Shield Brand Analysis: Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategy

This report provides a detailed analysis of the Shield brand, a well-established company in the Pakistan market, particularly in the baby care and oral care segments. The analysis covers the brand's history, focusing on its diversification and commitment to consumer satisfaction and protection. It examines Shield's marketing strategy, including its positioning, target market, and product offerings, with a specific focus on the baby care domain. The report also addresses Shield's current approach, vision, and the competitive landscape, comparing its strategies to those of foreign brands like Philips AVENT and Mothercare. Furthermore, it highlights the brand's strengths, such as its strong distribution network, consumer loyalty, and affordability, while also acknowledging its challenges in urban markets and its tendency to follow trends. The report concludes with an overview of Shield's corporate vision, emphasizing its ambition to be a value-driven, innovative, and responsible organization.

Brand profile:
Shield has been showing a remarkable performance for more than 30 years in business. Primarily,
focusing on distribution, the brand got started in 1971. Over the years, progress continued and the
business expanded into the diversified areas like textiles, pharmaceuticals, consumer edibles, oral care
and baby care products. To put it simply, Shield’s route to success lies in variegating the offerings
presented by the company. Shield Corporation Limited established its operation in the year 1975 as a
Public Limited Company and got listed on the Stock Exchange in the same year.
It is a national brand that understands the importance of culture and emotions, sells its comprehensive
range of products using the emotions associated with needs of their customers. Shield is one of the
leading organizations in the Dental and Baby Care segments and presents a wide array of products,
which are in compliance with international standards and are manufactured by bringing into play the
sophisticated European technology. Since all these years it has grown and developed a strong standing
in the hearts of its customers.
Since its inception, Shield has focused its efforts towards achieving consumer satisfaction and consumer
protection in all its deliverables. The brand’s vision is to be the catalyst of change for younger generation
and to create a brand inspiring innovation and to see their products in the hands of 70% of their target
market which is children respectively. Today, because of these reasons, its insignia symbolizes the
quality bearer in the Oral and Baby Care categories. Shield also ensures safety for its valuable consumers
from all the hazardous and toxic materials by restraining their usage in manufacturing. Therefore, all the
raw material imported from America and Europe is FDA compliant and certified from their reputed
suppliers. This enables the mission of caring and protecting human life.
The ‘Care’ is the core sprit, which has made Shield as a recognized household name in Pakistan. This
approach has been the forefront in every managerial decision and this has been incorporated in every
step of the system, so the ultimate goal is ‘Customer Care’. This care-oriented approach has been
achieved through commitment of the management to the principle of continuous improvement,
understanding the consumer behavior and robust quality vigilance by our qualified quality personnel
and technologists. Shield is committed to the protection of the environment and for enforcement of
strict code and regulations of ISO 14000 system.
Shield is fortunate to have a committed team that is skilled, seasoned, and young. They are focused and
dedicated to make Shield a renowned, growing and leading company not only locally but also globally
and also a responsible corporate citizen.
For last two decades, Shield has shown a success track record and launched variety of quality products
and set new milestones in the market with an ultimate objective of ‘Care’. Presently, the management is
aggressively heading towards new frontiers. Bringing new technologies to Pakistan, introducing new
categories for Pakistani consumers, and introducing Pakistan as a reputable name in International
markets.

Analysis:
The Shield brand is catering to the market for very long. People perceive this brand in a casual manner
but reliable as well as it is preferred for its large availability. Mostly, the customers use the brand
regularly and they have the awareness regarding it as well.
Positioning strategy: Their current marketing strategy focuses on recalling the brand in the minds of its
customers and also to increase the market share and sales of the products lying under The Shield’s Baby
domain i.e. nipples, milk bottles. The Shield’s Baby domain is very much popular among people of
Pakistan especially the parents as when they have to look out for their baby’s healthcare, they seek for
the best as well as the affordable. Shield is a known company. They have developed, with time,
innovative methods to meet the increasing demand of population with their special element of care.
The products are consumed by large sum of population. It has diversification and a strong distribution
network. The company manufactures a wide range of milk bottles and nipples which targets their
customers according to their needs.
To aid all moms in their quest to nurture, whether it is to feed mother’s milk or formula, Shield provides
best feeding options. Shield feeding bottles are designed to encourage instinctive latch on habits, avoid
colic inducing systems, provide easy bottle cleaning and better bottle grip for babies. Shield just like
mothers, also speaks the language of motherhood. Also, the bottles are available in cost range from 60
to 500 rupees, affordable but also a bit expensive. Introducing certain feature, as mentioned below,
have increased the company’s sales to a considerable extent:
 Drip free feature in cap which prevents leakage of milk
 Glass feeder with silicon cover for 100% protection
Shield’s current approach: the company has aimed to become no.1 in baby-care products category and
they are pursuing it by boosting public awareness methods and enhancing their quality of products.
Consumers are now preferring functionally effective premium products with professional quality to
meet their family and personal care needs. The brand has always fulfilled the market needs, and has
given them the required designs and styles. But still it’s not much preferred in the urban areas of
Pakistan. Most of its market is for rural areas.
Shield has been providing its services from a longer period of time but when foreign brand came into the
market with new style with the strategies to penetrate into new markets, the Shield started to follow
them in order to maintain its position in the minds of the customers. After facing intense competition,
the Brand came up with new designs and tried to penetrate into new markets by fulfilling their required
needs accordingly, as the foreign brands did. Foreign brands such as Phillips AVENT Pakistan and
Mothercare make up the trend with numerous feeding bottles designs with different needs to fulfill.
Shield’s not a trend setter instead a trend follower, although it has a good image in the minds of the
customers.

Shield is the fast consumer moving product. A wide range of people feel closest to the brand. The quality
and reliability are also the key factors of the brand. Shield users are common and loyal. Although a lot of
foreign brands are in market but still it is preferred over them. The reason being that most of the
population in Pakistan is poor and live in rural areas, so this brand is catering to these people which
comprise of 70% of Pakistan’s population.
Corporate vision: presently, the company’s vision is to be an organization offering value to everyone in
the family, known for its innovative, groundbreaking and responsible marketing approach; where people
love their jobs and feel proud to be a part of Shield. They want to become a symbol of corporate
responsibility, delivering best value for consumers, while upholding business and professional ethics,
with aggressive growth and profitability, year after year.