general consumers, washing machine users, working women or
housewives. By making use of innovation and new technologies of advertisement, corporation
increases its profit and enhances the growth of firm (Mi, 2015).
Positioning- Ariel is a well known and trusted brand which is known for the satisfaction
of the customers. This product has a good image in the mind of its potential consumers. The
good packaging and brand name also monitors its sales. The company can make improvements
in advertising and packaging strategies to enhance market share and profits. By appropriately
positioning its products within the customers, the respective organisation can significantly
enhance its market position and also increase its base of loyal customers who do not intend to
shift to other alternate brands.
SMART Objectives
The SMART objective that is recommended to the respective company is as follow:-
“To introduce economic products within rural areas to enhance the revenues there by
10% by the end of 1 year”
Marketing strategy as per 4P’s
Marketing mix- Marketing mix refers to set of certain factors which are used by
company for promoting their products and services in effective manner. It includes certain main
factors like product, price, place and promotion (Morgan, Katsikeas and Vorhies, 2012). All for
factors with respect to Ariel are described as below in detailed manner.
Product- Product is considered as the item that is formulated or created for the purpose of
satisfying customer’s needs and demand. Business organisation sells their product at marketplace
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in the exchanges of certain prices which ultimately generates profits for them. With reference to
Ariel, it can be said that the company is offering numerous of products to its customers that in
the demand at marketplace. The company is mainly offering detergent to its customers whose
quality is so high which does not even spoil apparel. Apart from this, the company also uses
some innovation at regular basis for attracting customers towards them. For this, the company
introduces gel and bar as its new product which are also used for the same purpose that is
cleaning of apparel (Ritala, 2012). This innovation directly attracts customers and enhances sales
performance of the company.
Price- Price refers to the certain amount at which product is sold at marketplace. The
marketing team of the every company uses certain pricing strategies for raising their sales
performance at market. In context of Ariel, it has been analysed that the company is using
premium pricing strategy according to the rival companies who are dealing in similar segment.
But in order to gain competitive edge, it is essential for management team of company to revise
their pricing strategy by declining their prices (Marketing Mix, 2019). This will help the
company out in attracting middle class and lower middle class people. As a result, with this
strategy the company can also generate profits from semi rural areas too.
Place- It is the geographical location where company basically sell out their products in
the exchange of money. Currently, the company is offering its products in numerous of
countries. Here, the company can also tie up with the different supermarket in order to sell their
products in their stores so that sales performance of Ariel can be raised. In addition to this, the
company is also planning to focus on the rural areas and semi rural with which their customers
range can be developed. As a result, they earn high profits.
Promotion- Ariel is using social platform for promoting their products and services
among the targeted customer zone. Apart from this, it also uses TV, newspaper, radio etc to
reach those customers who are not active at social media (Saravanakumar and SuganthaLakshmi,
2012). Usage of these technological promotional tools helps company in attracting maximum
number of customers towards the company which contributes in the improvement of their sales
performance as well as market share.
CONCLUSION
From the above analysis of information, it can be easily said that marketing strategy is the
core upon which the success of organisation is dependent. Further, it can be stated that the
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organisation possesses the potential to launch low cost offerings so as to cater to the needs of all
sections of society and in order to be continually used as a daily use detergent. PESTLE
demonstrates that the strong economy and political conditions of its domestic market offers
opportunity for the organisation to launch timely products so that market share of entity can be
significantly enhanced by a fair margin. Further, marketing mix illustrates that the operations of
this company is spread across different parts of the globe where it enjoys market leadership
except in one country where one of its rival firms leads with the use of robust marketing and
economic pricing model. STP model depicts that entity places its products within upper middle
class and upper class sections at present and possess the potential to further place economic
offerings among lower economic group to enhance its profits.
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Online
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<https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/marketing-mix>.
Ariel laundry detergents by type. 2019. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.ariel.co.uk/en-gb/shop/type#gridview>.
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