Marketing Strategy Report: Procter & Gamble’s Tide Detergent in India

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes P&G’s Tide detergent marketing strategy in India.

Title page: Marketing strategy
report of Procter & Gamble’s Tide
detergent

Executive Summary
This is the marketing strategy report of Procter & Gamble’s Tide detergent. Tide is one of the
leading detergent brands of P&G. The main competitive advantage of P &G is that it has a low
cost of production. The cheap labor in Indian market enables the company to gain competitive
advantage and high-profit margins. In India, washing detergent is one of the key household
requirement and is being used on a regular basis. Tide entered into Indian market after entering
many other multinational detergent companies. P &G’s Tide faces stiff competition from the
already existing detergent companies like SurfExcel, Ariel, Nirma, Ghadi, Wheel, Rin Fena, etc.
In the Indian market, the position of Tide is in the middle level. In 2014 the market share of Tide
was 14.6, in 2015, it was 11.6 and in 2016 and 2017 it was 11 percent. That means the sales
trends of the P &G in Indian market is decreased with changing the time. By considering these
issue, the target market has been identified to the rural and semi-urban middle-class men aged
from 25 – 40 years. The goal of achieving the market share is 15% which is currently 11%. By
targeting these groups, P & G will offer some unique and differentiated detergent to the
customers. It is recommended the standardized marketing strategy. It is also recommended to use
social media to advertise the products which could be very effective to expand the market share.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Situational analysis..........................................................................................................................4
PESTLE analysis..........................................................................................................................4
SWOT analysis............................................................................................................................6
Organization’s position relative to others........................................................................................7
Competitive advantage (USP).........................................................................................................8
Growth and sales trends...................................................................................................................8
Evaluation of current marketing strategy......................................................................................10
Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning (STP)..............................................................................11
Recommended objectives and goals (SMART)............................................................................12
Recommend marketing strategies, based on the application of the marketing mix......................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................15

Introduction
The chosen organization is Procter & Gamble (P &G) who is involved in the marketing of
detergent by the brand name of Tide. It is an American multinational company that operates their
business around the world. Tide is one of the leading brands of P&G. The products that are sold
by the company in the name of Tide include liquids, powders, stain removers, Laundry Boosters,
etc. Tide detergents are one of the most sold products across Asian and American markets. For
discussion the marketing strategy, Indian is chosen as the country where P & G sells its detergent
by the brand name of Tide (Tide, 2019). In the following report, it will be first conducted the
situation analysis where it will be involved the PESTLE and SWOT analysis. After that, it will
be discussed the organization’s position relative to others, competitive advantage (USP), growth
and sales trends and current marketing strategy. After that, it will be selected the target segment
and set clear marketing objectives & goals to increase market share. Finally, it will be
recommended the marketing strategies, based on the application of the marketing mix.
Situational analysis
PESTLE analysis
Political
Tide brand under the P &G Company has grown into a global leader in its segment. But political
instability in developing countries like Indian leads to change of norms often. As the
organization has global outreach with its goods are being used across the world, so the political
condition of India has a major impact on the profitability and sales of the organization (P&G,
2018).
Economic
It is observed that the economic condition in India is stable. The rate of exchange is also stable in
terms of the dollar. P & G is a billion dollar company which is involved in so many types of
business sectors that almost everyone is their customer in one or other manner (Reuters, 2019).
Due to this diversity, they are not at risk economically. But increasing the competition in the
market affects sustainability in the market (Annualreports, 2018).
Social

Being an international company, the company operates in various countries with different
cultures. The social factors of India impact on P &G’s activities due to the culture prevailing
within the environment of a nation. As the detergent products market is very competitive, so in
order to survive as leader, the company has already expanded its market in other sectors. This
helped in getting more business and also generating more jobs and opportunities for the people
(P&G, 2018).
Technological
The unprecedented advancement in technology has radically changed the business strategy
employed why organization worldwide with global companies facing the mandatory
responsibility of remaining updated with the latest technologies to stay ahead of the competition
(Annualreports, 2018). Application of technology within every process of Tide detergent makes
it essentially important to keep every process updated and modern to ensure optimal quality and
customer satisfaction. P &G’s detergent brand (Tide) always supports new technology and it
understands that the continuous change is needed to survive in the market (Sustainability-reports,
2017).
Legal
The legal framework and regulations of India largely impact the operation of Tide’s own
business. As the legal factor is not constant so, the company faces great challenges with
changing the legal framework of the country. It is found that there is some legal barrier of Tide
detergent in India especially when they import the raw materials from other countries
(POLICIES&PRACTICE, 2018).
Environmental
The environmental factors impacting Procter and gamble in different countries. It subject to the
environment and liability laws prevalent within the host country. It is found that Tide brand of P
& G used phosphorus in their detergent. But nowadays most of the countries including India are
banned the use of phosphorus in detergents (POLICIES&PRACTICE, 2018). Because of this
harmful effect of this business operation, the government may impose a tax or restrict to produce
detergent by using phosphorus. Before venturing into new markets the company has to consider

whether the environment is conducive for promoting the growth of the segment (Sustainability-
reports, 2017).
SWOT analysis
Strengths
P &G has a low cost of production. The company has invested in researching low production
cost zones. The cheap labor countries enable the company to gain high-profit margins. The P &G
Company has accumulated finance that can adequately support their Tide-branded detergent
business when entering the market. The funds strengthen the company while venturing into the
market through financing marketing (Annualreports, 2018).
P &G Company has also invested in research and development that ensures the products meet
customer demands. Customer satisfaction would boost sales and consequently, optimize revenue,
which would enable the business to attain competitive advantage. The business focuses on
diverse products and the product differentiation provides a wider base of spreading risk and
enlarging the market base (P&G, 2018).
Weaknesses
P &G may also lack adequate skills to run its Tide brand detergent production activities. The
entire company of Procter & Gamble has had managerial problems in the past due to lack of
competent expertise for the execution of managerial duties. The new business needs highly-
skilled and competent personnel to help in managerial activities. The company will be operating
in more than one continent and might face problems related to the language barrier, cultural
differences, and weather. Managerial employees may prefer working in some countries (P&G,
2018).
Opportunities
Since the business of P&G is moving to produce diverse items of detergent and other same
products in the name of Tide so, it stands to gain from the favorable world market as far as
washing activities are concerned. The detergent market is one of the highly successful industries
in the world and many individuals and corporations have invested in this industry. Another
opportunity is the availability of cheap labor from the highly populated Asian countries (Bajpai,
2007).

Operating in various countries broadens the company’s market of operation and the diversity of
market segments, and target audience. It enhances the company’s stability in the industry and
protects it from economic challenges and political instability that are normally associated with
operating in a single country (Kaur, 2018).
Threats
Washing detergent is one of the key household requirement and is being used on regular basis
hence consumers are always tempted or eager to use other brands to find out if the newer brand
is working better than the existing brand (P&G, 2018).
Given the business is comparatively a new entrant into the Indian market; Tide faces stiff
competition from the already existing detergent companies. Many businesses are already in the
market that offers similar detergent products like Tide. The business is likely to face tough
competition from these businesses. Most of these companies in India like Henko, Sunlight, Fena,
Rin, etc have set strong grounds in the market and the new business will face adverse
competition given that it is a new entrant (Bajpai, 2007).
Organization’s position relative to others
In India, washing detergent is one of the key household requirement and is being used on a
regular basis. And most of the Indian customers are volatile so they are always eager to use other
brands to find out if the newer brand is working better than the existing brand. So, this hampers
to make a strong position in the Indian market. Aside from this, P & G’s brand Tide entered into
Indian market after entering many other multinational detergent companies. It is found that tide
launched in Indian in the middle of 2000. (Mbarendezvous, 2018)

It is observed that given the business is comparatively a new entrant into Indian market; P &G’s
Tide faces stiff competition from the already existing detergent companies like SurfExcel, Ariel,
Nirma, Ghadi, Wheel, Rin Fena, etc. The market position of SurfExcel and Ariel fall into the
Premium group; Rin and Tide fall into the mid-scale and others fall into the Economy (mass)
group. So, in the Indian market, the position of Tide is in the middle level. But the innovative
products of Tide makes it different than other brands. It is observed that in Indian market Tide
offers Tide power detergents, tide stain release, tide to go, Tide liquid laundry detergents, Tide
laundry care accessories and Tide washing machine cleaner (Malviya, 2017).
Competitive advantage (USP)
The main competitive advantage of P &G is that it has a low cost of production. It is found that
the price of Tide detergent is comparatively lower than another brand. The company sets its
detergent production zones in areas where the cost of production is relatively low. The company
has invested in researching low production cost zones. The business will likely produce the
products in high-populated Asian countries where the cost of labor is cheap. According to the
research team, the business thrives better in India China, Taiwan, and Malaysia. These cheap
labor in Indian market enable the company to gain competitive advantage and high-profit
margins.

Growth and sales trends
The growth and sales trends of P&G (Tide) is not stable; sometimes, it moves upward while
sometimes it moves downward. In the following section, it will be seen the growth and sales
trends of Tide and its competitors in the Indian market.
HUL
RSPL
P&G
Nirma
Jyothy Labs
Fena
Reckitt Bencklser
Others
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
37.6
16.3
11.3
7.7
4.3
2.5
1.5
18.9
37.4
16.5
11
7.8
4.2
2.5
1.5
19.3
Detergent company market share %
2016 2015
Source: (Parekh, 2016)
The evidence show that Tide is one of the most sold products across Asian and American
markets. It is estimated that 14.3 percent of the global detergent market share is owned by the
name of Tide brand of P &G Company. The thing made Tide exception is that the quality of the
detergent is excellent and the price is also comparatively lower than some other brand. The
above is shown the growth trends of Indian most famous detergent companies. The highest
growth rate is in HUL ( in 2015 it was 37.6% in 2016 it was 37.4). RSPL’s market share was
16.3 and 16.5% in 2015 and 2016 respectively. And in the case of P&G, it was 11.3 and 11

respectively. So in terms of market share, the position of P &G is 3rd in the Indian market
(Parekh, 2016).
2013.5 2014 2014.5 2015 2015.5 2016 2016.5 2017 2017.5
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
P & G (Tide) sales trends %
It is observed that the sales trends of P&G had fluctuated over the period of 2014, 2015, 2016,
and 2017. In 2014 it was 14.6, in 2015, it was 11.6 and in 2016 and 2017 it was 11. That means
the sales trends of the P &G in Indian market is decreased with changing the time (Parekh,
2016).
Evaluation of current marketing strategy
The P & G’ Tide brand is largely built on the concept of being better than the average product
but still not being expensive. Therefore one will always find other companies products which are
more expensive than the tide, while tide offers a similar offering in terms of quality thus making
it stand out in the customer's mind. The marketing strategy of P & G considers matching
perceptions of a superior product while making sure that the product is not priced higher than the
best in the market place. This type of marketing strategy is known as Market Follower Pricing
strategy (Geetha, 2016). It rapidly changes the pricing when compared to its competitors so as to
have the same image in the mind of the consumers. So, the pricing and product quality being
higher than the average products makes a clear image in the minds of the Indian consumers.
Thus, it must be highlighted that the company follows a market based following a pricing
strategy in which it carefully analyses the differences in pricing of competitors and sets a price
accordingly (Garg, 2012).

Presently, Word of mouth and TV, Newspaper advertisement are being done by P &G in India.
Several other facets such as Publicity through digital media, digital marketing, Influencing
through experts, etc. are used in small scale by the company. These are very effective to promote
the products but it should use modern social media too. As purchase decisions of detergent are
immediate with the need, so customers make a purchase on the spot. Very less time spent
between option evaluation and purchase decision. So, differentiated pricing (lower pricing than
competitors) is a good strategy here to tilt the purchasing decisions in favor of P & G Company
(Bidyarthi, 2013).
Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning (STP)
Segmentation
In order to design an effective marketing campaign for the expansion, we first need to have a
better understanding of our target segment - namely, their income, occupations, geographic
presence, etc. Evidence shows that in most developing countries like India middle and lower
class people are involved in buying daily needs goods and services. As the detergents are also
daily need activities so, middle and lower class people involves in buying detergent. In Indian,
adult men basically involve in buying activities. As detergent is very common to use so, rural,
urban and semi-urban, all group of people use the detergent as their daily need. The income
group is not static as all income groups need to buy detergent. Occupations and geographic
presence are also not necessary (Camilleri, 2017).
Targeting
The target market is the most rural and semi-urban middle-class men aged 25 – 40 years. This
target is made to identify the potential of the market and to identify the gaps which P & G can
fulfill in that segment by positioning its product. It is observed that only a few detergent
companies target the rural people because they think that they do not so much conscious in
buying their detergent. They think only urban people are very much conscious about this matter.
But now a day the situation has changed a lot in India. Because of the expansion of education
and development of the new technology rural and semi-urban people are also so much aware of
buying each and every good. So, targeting the rural and semi-urban people will be the best target
for P & G (RESTREPO, 2014).

Positioning
Here it is described the way the company will position the offering in the minds of the target
segment i.e. how will our target segments view our new offering. It is observed that some well-
established detergents companies like Wheel, Rin, SerfExcel have brought a revolutionary
change in consumer perception and consumers are attracted towards the purchase of those
companies’ detergent because of their unique identity of the product and their own brand value.
On this perspective, P & G will offer some unique and differentiated products to the customers
which are not provided by its competitors. P & G should add new flavor and color to their
detergent, so that customer can experience that for the first time (Bidyarthi, 2013). In addition, it
is necessary to position a product, both on the offline and online media and it is difficult for a
product to succeed in the market without a formal positioning strategy that involves both the
fronts. It is mainly essential since there are umpteen numbers of choices available before the
consumers at their disposal and hence there is a ceaseless activity of decision-making running on
their minds. The information could be possibly received on various ranges of products in the era
where communication indeed dominates the marketing strategies (Walletzký, 2016).
For P & G, it is important to approach the households and most of the households go to social
media. So, it is important for the company to take the help of social media channels as a part of
a digital marketing strategy to target the audience. Apart from the social media platforms,
YouTube as a video platform is important as people visit the youtube channel and watch their
preferred content (Geetha, 2016). So, Youtube should also be the part of channels to be used in
digital marketing strategy. Here, the website of the company and mobile app should also be used
as a focal point to drive the traffic where the company has to make their webshop to showcase
their products and services. It will build a brand and correctly position the products among the
target audience. It will make these consumers to demand the products at different platforms and
sales will increase. It will also help to increase the offline sales as well. So, a proper marketing
communication between the company and the audience will be built to increase the sales using
digital marketing channels (RESTREPO, 2014).
Recommended objectives and goals (SMART)
Specific: The recommended specific objectives and goals is to increase the company’s market
share. As it is observed that the market share of the P & G ‘s Tide detergent is decreasing since