MKT540 Strategic Marketing: Dettol's Competitive Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, focusing on its Dettol brand as a strategic business unit. It examines Dettol's marketing strategy, competitive positioning, and product lifecycle stage. The report utilizes various strategic tools such as Porter's Five Forces and BCG matrix to assess the brand's relative strengths and market position. It identifies Dettol as a cash cow within the BCG matrix, highlighting its high market share and established presence. The analysis covers product strategy, operational excellence strategy, and potential thrust options for future growth. Ultimately, the report concludes that Reckitt Benckiser employs effective marketing and business strategies for Dettol, contributing to its sustained success in the hygiene product market. Desklib offers a wealth of similar resources for students seeking academic support.

Running head: STRATEGIC MARKETING
STRATEGIC MARKETING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The report is based on the company Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC and has concentrated on of its
strategic business units which is the Dettol brand. The report will follow a structured format
whereby a brief introduction about the objectives of the report and willbe followed by the
different strategies that the company adopts in order to be successful in the long run. The
product strategy, competitive strategy, life cycle aspect and other tools have been used to make
the analysis. This report concluded that Reckitt Benckiser is having effective and efficient
marketing and business strategies in regards to their SBU, Dettol.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
About the Organization and Chosen unit.........................................................................................4
Strategic Thrust................................................................................................................................4
Marketing Strategy..........................................................................................................................5
Relative strength of Dettol...............................................................................................................5
Competitive Strategic Positioning...................................................................................................6
Thrust options..................................................................................................................................7
Product strategy...............................................................................................................................8
Stage of life cycle............................................................................................................................8
Operational excellence strategy.......................................................................................................9
Portfolio analysis.............................................................................................................................9
Cash cows..................................................................................................................................10
Dog............................................................................................................................................10
Star.............................................................................................................................................10
Question marks..........................................................................................................................11
Determination of the external environment...................................................................................11
Benchmarking................................................................................................................................13
Strategic implementation...............................................................................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14

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References......................................................................................................................................15
Appendices....................................................................................................................................17
Appendix 1: The Product Strategy............................................................................................17
Appendix 2: The Competitive strategy and long term objectives of Dettol..............................17
Appendix 3: The product Life cycle strategy............................................................................18
Appendix 4: The Product Line of Dettol...................................................................................18
Appendix 5: The Market share of Dettol...................................................................................19
Appendix 6: BCG matrix...........................................................................................................20
Introduction
Startegic Positioning plays a key role in an organization and in order to be successful in
the business domain, the company in question needs to ensure that it is able to maintain a
commendable strategic positioning in the business environment. Hence, for this reason, it needs
to make use of various tools and techniques to analyze the environment in which it operates and
understand the current position. This goes a long way in strategyformation and decision making.
The given report will be discussing the strategicpositioning of one such company named
Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (RB – Healthier Lives, Happier Homes. ,2018). The company is
based in Britain and is a brand working into the hygiene and personal products range (Kotler,
2015). One of the company`s strategic business units will be discussed and its market strategies
will be analyzed. The report will be discussing about the organization, its marketing strategy,
Relative strength of the marketing strategy, product strategy and the lifecycle it is currently

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present at. Relative theoretical concepts with practical examples will be discussed to present a
string argument. The use of two strategic development tools shall also be made and their uses
will be provided.
About the Organization and Chosen unit
The Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc is a British multinational goods company withits
headquarters in Slough, England. The company is mostly a producer of the hygienic, home
products along with health items. The company was formed back in Reckitt & Colman and
Benckiser NV. The company has various brands under its name which includes companies like
Dettol, Strepsils, Clearasil, Durex, Lysol and Vanish (West, Ford& Ibrahim, 2015). The
company is also registered on the London Stock Exchange and is also a part of the FTSE 100
Index.The chosen sub unit is the brand Dettol. The Dettol brand under the company is an
antiseptic liquid company which produces hygienic products that are famous for killing germs.
The company is a very popular operating in 124 countries with a good brand positioning.Refer to
Appendix 4
Strategic Thrust
A strategic thrust can be defined as a statement which lays down the intended strategic
actions which a company aims to take. The strategic thrust of the company needs to provide a
compelling theme which brings together different activities of an organization and focuses the
groups towards the objective. It is based on a planning direction of 2-5 years. The different
strategic thrusts which can be used by the company are differentiation, cost, innovation and
growth.

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The strategic thrust which is adopted by detail is a growth strategy. Having positioned itself as a
germ fighter brand, the company aims to extend itsproduct line and ensure success. Refer to
Appendix 5
Marketing Strategy
The marketing strategy can be defined as a strategy of the organization which tends to
combine all the marketing goals into a single comprehensive plans. An efficient marketing
strategy should need to ensure that there exists market research and the right product mix is
utilized to ensure maximum availability of profit.
The marketing strategy which is followed by Dettol is a very comprehensive one
whereby the different aims and objectives of the company are stated down effectively
(Mooradian, Matzler& Ring, 2013). The company has the objective of maintaining its position in
the market as the number one germ killer and thereby makes use of the promotional techniques
of television and magazines thereby targeting the younger audience who is likely to be exposed
to such infections involving bacteria. The company has priced the product accordingly and uses
an effective distributionthroughout the globe to give out items.
Relative strength of Dettol
The business environment of Dettol as a company is very competitive. In various
countries, there are many companies who act as a competition and provide a different sets of
threats for the company (Keller& Kotler, 2016). The industry analysis of Dettol has been done
using the Michael Porter`s Five Forces Analysis:
The threat of substitutes

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Very often people prefer using cheaper options to avail the facilities as provided by the Brand.
This includes the use of Mud, homemade solutions, water and other subsidiariesespecially in the
rural areas where the people cannot afford to purchase a soap. Hence, the threat can be termed as
Moderate (Proctor, 2014).
Rivalry
The threat of rivalry is quite high with various competitors present in the industry like
Lifebuoy, Palmolive and other brands.
The power of buyers
The power of buyers is considerably high as they are the ones with the options and
choices. If the prefer buying a particular commodity at a particular quantity then in that case, the
company has to design the products in that way (Armstrong et al., 2015).
The power of suppliers
The power of suppliers is not very high for the Dettol sub unit because, the company is a
relatively large brand and thus their market share is quite high.
Threat of new entrants
The threat of new entrants is low because Dettol already has a high market share which
will be difficulty to capture.
Competitive Strategic Positioning
Over the past few decades, Dettol has created a strong and distinct association with its
trademark smell (Turnbull& Valla, 2013). The smell of the Dettol products can be described as

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its point of differentiation. The competitive strategic positioning can be popularly defined as the
property which is setting the given brand apart from its competitors and create a positive image
in the minds of the different consumers.
The next characteristic which sets the company part is the amber gold color and the
clouding impact when the liquid is immersed in water. These characteristics are hard to find in
other products present in the market. Lastly, the company has been largely successful in creating
a positive image in the eyes of the consumers as the brand has always been successful in proving
that it can clear and clean all jobs. This positioning in the minds of the consumers, is the key
aspect of the strategicpositioning (Malhotra& Peterson, 2014). The distinct packaging also acts
as an advantage as the symbol signifies strength against the bacteria. The broad product portfolio
under each of the categories which helps the business to capture the larger market share.Refer to
Appendix 2
Thrust options
The thrust options which are available with Dettol are as follows:
 Allianz- theCompany can form an alliance with different companies in the different
countries to ensure that it has a greater market share.
 Differentiation- theCompany has already adopted the given strategy and has
differentiated itself as a germ protection company whose products provide 100%
protection against germs and its liquid is one of its kind (Bresler& Lubbe, 2014). It can
further differentiate by getting into a new line.

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 Cost- The Dettol Company can try and achieve cost differentiation by selling products
lower than its competitors.However, at present the company already sells its products at a
low cost.
Product strategy
The product strategy can be defined as the blueprint of all the products and the end to end
vision of the product which the company aims to sell and what it wants the outcome to be as. The
companies make use of their product strategy in the market by ensuring that it can be utilizes in
efficient strategicplanning and helping the firm to identify the correct direction of the activities
of the given company.Refer to Appendix 1
The product strategy comprises of various processes which are essential to attain the
vision. The company must be possessing a clear idea of where they want to be and the kind of
the vision it sees for itself.
The product strategy of Dettol has comprised of various processes, however the company has
always envisioned itself a leading brand in the markets, which tends to provide valuable predicts
to the customers that are effective, kills the germs and establishes itself as a one stop solution.
The company has always itself in an effective pricing strategyand thus, it has been success in
forming a product strategy which is unique (Sheth& Sisodia, 2015).
Stage of life cycle
The product life cycle can be defined as the different stages through which a product goes
through in order to establish itself in the market and be successful gain the demand of the

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consumers (Zimmerman& Blythe,2013). The product life cycle has four different stages starting
from introduction to growth to maturity and finally the decline. The product strategy is the first
step and this is followed by the lifecycle.
At present,the brand Dettol is under the Maturity stage of the product life cycle. The
company has become one of the biggest anti-bacterial brands and thus is at its peak in the
maturity stage.Refer to Appendix 3
Operational excellence strategy
A competitive strategy can be defined as a strategy which is adopted by the firm in the
long run to gain a competitive advantage over the competitors. The given is used to create a
defensive position in the industry and in order to generate a high Return on Investment. The
three main competitivestrategies used by companies are the Operational Excellence strategy
where the company looks out for procedural efficiency in order to ensure effective utilization of
resources. The product leadership strategy is a strategy which is used by a firm to achieve
success with respect to the product it provides to the customers and the effective characteristics
of the product. Lastly, some companies make use of the customer intimacy whereby exceptional
services are provided to the customers.
Dettol follows an operational excellence strategy at its core whereby it aims to attain cost
leadership. All the manufacturing procedures are automated and all the tools are utilized
effectively by Dettol and this is the reason behind its high market share.
Portfolio analysis

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In order to determine the product leadership for Reckitt Benckiser, it is important to
identify the market position of their current product portfolio (Rudnicki & Vagner, 2014). In
order to do so, BCG matrix will be used to identify the current market position.
Cash cows
Cash cows are the products that are having higher market share but the market growth is
lower. This denotes that cash cow products are established products in the market and they are in
the saturation level in the market. Thus, the chance of increase in the market share for these
products is lower. In case of Reckitt Benckiser, Dettol can be considered as the case cow. This is
due to the reason that Dettol is in the market for long years and is the segment leader. In
addition, the market penetration of Dettol is huge and there is very less chance of enhancing the
market share further (Douglas & Craig, 2013).
Dog
The next element in the BCG matrix is dog. This refers to the products that are having
both lower market share and lower market growth rate. In case of the Reckitt Benckiser, the
medical sector such as the first aid components market is dog (Srivastava & Sharma, 2013). This
is due to the reason that Reckitt Benckiser is trailing in this sector against their main competitor
Johnson & Johnson.
Star
Star refers to the products that are higher market position as well as higher market growth
rate. In the case of Reckitt Benckiser, sanitary items such as liquid soaps can be considered as

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star. This is due to the reason that Dettol liquid soap is marker leader in this segment but the
market is at the growing stage and thus potentiality is huge (Kaur & Pandit, 2014).
Question marks
Question mark refers to the products that are having lower market share but having
higher growth rate. This refers to the relatively newer products that are in the growth stage in the
market. In the case of Reckitt Benckiser, newer offerings such as hand sanitizer from Dettol and
kitchen washing gel can be considered in question mark.
Determination of the external environment
Political factors  Reckitt Benckiser is having their operation in different
countries and thus they face diverse political scenarios.
 Different countries are having different political scenarios
and thus it affects the business effectiveness of Reckitt
Benckiser (Boddweyen, 2015).
 Emergence of political and diplomatic issues between the
countries will also lead to the adverse impact on the internal
national business of Reckitt Benckiser.
Economic factors  Reckitt Benckiser is having major market share in the
developing countries. These countries are the having positive
economy growth.
 However, frequent fluctuations in the international economy
will hamper the economic growth of Reckitt Benckiser.