Procter & Gamble's Ariel: Market Strategy Analysis and Recommendations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Ariel detergent's market strategy, focusing on its position in the UK market. It begins with an executive summary and introduction, followed by a situational analysis using PESTLE and SWOT frameworks to assess the external and internal environments. The report identifies Ariel's competitive advantages, emphasizing its brand recognition and customer loyalty. It then evaluates Ariel's current market strategy, highlighting its targeting of the premium segment. The core of the report lies in its Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning (STP) analysis, followed by recommendations for objectives, goals, and an enhanced marketing strategy incorporating the marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion). The conclusion summarizes the findings and recommendations, supported by relevant references, offering insights into Ariel's market approach and potential for growth. The report underscores the importance of understanding market dynamics for effective brand positioning and success.

MARKET STRATEGY

Table of Contents
MARKET STRATEGY...................................................................................................................1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
Situational analysis of the company by PESTLE and SWOT....................................................3
Competitive advantage of the company......................................................................................5
Evaluation of current market strategy of the company...............................................................5
PART 2............................................................................................................................................5
Segmentation Targeting & Positioning (STP) of the company..................................................5
Recommendation of objective and goals of the company..........................................................6
Recommendation of marketing strategy of the company with the application of marketing mix
.....................................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Market strategies are the most important tool for the company to make it position in the
market. Every company's success depends on its strategy which is followed by the company that
helps it in achieving success. For making marketing strategy, it is important to analyze internal
and external environment in which company is operating. After analyzing the environment
through Swot and pestle analysis the other important thing to be consider is marketing mix of the
company which helps the company in deciding its price, product, promotion and place strategy
along with the market segmenting , targeting and position to increase sales and market share.

INTRODUCTION
Marketing strategies are need to be developed by each and every company to position its
name in the market and to make its brand recognized among the customers. Procter and Gamble
is the fastest growing company that offers Ariel detergent powder which focuses on providing
premium quality product to the customers. This report will include swot and pestle analysis of
Ariel along with the competitive advantage it has over other products. Moreover, the report will
also include marketing mix of Ariel in UK.
PART 1
Situational analysis of the company by PESTLE and SWO
The analysis of the company can be done externally as well as internally.
Pestle analysis of Ariel in UK :
Political factor: The political factors that can affect the company in UK are trade barriers which
can harm company by protecting potential exports (Pestle analysis, 2018). The other factor
which influences the product is the high level of taxation which can decrease level of profit
coming from Ariel. The other factor can be minimum wages which would mean higher profits
for the company and higher chances of survival for Ariel.
Economic factor – The factors that can affect Ariel is the economic system of UK that is
currently operating in the sector and Ariel works in competitive monopolistic market with cut
throat competition (Lawton, 2015). The rate of GDP growth also affects Ariel that how fast it
will go in near future. The other factor would be exchange rate as Ariel is a brand that is
involved in the international trade therefore the stability of the currency is important so this
factor can affect the success of the product.
Social factor – The difference in educational background between the target market that
is women in case of Ariel and marketers may create an issue for the product to relate and to
impose in the target market effectively (Steenkamp, 2017). Ariel in this case needs to be careful
to make connection to the target audience with their interests and priorities.
Technological factors – Recent technological developments done by competitors can
create a problem for Ariel but if Ariel itself encounters a new technology then it can grow and
gain popularity among the population of UK and can have competitive advantage over other
firms.

Environmental factor – The weather condition of the nation can create an issue for Ariel
to manage the transportation of both their finished products and raw materials can affect the
delivery of the product to its users (Bull and et.al, 2016.). The other factors can be climate
change, not efficient waste management, use of plastic etc. which can affect the profitability of
the company.
Legal factor – Discrimination laws of the country which are introduced by the company
to protect employees and ensure that everyone working for Ariel has enough rights and are
treated properly can create a burden on the company. The other factors can be health and safety
laws, intellectual property laws etc.
SWOT analysis of Ariel
Strength – The strength of Ariel lies in its strong brand portfolio which can be extremely
useful for the company to introduce new product line. It has reliable suppliers which help the
company in overcoming any supply chain inefficiency (Morgan, Strong, 2015). The main
strength of the product is customer satisfaction which is maintained by Ariel over the years.
Weakness – The weakness of the product is that very less is spent on its research and
development. The other weakness is higher attrition rate in its employees compare to another
industry and its products who spends lot of money on training and development of employees.
Opportunity – Increase in spending power of consumers is an opportunity for Ariel to
increase its market share and to capture new customers. The other opportunity can be market
development which will help Ariel in getting competitive advantage.
Threat – The threat faced by Ariel is that it does not offer innovative products and
supply of new products is nor regular. The other threat is that demand of highly profitable
product is seasonal and impact profitability of the company.
Competitive advantage of the company (USP)
Ariel is the product by Procter and Gamble. The aim of the product is to capture
international markets. It was introduced in UK market in 1967 and was the first detergents that
had stain removing enzymes. This product was very convenient for washing machines because it
looked like it produce efficient result in cleaning the clothes (Morgan, 2015). Soon, Ariel started
producing quick wash option which helped people in washing their clothes in short cycle. This
became quite popular among people who do laundry with quick wash cycles.

The USP of Ariel is that it has been in the market for many decades and has established
the image as the product which can remove difficult and dirtiest stains from the clothes. This
gives competitive advantage to the product by giving it brand recognition which attracts
customers. It is the leading product in detergent used by the population of UK and captures
almost 40 % of the market share in UK by positioning its sub products among various classes of
people. Also, Ariel is one of the oldest brands serving its customers in detergent market which
creates customer loyalty to the product as well. The other competitive advantage is CSR
initiatives by Ariel which gives it competitive advantage over others. The other competitors of
Ariel like vanish, surf excel are still far from having competitive advantage as Ariel being one of
the oldest detergent is ahead of them in positioning itself. It was the 1st to introduce fragrances in
the market and is world leader in detergent sector through its innovative market strategies.
Evaluation of current market strategy of the company
Ariel is a P & G brand that captures large market share in UK as well as international
market. The current market strategy used by Ariel is to target women market that too of
economic class so that people can afford it and thus Ariel can capture large market share in these
areas. At first, the strategy was really simple and it used promotional techniques like
advertisements and did not focus on emotional needs of the audience (Steenkamp, 2017). Later,
P & G changed its market strategy in which it launched 'my Ariel' campaign throughout the
world which featured stories of both Ariel users as well as non users and this strategy attracted
many customers.
In new era too, Ariel follows the same strategy of just showing it to people that how Ariel
can help them in care for their clothes they care about, and not only by just showing how Ariel is
better than other brand. Also, P & G will soon be releasing new marketing strategy through the
line marketing campaign for Ariel taking a new direction to promote its detergent and stain
remover. It also has launched premium quality product like Ariel silk, Ariel instant, Ariel bar etc
which will estimate annual revenue of 50.4 M and will help it in grow even more among the
people.
PART 2
Segmentation Targeting & Positioning (STP) of the company
Segmentation – The detergents are segmented into 3 classes which include low quality,
mid quality and premium quality. The segmentation of Ariel is in the class of premium product

in which people who wants high quality product are ready to pay for high price for good quality
product. The cost of such product is relatively high and not everyone can afford it but those who
can afford it is more likely to be stick to that.
Targeting – Ariel offers different types of sub products within its product line which
targets women that belong to upper and middle class range of the society (Fan, 2015). These
people can afford to buy the product and do not think before buying the product if the quality is
high. Therefore, by offering premium quality product Ariel targets rich class audience.
Positioning – Ariel position its products through special attributes which it carries with it
which attracts the customers that include cleaning the dirtiest stains by micro cleaning system in
the product. The other way it positions itself is by dong social campaigns and corporate social
responsibility that leads to increase in customer base of the product. The product will targt
women all over the UK with exciting offers like discounts, buy one get one free, free movie
tickets etc to attract more women to use the product.
Recommendation of objective and goals of the company
The objective of the company should be to increase its sales and profitability so that it
can meet everyday needs to carry out company’s operations. For that the company will need to
anticipate future needs of the consumers so that it can offer the products that are expected by the
customers. (Pascale, 2018). The other objective of the company will be to respond creatively and
with innovation in developing product and services that will raise the standard of life of
people(Wu, 2018). The other objective of the product can be exceptional standards of
performance and productivity to working continuously by embracing ideas and learn perpetually.
The other objective of the company will be to achieve the highest standards of corporate
behavior towards employees, consumers and society to acquire success that will lead to growth
in sales, revenue generation, strong positioning in market, enhancing market share and
satisfaction among customers.
Recommendation of marketing strategy of the company with the application of marketing mix
Marketing mix of Ariel
Product – Ariel offers variety of products under its name which is of premium quality
and offer best cleaning results. The brand name of Ariel is also recognizable and come in various
sizes which include 25 gm, 50 gm etc. The product should have more R and D to develop the

product more efficiently. Like its other competitors it can change its packaging n shape of packet
and bottle in which it comes to attract more customers.
Price – As the product is focused on high class therefore the price of the product is quite
high. The company should set the price higher but should provide customers with different offers
and discounts to attract new customers (Kingsley, 2015).
Place – The Ariel covers various places through which it reaches to various customers. P
and G has developed a long term relationship with its customers, distributors and suppliers which
helps the product in reaching to various destinations. The company should now use online tactics
as well to reach to its customers which will save their time and money. Like other companies, it
need to use platforms like Amazon, eBay which are used by most of the customers and that can
increase the sale of the product
Promotion – Ariel uses a lot of advertisements on TV, radio and now even on social
media which promotes its activities. To reach out to more customers the product's tagline need to
be changed with new era and campaign son social awareness like women empowerment, child's
education etc need to be highlighted by Ariel which can connect the product emotionally to the
audience. Ariel can use strategy like CSR to increase its brand awareness as well as to create a
good image in the eys of its customers.
CONCLUSION
The report concluded the situational analysis of the company's product which can affect
the product internally as well as externally. The company's strengths and weakness along with
different political, social factors are included in the report. The report further included market
strategy which is adopted by Ariel to attract new customers and at last it showed marketing mix
of Ariel and provided recommendations which can be done by the company to improve its
performance.

REFERENCES
Books and journal
Bull, J. W., and et.al., 2016. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats: A
SWOT analysis of the ecosystem services framework. Ecosystem services. 17. pp.99-
111.
Fan, S., Lau, R.Y. and Zhao, J. L., 2015. Demystifying big data analytics for
business intelligence through the lens of marketing mix. Big Data Research. 2(1). pp.28-
32.
Kingsley, A.F. and Vanden Bergh, R.G., 2015. How regulatory uncertainty drives
integrated market and non-market strategy. The Routledge Companion to Non-market
Strategy. Routledge, pp.47-65.
Lawton, T.C. and Rajwani, T.S. eds., 2015. The Routledge companion to non-
market strategy. Routledge.
Morgan, R. E. and Strong, C. A., 2015. Competitive Strategy and Market
Orientation: The Relationship and its Implications. In Proceedings of the 1998 Academy
of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 232-232). Springer, Cham.
Pascale, E., Eccleston, P. and Tinetti, G., 2018, June. The ARIEL space mission.
In 2018 5th IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for AeroSpace
(MetroAeroSpace) (pp. 31-34). IEEE.
Steenkamp, J. B., 2017. Global Marketing Mix Decisions: Global Integration, Not
Standardization. In Global Brand Strategy (pp. 75-109). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Wu, Y. L. and Li, E.Y., 2018. Marketing mix, customer value, and customer loyalty
in social commerce: A stimulus-organism-response perspective. Internet
Research. 28(1). pp.74-104.
Online
Pestle analysis, 2018. [Online]. Available through :
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