The Marketing Mix of Tide - Essay Example

? Essay: MARKETING of the Introduction The product selected for essay is the famous Tide detergent brand. Tide is a Procter &Gamble (P&G) product which is sold in United States (US) and has strong opportunities of sale in foreign markets also. Procter & Gamble is a multinational American consumer goods company which is headquartered in USA. P & G has served consumers globally with new products and one of the competitive products that they have launched is Tide detergent powder (Procter and Gamble, 2012a). The essay elaborates the marketing mix of Tide along with the target market. Tide has adopted many marketing strategies in order to keep their market share. Few of the strategies are discussed in the essay. Not only in US the brand has captured other market too by its products and has been successfully penetrating more areas which are not yet tapped by the brand. Tide has tapped foreign market like India (Loudon, 2002). Tide has targeted their customers and positioned the products in such a way that they have made their products a unique one among the mass. Tide has also faced with environmental issues in foreign markets which have been discussed in the section. Product Overview Tide detergent powder is a well known brand in the detergent industry which was first introduced in 1946. It is the market leader in 23 countries worldwide. Tide is regarded as P & G’s flagship brand. It was first introduced in US market as the synthetic detergent for heavy-duty and machine cleaning. Tide has initially started with white powdered bead but later it has included orange tinged liquid form in 1984. Today both the non-ultra and ultra products are dark blue in color with an exception of the product Tide Free which is clear in color. Tide had introduced a large array of products such as Tide Liquid, Tide with Febreze Freshness, Tide Powder, Tide Coldwater and many more. All the products that fall under the brand umbrella “Tide” has the four main utilities such as: 1. Convenient to use and have reasonable price to target the lower income class. 2. Washing at normal temperature (both hand and machine wash). 3. It saves water and also time. 4. Removes stubborn strains, protects color and leaves fresh smell even after the cloth is dry. Target market of Tide in US and India Tide brand first test marketed its products in the US market to see the reaction among the users of the product (Kotler, 2012).When the result came positive they were encouraged to make the product more aware among the mass so that they start using their new brand. Through many marketing strategies they penetrated the market and made a significant in the laundry market. The company has made extensive consumer research and then they have come to the following conclusions: 1. Women take the main decision of choosing any brand of home products. 2. The lower income group use bars of detergent to wash their utensils. 3. Women want their family’s well being and thus they want the maximum value out of the brand. 4. Women are quite price sensitive customers. They want products which are reasonable in price and also give satisfaction after using it. 5. Every household want to use such detergents which are long lasting and does not erode away in few uses. They even want detergent bars which are tough so that they not melt fast and are wasted. Thus from the above conclusions it can be said that Tide’s main target customers are the women group. Tide has always tried to contribute to the households to its maximum by providing them with the detergent powders which will make their cloths smooth and clean. Tide in US has targeted the women group as well as the lower income group. Women in US are basically working and thus they prefer to use a detergent which will be quickly effecting and is free from hassle. They do not have much time to wash the same cloth a many times if the dirt is not cleaned in first wash. Thus they require a reliable detergent powder which will do its work perfectly. Tide fulfills the need of these women by introducing more and more effective detergent powders (American FactFinder, 2011). Other than US, Tide has successfully penetrated foreign market of India. Tide was launched in mid – 2000 in India. It provided “Outstanding Whiteness” on the clothes and left a smooth feeling with fresh smell after the cloth is dry. The Tide range in India which clicked the market are the Tide detergent and the Tide bar. In 2009, Tide Naturals was introduced in the market which was packed with the benefits of lemon and chandan making the clothes smoother and smelling good. Tide India targeted the household women of India who are the home makers and thus plays an important role in taking decisions of buying home products. The Indian women believed they can contribute to the well being of the family by making the purchases as reasonable as possible and hence they are price sensitive and think twice before purchasing a product. Indians love to use tough and long lasting products which will make their purchase successful. Large population in India falls under the poor lower income group. They prefer to use detergent bar as for them detergents are quite expensive. Thus Tide India has targeted this section with better quality detergent powder which will long last and thus they do not need to buy it frequently (Wood, 2011). Competition of product category in US and India The world wide laundry detergent market has been concentrating on the main aspects such as concentrated powder and the liquid form. The liquid has gained prominence all over the world but powders are more preferred by the mass as it is cost effective. In US, the laundry market has been captured by Tide detergent. The other brands that are available in the US market are Purex of Unilevers and Persil of Henkel. Both the products have not gained that much prominence in the US market because of the leading brand Tide. They are not able to build that loyalty among the customers which Tide created. Tide Pods of Tide brand have captured the US market with its quality and have made their customers brand loyal. In India, the laundry market is of Rs. 5000 crores and it has been declared the third largest detergent market. There are about 10 brands in India among which Sunlight, Tide, Wheel and Surf Excel are the main players of the Indian market. The brand Sunlight has been a popular brand among the village workers from years ago and is preferred by mostly the lower income group. Wheel introduced detergent powders in different forms like lemon etc. Surf Excel through its good marketing strategies captured the market very well. Tide through its extensive advertising and promotion programs spread its awareness among the mass. They provided the customers detergent powders with reasonable price and good quality which will not affect their clothes. Tide has earned a good reputation all over India as a detergent brand and served million of consumers successfully. Though there are other brands in India, Tide firmly holds its position firmly in Indian market satisfying every household with its products. Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning Strategies of Tide Tide has segmented the market of US and has positioned their brand accordingly. The segmented markets are that of: 1) Tide the family detergent powder that is “tough on greasy strains”. It is so powerful that it even whitens down to the fiber. Within these segments P & G identified niches who buy Tide regularly. They are: a) Tide with Bleach is used to keep white clothes and shirts white and it kills 99.9% of bacteria. b) Tide introduced Rinse Clean which is very powerful in stains removal and is also prevents dingy buildups on clothes. c) Mountain Spring is another invention of Tide which brings fresh clean scent of the outdoors or the mountains in the clothes (Tide, 2013). Tide India should take the same segmentation, targeting and positioning as it has taken in US market. Creating niche market helps the company to reach to every need of the consumers and satisfying them. In India large of the population are lower income group who prefer low priced detergents which will be effective for their clothes. Tide in India should target this section in order to expand their market share. They should make detergents at lower price which will make the clothes soft and stainless. Tide should also target every house hold by their products so that they can compete with the leading brands that are also available in India (Diana, 2007). Environmental trends and facts of Indian market that might affect the sale of Tide The two marketing environmental trends that the companies must deal with when they are trying to reach a customer are the microenvironment and macro environment. Microenvironment consists of everything and everyone who surrounds the organization. These either hinder or help the organization’s ability to satisfy its customers. This micro environment includes suppliers who provide materials for their products. Macro environment includes the demographic area, ethnicity, age, population and the different financial groups of the society (Wells & Prensky, 2006). Tide in India faces a lot of difficulties due to the suppliers of the materials. The suppliers in India have a tendency to delay their work intentionally to fulfill their personal interest as a result the company faces huge problem in making the products and thus makes huge loss. The production of the products gets stagnant due to lack of materials and thus the sales of the product come down. In India, Tide is facing the challenge of imitation. Their products are getting imitated by the local manufacturers and are sold at a low price. These have disturbed the sale of Tide in rural areas where the people are not able to distinguish between the brands due to their lack of knowledge. Marketing mix of Tide Marketing mix can be defined as the four decision making variables that should be considered before introducing a product in the market. They are known as the 4 P’s of Marketing. These variables are important for the firm to make strategic decisions that are necessary for the effective running of any organization. The variables are price, product, place and promotion. 1) Product: Products can be of three types: core product, augmented product and tertiary product. Before deciding on the product characteristics the marketers should ask these questions to themselves (Coy, 2012). They are as follows: a) Which product are they selling? b) What should be its quality? c) Which of the features of their products are different to that of the other market products? d) What should be the USP of the products? e) Will there be any secondary products that should be sold with the primary? In US there are different detergent products under the brand Tide and have made innovations to attract more customers. With these products Tide has made a significantly large position in the detergent market in US. In India, Tide has only two types of detergent products which have helped them to reach the households of India (Tide, 2013). 2) Price: Price of a product depends on various variables and thus keeps on changing and is updated. Main consideration of the products is its cost of manufacturing, marketing expenses and also the advertising expenses. In US the price of Tide is charged according to the number of washes it offers. In India, Tide uses cost plus pricing strategies to target the price sensitive buyers. 3) Place: The place refers to where the product is distributed and it is dependent on the pricing decision and the product. In US the use of internet is very popular and thus the women buy their products by ordering through internet. In India, a traditional way of selling is used and the products are found in small shops to big retail outlets. 4) Promotion: It includes adverting and sales promotion of the product. These are quite dependent on the pricing decision and the product. In US Tide benefits by adverting and promoting through posters and Electronic Medias. They even prefer to take the help of campaigns to make awareness of their product. In India, TV and radio advertising are popularizing. Tide is even undertaking campaigns which have been successfully executed and the result is positive. US and international marketing ethics In US, the marketers undertake a lot of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs in order to take care of the environments and also their neighbors. Planting trees, helping the rural areas to grow in education and donating funds to the charities, old age homes, orphanage and schools. In India, companies also take CSR activities to take care of their surroundings and also their neighbors (Procter and Gamble, 2012b). Reference List American FactFinder. (2011). American community survey. US Census Bureau. Retrieved from http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_1YR_DP02&prodType=table Coy, P. (2012). US household’s buying power shrank. Bloomsberg BusinessWeek. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-11/u-dot-s-dot-households-buying-power-shrank Diana, I. (2007). Hierarchy Concepts in Marketing. Global Development Group. Retrieved from http://mygdg.org/hierarchyconcepts.html. Kotler, P. (2012). Marketing management. India: Prentice-Hall Loudon, L. (2002). Consumer behavior, 4th ed. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill. Procter and Gamble. (2012a). Brands. Retrieved from http://www.pg.com/en_US/brands/index.shtml Procter and Gamble b. (2012b). Sustainability. Retrieved from http://www.pg.com/en_US/sustainability/index.shtml Tide. (2013). Products. Retrieved from http://www.tide.com/en-US/productLanding.jspx Wells D., & Prensky, D. (2006). Consumer behavior. New Jersey: John Wiley & sons, Inc. Wood, L. (2011). Research and Markets: Global Laundry Care Products Industry 2012-2017: Trend, Profit, and Forecast Analysis. Yahoo Finance. Retrieved from http://finance.yahoo.com/news/research-markets-global-laundry-care-203500552.html Read More