Principles of Marketing: Head & Shoulders and Pantene Analysis

This report offers a comprehensive comparative analysis of the marketing strategies employed by Head & Shoulders and Pantene, focusing on the four Ps of the marketing mix: product, price, place, and promotion. The report begins with an introduction to the marketing mix and its importance, followed by an examination of the target markets for each brand, highlighting the different consumer segments they aim to reach. It then delves into the product specifications, analyzing the core offerings and brand personalities of both companies, including the Levitt's and Aaker's models. The pricing strategies of Head & Shoulders and Pantene are compared, considering their competitive approaches and premium positioning. The report also assesses the distribution and place strategies, evaluating how each brand ensures product availability. Finally, the promotional strategies of both brands are examined, including traditional and modern marketing methods. The report concludes with a summary of the key differences and similarities in their approaches, emphasizing the distinct strategies each brand employs to compete in the market.

PRINCIPLES OF
MARKETING

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Target Market..............................................................................................................................3
Product.........................................................................................................................................4
Price.............................................................................................................................................4
Place.............................................................................................................................................5
Promotion....................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
The Marketing mix of every company is an extremely crucial aspect for every brand where
the success of the company is highly dependent on these four aspects of the marketing mix i.e.
Product, Price, Place and Promotion (Marušić, 2019). In this report, the comparative analysis
will be done on the companies Head and Shoulders and Pantene where the four P’s of the
company will be evaluated along with the target market of both the companies. The report will
identify the different strategies that both the companies adopted and then present a proper
analysis and conclusion regarding the comparative aspects that were discussed in the report.
MAIN BODY
Target Market
In an organisation, the target market signifies that portion of the entire customer segment
which the company majorly targets in order to market their products so that they can gain
maximum profits from the products sold by them. The target market identification is a critical
aspect because the organisations have to derive maximum profits form a limited market segment.
Both Head and Shoulders and Pantene indulge in extensive research before finalising their
targeted market segments and for the current products this can be analysed in following manner:
The Head and Shoulders shampoo, overall, targets the upper middle class consumer
segment that is quick to adopt their new products and also care about their overall health factor
regarding the hair care that they undertake (Türk and Erciş, 2017). Additionally, the brand uses
different personality types of people to manufacture and market their products accordingly where
they have separate shampoos for females, kids, males, people with excess hair fall or excess
dandruff etc. thus targeting different hair related problems accordingly. On the other hand, the
Pantene Lady’s Shampoo is a sub brand product under the entire brand of Pantene and they
specifically, targets the females through this product. The range of Pantene Pro- V shampoo is
specifically for the use of females who are working and still intend to maintain a mane of long
and healthy hair that could get protection from dust and pollution throughout the day. Therefore,
their targeted market segment is only women that belong to all the age groups and belong to an
income group of medium to higher income group.

Product
The product specifications describe that what kind of product is being marketed and is relevant
to the company (Hys, 2017). For both the companies, their products can be analysed in following
manner:
For the Head and Shoulders brand, the major product is the shampoo of the company that
became prevalent through the excellent dandruff treatment formula that was developed. The
major attraction point of the brand was that it promised to cure the dandruff problem in the scalp
that was the major cause and this led to the emergence of the popularity of the brand. The
Levitt’s model of brand can be used additionally to identify the level of the products and they
stand at the expectancy level where the product delivers exactly similar output that the
consumers of that product expect it to deliver. The Aaker model of brand personality can also be
used where the brand was found to be a one with competence personality level i.e. it was reliable
and innovative delivering the outputs that were promised by them. Contrary to this, the Levitt’s
model presents the Pantene Lady shampoos at the actual product level where it addresses the
core demand with only little additional benefits and the Aaker model categorises the brand
personality as the one with sophistication where glamour and feminine touch is given more
preference over the sturdiness or effectiveness of the product (Kheiry, 2019). While the head and
shoulders usually comes in blue and white bottles with a particularly tilted shape that is unique to
the company, the Pantene’s packaging comes in the royal colours of silver and gold that has a
glossy finish to it.
Price
The pricing strategy of the company is directly linked to that of the competitors of the
company and for Head and Shoulders as well, they exercise competitive pricing keeping in
mind the pricing strategy that is adopted by its closest competitor i.e. Unilever. Earlier the
company adopted the penetration pricing method where it tried to venture into the market by
targeting a wide base with affordable pricing strategy. Since then, the increase in the price has
been pursued in a rational manner where the customers are retained through the means of only a
small percentage of increase in the prices. The shampoo is available in small sachets to the
bottles of 675 ml as well and therefore, the users can buy quantities that they find feasible and
preferable for them (Andrews and Taylor, 2017).

However, for Pantene’s Lady shampoo, the pricing is done more expensively where the
product is positioned for the females and only and therefore despite using the competitive pricing
method for their brand as well. The company inclines more towards the premium segment where
the quality as well as price both are on a higher side (Alexander, 2019). The company tends to
place its women targeted or oriented products at a comparatively higher price than their
competitors due to the brand loyalty that they have developed over the years and females, despite
acknowledging the availability of other brands’ shampoos at a lower rate, do not shift from the
brand because the quality that they are served.
Therefore, it can be evaluated that the pricing strategies for both the company is different
and does not get inter exchanged with each other thus differentiating in the strategies that were
adopted.
Place
The presence of a brand should be in accordance with the brand’s targeted population i.e.
this aspect is crucial in ensuring the proper availability of the brand products and thus in the
success of the organisation (Paniandi and et.al., 2018).
The Head and Shoulders is globally expanded company which is located in several
countries and locations spread throughout the world. In order to capture the market of different
countries and economies, the company has exercised different positioning strategies and this has
led to the successful establishment of the brand in the Asian countries specifically. The
distribution chain of the company is extremely intricate where the products are easily available
on the nearest retail stores and also in the malls, supermarkets etc. apart from this the product is
also available through various online mediums such as ecommerce sites like Amazon, E- Bay
etc. This has helped in increasing the overall availability of the brand in the market.
For the another brand that is Pantene Lady’s Shampoo, the brand again falls under the
Proctor and Gamble company and their distribution system is extremely well distributed in all
the parts of the world thus simplifying the overall requirement of product availability (Thabit and
Raewf, 2018). There are numerous carrying and forwarding agents associated with the
manufacturing units of the company and this has led to its easy availability in the market. The
brand positions itself in the premium segment where the quality and price both are high for the
customers associated with the brand. This is unlike Head and Shoulders that has comparatively
placed itself at a lower position in terms of price as compared to the Pantene’s women shampoo.

Promotion
The promotional strategies help in ascertaining or developing the strategies that could help
in establishing the potential market for the company (SAM, 2017). Head and Shoulders and
Pantene indulges in the promotional activities in a following manner:
For Head and Shoulders, the promotional strategies that have been adopted are often
aggressive, infographic oriented and extremely creative in nature where the campaigns have
always indulged in enhancing the brand visibility of the company in the market. Traditional as
well as modern marketing methods of promotional activities have been used by the company
where the advertisements are no longer just portrayed or radio or televisions but also through
YouTube advertisements, social media platforms etc. Healthy scalp has always been the brand’s
focal point of marketing campaigns.
Pantene has also developed heavy advertisement strategies for its products under the P&G
Company where the posters, hoardings, billboards are some of the extra promotional strategies
that have been used by the clients (Al-Zyoud, 2019). The creative tagline has always highlighted
care with comfort for the women and leading brand icons have also been majority of the female
stars belonging to different fields of expertise. Therefore, the promotional strategies of both the
brands have been extensive and extremely competitive but it has specifically targeted their own
audiences through healthy competitive methods.
CONCLUSION
The report above helps in concluding that both the companies have separate marketing
strategies despite being competitors of each other. The report concluded that while Head and
Shoulders exercised a more affordable pricing strategy, the Pantene brand purported itself as a
premium pricing brand. The report also identified that the products of Head and shoulders were
more concerned with dandruff removal and that of Pantene were towards giving adequate care to
working women for maintaining healthy hair on a daily basis. As a conclusion, it can be said
that, the brands exercise different strategies despite being in the same competing circle.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
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Marušić, T., 2019. IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING MIX IN SUCCESSFUL POSITIONING
OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ON THE MARKET. Ekonomska misao i praksa. (1).
pp.431-446.
Paniandi, T.A., and et.al., 2018. Marketing mix and destination image, case study: Batu Caves as
a religious destination. Almatourism-Journal of Tourism, Culture and Territorial
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SAM, A.F., 2017. The Effects of Marketing Mix (4P) on Companies’ Profitability: A Case Study
of Automotive Industry in France. Journal of Research in Marketing. 8(1). pp.636-640.
Thabit, T. and Raewf, M., 2018. The evaluation of marketing mix elements: A case
study. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies. 4(4).
Türk, B. and Erciş, A., 2017. 4A marketing mix impacts on organic food purchase
intention. Serbian Journal of Management. 12(2). pp.189-199.
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