MG412 Coursework: Comparative Analysis of Head & Shoulders and Pantene

This report provides a comparative analysis of the marketing strategies employed by Head & Shoulders and Pantene shampoos, focusing on the four Ps of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion. The analysis examines the target markets, product features, pricing strategies, distribution networks, and promotional activities of both brands within the United Kingdom market. The report highlights Head & Shoulders' focus on the anti-dandruff market and its broader appeal to both genders, while Pantene targets a female audience. The study delves into the product portfolios, pricing approaches, distribution channels, and promotional campaigns of each brand, including their segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies. The findings suggest that Head & Shoulders has been more successful in applying the 4Ps. The report concludes with recommendations for both brands, including the use of cost leadership or differentiation strategies, investment in research and development, and leveraging social media for enhanced marketing outreach. The reference list includes the sources used to support the findings.

Running head: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT WITH MARKETING
Business management with marketing
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

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BUSINESS MANAGEMENT WITH MARKETING
Executive summary
The main purpose of the report had been to compare between the two brands Head
and Shoulders and Pantene’s lady shampoo in terms of the various principles of marketing
including the product, price, place and promotions. The collection of data and information is
based on the secondary sources and all the outcomes of the research tend to be true and
appropriate related to the segmentation, targeting and positioning along with the various Ps.
The H&S fared well above the other brand in terms of comparison and innovation through
research n development would be essential for bringing environment friendly and sustainable
products that could be helpful for creating positive mind sets as well as maintain positive
brand image and equity too.

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BUSINESS MANAGEMENT WITH MARKETING
Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................4
Findings.....................................................................................................................................4
Comparison of target markets............................................................................................4
Product..................................................................................................................................5
Price.......................................................................................................................................6
Place.......................................................................................................................................6
Promotion..............................................................................................................................7
Segmentation, targeting and positioning................................................................................7
Conclusion and recommendations..........................................................................................8
Recommendations....................................................................................................................8
Reference list.............................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The report is prepared to present an idea about the various principles of marketing that
are associated with each and every brand for successful marketing activities. The topic will
also consider the Head and Shoulders Shampoo and Pantene Lady’s Shampoo brand sin
United Kingdom and compare these two brands in terms of their marketing based on the
essential components including the product, price, place and promotions done by these two
companies.
Head and Shoulders Shampoo brand is a major American brand that has been
specialised in the production of anti-dandruff shampoos, basically owned by the parent
company named Procter & Gamble or P&G, to be precise. The company has a market share
of 20 percent and the moderate market size has fuelled the growth of the specialty market,
thereby, ensure P&G to become a global market leader in the retail hair care market of UK
(Ozkaya et al. 2013).
Pantene Lady’s Shampoo holds a mere 9 percent of market share in the shampoo sales
managed through supermarkets. The company is a part of the Unilever brand, which has other
shampoo brands that have outweighed the clients, though Pantene remains one of the major
shampoos specially chosen by the female individuals for hair care.
Findings
Comparison of target markets
Procter & Gamble (P&G), being a major American company has emphasized on the
production of Head and Shoulders Shampoo so as to cater the needs of both male as well as
female individuals with hair care needs. Considering the fact that the Head and Shoulders
Shampoo is the world’s number one anti-dandruff shampoo currently available in the market,
targeted audiences are basically from the specialty market (Real et al. 2014). The target

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markets include 15 percent of the entire shampoo market whereas the retail hair care market
has also been targeted largely. The target market for the brand include the higher middle class
people who have ben conscious about brands and care about the health of their hairs and even
those individuals, both male and female who have scalp or dandruff problems. The youths
and young professionals are also been targeted, because of their hair conscious and their
mentality towards prevention of hair fall.
On the other hand, as the name only suggests, Pantene’s lady shampoo has been
targeted at the middle class and upper middle class segments of customers, the women
customers being the target here. The female clients who are fashion conscious have also bee
targeted while the young women have been among the primary target market too for the
brand (Kleinaltenkamp, Plinke and Geiger 2016).
Product
Being a leading anti-dandruff shampoo brand, Head and Shoulders Shampoo has
made shampoos and hair conditioners available in the market. The magic formula lies behind
the fact that the Zinc Pyrithine has been used to make the shampoo effective against
dandruffs in hair and also contains anti-fungal properties and features. The product features
have been quite good, which has helped in better cleaning formula as well as removed
dandruffs so as to maintain a clean and health hair (Kotler and Armstrong 2013). The
packaging has been designed to suit the essence of freshness, which easily grabbed the
attention of customers. The product portfolio consists of anti-dandruff shampoos, silky black
shampoo, cool blast, dry scalp care shampoo, etc. Considering the model proposed by Levitt,
the major aspects including the product features, the services and the experience with the
products have been satisfactory, which seemed to impart the value and benefit that the
customers desire from the brand.

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Pantene is an international brand and thus dealing with the hair care products has also
made the company focus on use of various ingredients that are suited for every hair and to
make that beautiful, stronger and healthier too (Bryson and Daniels 2015). There are different
kinds of shampoos available for the product component in the marketing mix such as the
Moisture boost shampoo, Repair and protect shampoo, daily moisturiser, 2-in-1 shampoo and
other hair care products. The products are specially designed to suit the different hairs of
different people and thus the product range is quite good to cater the needs of people in
different market segments.
Price
The competitive pricing has been followed by the company Head and Shoulders
Shampoo, which has been aimed at keeping in mid the customers’ behaviours, To sell higher
volumes of products, the company has also been found to use the penetration pricing strategy
so as to enter new markets, but in total, the prices have been kept reasonable so as to suit the
demands and expectations of clients largely (Keegan 2017). The promotional pricing is
integrated in the marketing mix strategy further helped in providing additional discounts to
the products, which influenced consumers buying behaviours too.
On the other hand, Pantene’s lady shampoo price has been set by competitive pricing
strategy in order to ensure that the competitors do not shift the consumers from the brand.
Moreover, the prices have been set keeping in consideration the prices set for the products by
competitors for establishing a sense of loyalty among the customers and make them remain
inclined towards the brand as a whole (Payaud 2014).
Place
Head and Shoulders Shampoo has not only distributed its products in United
Kingdom, but also has successful established itself in the Indian market, with more and more

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cases of hair fall and dandruff experienced by people there. The strong distribution network
of P&G has helped in transferring the products from the factory to the distributor and then to
the wholesalers, retail markets, supermarkets and finally delivered to the customers (Murphy
et al. 2016).
The excellent network of distribution has some similarity with that of Head and Shoulders as
well, because both these two companies are internationally operating all over the world. Due
to the great distribution network, the products are available at retail stores and also at the
local stores, in supermarkets, which has been possible with the wide range of product
portfolio made available by Pantene (Parengkuan et al. 2014). The wholesalers and retailers
have sold the products directly to the customer and thus the distribution is excellent.
Promotion
The aggressive ad campaigns and promotions on televisions, newspapers, magazines,
posters and billboards enhanced the brand visibility to gain outreach to different market
segments for H&S. Moreover, the launching of campaigns related to making people feel
empowered, bold and confident further acted as a great promotion approach to gain attention
from the customers. The endorsements by celebrities, top actors and famous personalities
further enhanced the brand awareness and promoted the brand successfully (Jaiswal and
Gupta 2015). On the contrary, Pantene also has not been left behind, as the brand not only
involved in TV and billboard advertisements, but also has been active in social media
platforms and YouTube. This has acquired the likes and views of millions of people and with
the celebrity ambassadors playing a vital role in promoting the brand, the promotions and
marketing have been above par excellence.

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Segmentation, targeting and positioning
Head and Shoulders has segmented the market into anti-dandruff, black hair, shiny
hair and low price, based on the demographics, geography and also based on the
psychographic aspects. The marketers of the brand have not only targeted the anti-dandruff
segment, but also has made products available for people to use and gain healthy and smooth
hair too. The positioning has further been facilitated with the market ide promotions and wide
distribution network, which raised consumer awareness and influenced buying behaviours too
(Triana 2016). On the other hand, Pantene’s lady shampoo have ben targeted at the upper and
middle class segments consisting of the women clients. The company used the psychographic
segmentation to target the clients who are quite conscious about healthy lifestyles and their
love for healthy and smooth hair (Mendes 2016). The targeted audiences include the women
in their mid to early 40s, which have been proactive and like to live a healthy lifestyle with a
healthy hair that tend to look good and shine.
Conclusion and recommendations
Both the brands applied the 4Ps properly and to ensure that all the components of
marketing mix are considered to meet the requirements of customers and to raise awareness
them for facilitating their buying behaviours. The brand that has been the most successful in
the application of 4Ps is Head and Shoulders. Not only because the company has a bigger
market share, but also for the fact that the company has made the products available for both
male and female while the products have been aimed at removing dandruff as well as provide
a healthy and clean hair, while Pantene mainly focused on hair care considering mostly the
target segments consisting of women in mind and even targeted the upper and middle class
segments.

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Recommendations
 For the brand, it is recommended to use the cost leadership or cost differentiation
strategy in order to bring something more unique and that could be easily
differentiable from its competitors
 The company should conduct research and development for prioritising on the
production of suitable shampoo or environment friendly hair care products to create
positive mind sets among the customers
 To facilitate marketing ad promotions, the social networks could be used for
enhancing outreach to customers worldwide much more easily
 Driving innovation is also recommended for H&S to increase the product portfolio
range and distribute products and services worldwide

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Reference list
Bryson, J.R. and Daniels, P.W. eds., 2015. Handbook of service business: Management,
marketing, innovation and internationalisation. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Jaiswal, A.K. and Gupta, S., 2015. The influence of marketing on consumption behavior at
the bottom of the pyramid. Journal of Consumer Marketing.
Keegan, W.J., 2017. Global marketing management. Pearson India.
Kleinaltenkamp, M., Plinke, W. and Geiger, I., 2016. Business Relationship Management and
Marketing. Springer-Verlag Berlin An.
Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G., 2013. Principles of Marketing (16th Global Edition).
Mendes, M.D.O., 2016. The effect of social media and celebrities on Millennials’
Consumers: the Pantene example (Doctoral dissertation).
Murphy, P.E., Laczniak, G.R. and Harris, F., 2016. Ethics in marketing: International cases
and perspectives. Taylor & Francis.
Ozkaya, H.E., Dabas, C., Kolev, K., Hult, G.T.M., Dahlquist, S.H. and Manjeshwar, S.A.,
2013. An assessment of hierarchical linear modeling in international business, management,
and marketing. International Business Review, 22(4), pp.663-677.
Parengkuan, V., Tumbel, A. and Wenas, R.S., 2014. Analisis Pengaruh Brand Image Dan
Celebrity Endorsment Terhadap Keputusan Pembelian Produk Shampo Head And Shoulders
Di 24 Mart Manado. Jurnal EMBA: Jurnal Riset Ekonomi, Manajemen, Bisnis dan
Akuntansi, 2(3).

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Payaud, M.A., 2014. Marketing strategies at the bottom of the pyramid: Examples from
Nestle, Danone, and Procter & Gamble. Global Business and Organizational Excellence,
33(2), pp.51-63.
Real, J.C., Roldán, J.L. and Leal, A., 2014. From entrepreneurial orientation and learning
orientation to business performance: analysing the mediating role of organizational learning
and the moderating effects of organizational size. British Journal of Management, 25(2),
pp.186-208.
Triana, S.H., 2016. THE EFFECT OF MARKETING MIX TOWARD BRAND
AWARENESS OF PANTENE SHAMPOO (A STUDY CASE OF PANTENE SHAMPOO
AT CAREFOUR HYPERMARKET, KOTA KASABLANKA) (Doctoral dissertation,
President University).