Assignment 2: IMC Strategies for Head & Shoulders Brand Building

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Head & Shoulders' integrated marketing communication (IMC) strategies. It begins with a marketplace situation analysis, examining the brand's internal strengths and weaknesses, including its promotional organization, previous IMC programs, and brand image. The external analysis covers customer behavior, competitive landscape, and environmental factors. The report then delves into target market segmentation, identifying and describing two key segments using segmentation variables and consumer characteristics. A SWOT analysis prioritizes key factors for the brand, followed by the articulation of IMC objectives, specifying their communication or behavioral nature and their evolution from the preceding analyses. The report utilizes various sources to evaluate the brand's marketing approach.

Assignment 2: IMC Strategies for Building Brands
Raunaq singh virdi
T00573876
28 November,2017

Table of Contents
Part 1: Marketplace Situation Analysis......................................................................................3
Internal Analysis.....................................................................................................................3
Strengths and weaknesses of Head & Shoulders................................................................3
IMC and promotional organization and its capabilities......................................................3
Previous IMC and promotional programs..........................................................................3
Brand image........................................................................................................................3
External Analysis....................................................................................................................4
Customer behaviour analysis..............................................................................................4
Competitive analysis...........................................................................................................4
Environment Analysis............................................................................................................5
Part 2: Target Market.................................................................................................................6
1. Explain how profiling the current target market of a brand can assist in identifying
segments and selecting segment characteristics that can help to create IMC messages and
media selection that reach a targeted prospect segment.........................................................6
2. From your target market, select and describe two target market segments for your
brand/product. Describe each segment separately by using the five types of segmentation
variables discussed in your textbook......................................................................................6
3. Identify the two most important consumer characteristics for each of the target market
segments. Explain how the brand links to these particular characteristics.............................7
Part 3: SWOT analysis...............................................................................................................8
To complete the SWOT analysis, prioritize it for your brand/product...................................9
Head and Shoulders anti dandruff shampoo.......................................................................9
Part 4: IMC Objectives.............................................................................................................11
IMC objectives to guide the development of your IMC plan...............................................11
For each objective, articulate whether it is a communication or behavioural objective and
provide the rationale for selecting this type of objective.....................................................11

Explain how each of these objectives evolved from the marketplace situation analysis, the
target market, and the prioritized SWOT Analysis findings................................................12
References................................................................................................................................13

Part 1: Marketplace Situation Analysis
This part of the assessment is concerned with the analysis of the marketplace situation of the
product which means that the analysis of the external and internal environment of the
company is done. It is done to analyse the influence of the integrated marketing
communication on the external and internal environment of the product i.e. Head and
Shoulders anti-dandruff shampoo. The analysis is done below:
Internal Analysis
Key Attributes and Benefits
Head and shoulders is one of the leading brands in the shampoo category. The company in
enriched with multiple celebrity brand endorsements and is always looking forward to
capitalize on their popularity. The company with its different ad campaigns lures in both the
rural and the urban market. It deploys different strategy for both the market and has a defined
STP for both of them. These are some of the key attributes and benefits of the marketing
strategy of Head & Shoulders.
Are the packages and label consistent with the brand image
The product has eleven varieties with five SKU’s each (2ml & 3ml sachet, 100 ml, 200 ml &
400 ml pack). It uses attractive white and royal blue colour combination as its base packaging
which looks in perfect alignment with the values of the company. Moreover, the product uses
a freshness essence in its packaging which in consumer’s mind creates a positive impression.
The company has recently came up with recyclable bottle, this makes head and shoulder the
first shampoo brand to come up with this kind of bottle, it is made up with 25% of recycled
beach plastic. This information is also shown in the marketing campaigns and is mentioned
on the labelling, builds a strong connects with the environment friendly audience.

Strengths and weaknesses of Head & Shoulders
The company to which the product belongs is a well renowned company across the globe.
Head and Shoulders anti-dandruff shampoo is one of the leading shampoo brands in the
country. It is one of its own kinds and has large network of distribution (Njanja & Ogutu,
2012). The relative weakness of the brand is that it covers a particular set of customers who
are in search of dandruff eliminating shampoo. The other customers do not generally prefer
this brand which limits its coverage of market (Kotler & Gertner, 2002).
IMC and promotional organization and its capabilities
The company makes a good use of traditional promotional tools like newspapers, magazines
and digital marketing tools like television. The promotion programs of the shampoo include
sponsorships at various programs, promotional events where the customers are gifted goodies
and are made aware about the products of the brand (Ibrahim & Primiana, 2015). The brand
is capable to make use of its resources and to target mass population to use the products of
the brand.
Capability of the firm
Head & Shoulder is product of American company proctor and gamble who is the market
leader in the FMCG sector since a long time. The company has enough funds to spend
towards its marketing strategy and some of the best marketing agencies working for it, that no
company can beat it in its own game. Some of the bright minds of the industry work with
Head & Shoulders and are always working on how to attract the audience towards the
product, an extremely capable firm
Previous IMC and promotional programs
The brand makes use of the social media platforms which are used by the companies
nowadays for getting better reach to the customers (Dragnić, 2014).The company uses both
the traditional and digital platforms for the penetration of its campaign and achieve the
desired objectives.
 The company adopted a unique strategy of coming up with the USP of the product in
each of its campaign.

 It focussed on the problems of dry scalp and the flakiness it will provide to the hair.
Additionally company also focussed on the strength head and shoulders will give to
the hair and fight problems of hair fall.
 It used digital medium to interact and engage with the audience and asked them a lot
of questions on how to improve the product in an interactive manner.
 Ogilvy the agency for head and shoulders conducted an analysis on the most
successful campaign and recorded the points of maximum attention, to create a new
campaign on the similar lines.
Promotional Program: Head & Shoulders “Scalp Brave”
 Promotional objective: The objective was to make people feel bold, brave and
celebrate the confidence head and shoulders give them. The campaign had a central
idea that how a healthy scalp looks like.
 Promotional Mix Strategy: The campaign was launched with a mix of print and
digital. It was launched by company’s brand ambassadors, Giovanni, Dos Santos &
Sofia Vergera, and it reached an audience of 13 million. This was followed by print
and poster activations and making 40 short films which will run on its you tube page.
 Result: The results of the campaign were overwhelming, it lead to 20% increase in
the likes on the Facebook page and resulted in 20% increase in revenue in that
particular quarter.
Brand image
The brand has good image in the market. It is because it is the part of one of the best fast
moving consumer goods company P& G. This is a powerful brand of Procter and Gamble
which has its niche market (anti dandruff shampoo). The brand is associated with the top
celebrities to endorse their products which improve its image in the market.
External Analysis
Customer behaviour analysis
Who buys the product?

Head and shoulders is an FMCG product which is used by people of all ages and sex. No
racial biasedness can come in its way. People who are having trouble with dandruff, falling
hair and are looking for strength in the hair buys the product. The USP of the brand still
remains removing the dandruff completely.
Who makes the decision to buy the product?
As explained in the above paragraph, the product does not have any age or gender bias; any
person can buy this product and get great dandruff free hair.
Who influences the decision to buy the product?
The celebrity and the lab results shown in the ad are the biggest influencers to buy the
product.
How is the purchase decision made?
The purchase decision is made by carefully evaluating the solution the product provides to its
audience. Head and shoulders provide solution for the dandruff, falling hair, bold scalp &
strong hair. The ladies of the family make the purchase decision based on the attributes
mentioned in the campaign.
Why do customers buy a particular brand?
Customer offers a particular brand once they have established faith in the offerings of it. The
company with its campaign tend to bring faith in the audience, which eventually leads to
relationship building with the brand. The values of the brand resonate with the target
audience. Some other factors which affect the buying are: influence created by the
influencers, product and feature attributes, price, availability in the market, positive word of
mouth, recommendation from peer group etc.
Where do they, look to buy the product
The product has established great distribution channels through its partner relations, hence it
is found in every corner of the city, it is available in all the supermarkets, retail stores, and
mom and carries stores, etc. The company has tied up with almost all the e-tailers to sell its
product line.
When do they buy, any seasonal factors

Head and shoulders USP is removing the dandruff, thus dandruff occurs most in the winters
that is the season of maximum sales of the product. Although not much of a difference is
created, a surge of 15-20% in revenue is seen in the winter season.
What is the consumer’s attitude towards the product?
The consumers worldwide have appreciated the freshness, the fragnence and the soft and
silkiness the product gives to their hair. In many campaigns the company went out to the
normal people for feedback and almost all seem to have given the product thumbs up.
What social factors influence the purchase decision?
Society plays an important factor in influencing the purchase decision. Recommendation
from a friend, use of the product in the neighbourhood, social class and status are important
social factors in the purchase decision.
Does the customer lifestyle influence the purchase decision?
Absolutely, spending lot of time on the street, in travel, unhealthy eating life style, not having
time to oil the hair, massage on a regular basis, alcohol intake, etc., all these lifestyle factors
influence the purchase decision of the consumers.
Does demographic influence the purchase decision
Not in this case, each and every person should have a healthy and clean scalp, should have
dandruff free strong hair, hence demographic does not have a role to play in this.
It is the analysis of the individuals who purchase the products. It is all about their mental,
emotional and behavioural responses when they purchase and uses the product. Head and
shoulders are easily recognised by its customers because it provides a special feature to the
consumers that are the elimination of dandruff. Most of the consumers of the product have
positive attitude about the product of the brand. Head and shoulders is the highest selling
brand when the consumers purchase it for the purpose of dandruff elimination. It is because it
has wide coverage in the market which makes easily accessible for the consumers and
secondly because of its end results (Indris & Primiana, 2015).
Competitive analysis

Direct Competitors
 Clinic All clear
 Sunsilk
Key benefits and positioning by the competitors
Sunsilk has positioned itself as a brand which will give extra shine to the hair, while clinic all
clear focuses on the overall strength of the hair and its quality. Both of them use both
traditional and digital channels of advertising
What is our position relative to the competition?
Almost in all the markets, head and shoulders is the world’s number 1 anti-dandruff
shampoo, having said that, clinic all clear is not very behind and is on number 2 in the
dandruff category. Similarly sunsilk leads the race in the shine category. Overall, all the
ranking are based on the USP of the products.
Promotion strategies used by the competitors
Not much of a difference in the promotional strategies due to the similarity in the product
line, target audience and product benefits. All of the uses print media, billboards, feedback in
the natural course and digital media for its promotional campaigns.
It is the analysis between the brand Head and shoulders and its competitors i.e. Clinic All
clear and Sunsilk. It will help in identifying the competitors of the brand and evaluating their
strategies in order to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the own brand. It is very
important to develop marketing plan of the brand (Kraja & Osmani, 2015).
Head & Shoulders Clinic All clear Sunsilk
It is a part of the company
Procter & Gamble
It is the brand of Hindustan
Unilever Limited.
Hindustan Unilever Limited
is the parent company of

Sunsilk (HUL, 2017).
The brand was launched in
1961.
It was launched in the year
1972.
It was launched in 1964.
The USP of the shampoo is
that it is an anti-dandruff
shampoo which eliminates
dandruff.
The brand is designed for
fighting the scalp problems
and dryness in hair (HUL,
2017).
The brand is designed for
youth who want beautiful
and shiny hair. It is designed
to care for hair and for
styling purposes.
The variants of the brand
include lemon, menthol,
strawberry, Cool and more.
The variants of the brand
include Activsport, Hair fall
decrease, anti-dandruff
shampoo and more
There are various variants of
the brand which includes hair
fall solution, damage and
repair, sot and smooth
shampoo and Black shine
shampoo (HUL, 2017).
(HUL, 2017).
Environment Analysis
From the marketing mix of Head and shoulders anti dandruff shampoo, it is clear that the
company has strong promotional techniques because of which it is able to fight with its
competitors. The company have a good collection of products and is reasonably priced in
comparison to its competitors. It is clear that Head and Shoulders have good network of
distributors and suppliers which helps in providing easy access to the consumers. It will help
in developing further IMC plan for the product (Eruemegbe, 2015). The company should
make proper use of the integrated marketing channels which includes traditional channels as
well as the latest channels of promotion and marketing. The company uses 4 P’s for
developing IMC plan (Voiculet, et al., 2010). 4 P’s will help in determining the correct
products for the correct target market in reasonable price. For this, communication needs to
be developed between the customers and the brand. The strategies are made for the

communication so that the attributes and benefits of the products of the brand can be
communicated to the right consumers at the right time (Naeem, Bilal & Naz, 2013).
Marketing Mix
Product: Anti dandruff shampoo, claims to remove 90-95 % of the dandruff. Apart from it
has different variant of shampoo and conditioner as well.
Price: The pricing depends on the customers and the geographic location. Hence, the prices
are not consistent but vary accordingly. Needless to say, in all the markets the prices are
competitive and in closeness with its competitors.
Place: The product is available both offline and online. Supermarkets, retail outlets, hyper
markets etc. constitute the offline stores and e-tailers constitute the online channels.
Promotion: It is one of the most important elements of marketing mix; also, FMCG products
have to be extensively marketed due to high intensity competition in the market. Hence all
the channels, both offline and online are used for promotion.
Advertising Campaign
Many campaigns so far have been created by head and shoulders, some of the big
ones were, scalp brave and the one featuring Lionel messi. These campaigns were hugely
successful because of the extensive marketing strategy done behind them. The data from the
campaign was analysed and report of the finding was put forward to the management. The
campaign was pushed like a blast on online and offline channels at the same time and in no
time started trending on you tube and twitter.
Public Relations Technique
Team of PR specialist manages the public relations of the company. Articles in the
newspaper, scheduling interview of the board members, AVP, VP and other ex com members
are taken care by the specialists. In order to take care of the distributers of the product or the
channel partners, the company keeps on doing a get together or family day sort of event to
keep them happy and associated with the brand.
Sponsorship

Head and shoulders have been at the helm of sponsorship. It has organized various
charity events for destitute and poor, wherein the celebrity will collect donation from them,
and via channel of the company money will be used for the nourishment of such children.
Massively done in Africa.
Part 2: Target Market
1. Explain how profiling the current target market of a brand can assist in identifying
segments and selecting segment characteristics that can help to create IMC messages
and media selection that reach a targeted prospect segment.
Profiling the current target market of the brand means that analysing the preferences, choices,
needs and location of the customers to define the target audience of the brand.
The brands are not meant to sell every product at every place or to everyone. They need to
have their target market. It helps in building the brand for the right set of customers which
helps the company in efficiently using the resources and attracting their potential customers
(Lynn, 2011).
Market profiling is helpful in identifying the set of attributes which relates to the target
customers of the brand. These attributes can be the income, region or other psychographic
factors like values. First of all, Head and shoulders need to identify their target market whose
needs match the product of the company. To these customers, the products of the brand are
marketed (Larsen, 2010).
Once the market profiling is done, the IMC messages can be designed as per the target
customers. The media can be selected which best fulfil the objective of the brand to promote
their product in the target market (Batra & Keller, 2016).
2. From your target market, select and describe two target market segments for your
brand/product. Describe each segment separately by using the five types of
segmentation variables discussed in your textbook.
The market is segmented on the basis of demographics, life style and geography. The markets
are now more diverse because if which the markets are segmented as per different