Pro-Vitamin Shampoo as One of C&A's Major Hair Care Brand - Research Paper Example

Marketing Plan Company Overview Owner(s Mr. Clemens and Mr. Arthur Company C&A Product Pro-Vitamin Shampoo Location: California, United States History (yrs.): 2014 Section 1: Executive Summary C&A was launched by two brothers Mr. Clemens and Mr. Arthur in California, United States. After years of research and development, the company launched a hair structure repair formula from where began the era of ‘Structure Revolution’ took an initiative. Pro-Vitamin Shampoo is one of the strongest hair care brand of C&A offering consumers with supreme quality that has epitomized hair care and a practical approach of achieving beautiful, healthy hair. In all its markets, Pro-Vitamin Shampoo has kept the same message of empowering the women to decide the best product for their hair. The company has successfully launched various damage protection formulae because hair damage is the most pressing problem for females. Product description C&A is a recent addition to the FMCG sector of America. Pro-Vitamin Shampoo is one of C&A’s major hair care brand, and the company uses various innovative advertising approaches to keep the product prominent with consumers. Since its inception, the company has offered consumers with unmatched quality products that have created a benchmark for other brands. There are four categories of Pro-Vitamin shampoo in the U.S: 1. Deep Care Shampoo: This variant claims to leave hair shiny by nourishing it from root to tip. 2. Anti-Hair Fall Shampoo: This shampoo focuses on strengthening of hair and less breakage. 3. Milky Extra Shampoo: This variant uses milky lotion to treat and cure dry hair. 4. Smooth & Strong Shampoo: This shampoo is designed to prevent split-ends by using a unique combination of vitamins and oil. The packaging is simple with the Pro-Vitamin Formula written on the front side. This gives credibility and authenticity to the shampoo. The size of the bottle is normal-not very large and not too small. The lid is easy to open and close so that shampoo is wasted. Refer to Appendix 1. Section 2: targeting customers Pro-Vitamin shampoo is directly targeted towards adult women who are busy in their lives but want excellent care of their hair. These women are outgoing and social therefore they want their hair to look good and shine. Consumers of Pro-Vitamin shampoo want quick results, because what they see is what they will believe. Therefore, the product makes the scientific formula visible on all its packaging just to make the product look more credible. Demographic profile Pro-Vitamin Shampoo is targeted towards females belonging to the age bracket of 18-35 years. These females are either working somewhere or are housewives (Sharma & Mehta, 2012). The upper and middle classes can afford the shampoo bottles whereas small sachets are available in rural areas. Psychographic profile Pro-Vitamin Shampoo is targeted towards women who use shampoos for cleaning hair on regular basis if not daily. PROFESSION The shampoo is preferred by women belonging to different work backgrounds. This is because the fragrance and feel of the product is excellent leaving the hair soft and shiny. Therefore, working women use it to look good in front of their colleagues. geographic LOCATION Pro-Vitamin Shampoo is available in all major cities and towns of United States. It covers both rural and urban regions and has various product sizes customized for different markets. Wants and needs Pro-Vitamin Shampoo is directed towards socially active, beauty conscious females who want to be the centre of attraction. These women want damage free hair and are concerned about the health of their hair. The ideal consumer wants perfection and for that she chooses Pro-Vitamin Shampoo. According to a recent study conducted by IBISWorld (2011), hair care products constitute up to 24% of the total cosmetic and beauty products market in the U.S. This is a considerable chunk which can be attracted towards Pro-Vitamin Shampoo. The same report claimed that the demand for beauty products would rise in the future. In addition, women between the ages35-54 years are the primary target market for hair care products. The hair care segment in the U.S is highest and at the same time it is very saturated. Companies already operating in this segment are targeting their products towards niche markets with little innovation. For example, shampoos for color-treated hair, shampoo for fine hair etc. C&A’s shampoo product has created a formula which is available to masses. Section 3: Unique Selling Proposition unique selling proposition (usp) All shampoos clean hair but they need some distinctive feature to differentiate them from their competitors. Some shampoos claim to clean dry hair, others focus on greasy hair-all shampoos make some special offering (The Economist, 2009). The unique selling proposition is that Pro-Vitamin shampoo possess the qualities of Oil along with other attributes which would make them even more confident, beautiful and feeling their best. Moreover, the uniqueness of this shampoo lies in its exclusivity; the scientific formula of Pro-Vitamin is rarely found in the cluttered segment of hair care. Mohanty (2012) in his article states that the uniqueness of a brand lies in its positioning. This positioning helps in differentiating the brand from its competitors and makes it prominent in front of the target market. Pro-Vitamin’s positioning statement is: ‘Hair loss and split ends are the two most pressing problems for modern women. Pro-Vitamin’s formula combined with oil helps in nourishing the hair leaving it soft and shiny. You Try You Decide.’ marketing objectives The brand objective of Pro-Vitamin Shampoo is: ‘To serve each woman in the continual pursuit of her individual beauty potential.’ The Communication/marketing objectives of this shampoo are as follows: To increase its Share of Voice. To highlight its relevance to the Continuous Improvement Seekers - feeling confident, beautiful and the best.  To Become No.1 choice for Hair health and advice. Section 4: Pricing and Distribution Strategy strengths, weaknesses, opportunties and threats (SWOT) Strength Pro-Vitamin Shampoo is a global and star brand belonging to a strong parent company. The introduction of oil and keratin damage blockers as the ingredients is a strong point because the mentality of Indian women is that oil enhances the beauty of hair like no other product Weakness There are no visible weaknesses of Pro-Vitamin Shampoo because it completely depends upon the consumer whether or not to like a brand. Some shampoos are suitable for some type of hair and others for other type of hair. However, one weakness that can be pointed out in the campaign is that very few women understand the importance and meaning of Pro V science as compared to terms like ‘strong hair’, ‘healthy hair’ which are common and understandable (Rahman, Kazi & Sourav, 2012). In addition, the shampoo market is so saturated- filled with competition, that it becomes difficult for a brand to cope up (IBISWorld (2011).. Opportunities Pro-Vitamin Shampoo should reconsider its target market and start focusing on younger age groups like teenage girls. Like other competitors, it has the opportunity of targeting this un-tapped market. There is another opportunity of launching a shampoo for the male category as they are equally conscious about their looks nowadays Threats There is a threat of high number of advertising campaigns undertaken by competitors as compared to Pro-Vitamin Shampoo. In addition the brand uses raw materials that are price volatile; therefore prices of the finished products may vary. supply-chain and operational system The supply chain model for C&A’s shampoo brand is adopted by Fritzen et.al (2014). The company would integrate its functions throughout the supply chain. As a result, operational and financial transparency would be achieved- the overall decision making would also enhance. The supply chain team would be responsible for managing capacity, planning for manufacturing and production, inventory management and distribution. Teams would be hired in-house and all distribution would be undertaken by C&A’s own logistics team so that in the long run expenses are reduced. Fritzen et.al (2014) suggested a model for establishing the right kind of supply chain for a company. (Refer to Appendix 2). According to this model the company should determine important functions like: capital management, technology management, continuous improvement etc. The next step is to a lot a value to each function. The end results shows which functions should be prioritized in the supply chain and which ones need less attention. This model is important to understand because it helps managers in making the right decision; for a start-up company like C&A it is an intelligent move to adopt a pre-designed model created by scholarly experts. pricing strategy Pro-Vitamin Shampoo offers bundling promotions because studies show knows that people are attracted towards more volume as compared to price (Titheesawad & Kijboonchoo, n.d). Yannopoulos (2011) have mentioned certain defensive and offensive strategies for consumer brands. Out of these, Pro-Vitamin Shampoo uses ‘Cover All Bases’ strategy which is a form of defensive marketing strategy. According to this strategy, the brand is introduced in multiple versions to cover gaps or to ensure full product line. In addition, using this strategy Pro-Vitamin Shampoo ensures the blockage of new entrants and to keep the competitors out of the market. Section 5: Distribution Plan and Promotions Strategy It is extremely important that the company uses simple modes of communication so that the consumer can understand the brand’s message. According to Ahmed (2013) consumers are price sensitive and are ready to pay premium price in exchange of premium quality. Promotional activities are also quite popular for example ‘Buy 1 Get 1 Free.’ P&G believes in mass media advertising and has been using it since inception in India. Television, radio and soap operas are the widely used mediums for advertising. The most effective and usual form of advertising used by the brand is Celebrity endorsement (Ahmed, 2013). According to a study conducted by Sharman & Mehta (2012), the most effective medium of advertising is television commercials followed by print advertisements in newspapers. Out of home techniques such as billboards and pamphlets were less effective. Therefore, Pantene launches various advertisements which have local celebrities and try to connect to the people through these endorsements. Refer to Appendix 3. distribution strategy Pro-Vitamin Shampoo would be placed in all popular super stores, hyper markets and general stores. The aim is to make the product available at all times to avoid customer disgust. The company aims to make it easy for women to select their shampoo without getting confused by large product lines like other brands. It will introduce few variants so that an ordinary woman can choose her favorite brand easily. Three strategies suggested for flawless distribution are: 1. Placement in popular salons to make the brand visible and to give an impression of authenticity 2. Product placement in movies especially the ones which revolve around stories of women 3. The brand would collaborate with schools to launch beauty competitions in schools and colleges. marketing goals The goal is to break clutter by introducing a technologically manufactured brand. The brand aims to increase its market share in a saturated American market by launching innovative marketing strategies. Moreover, the company wants to embed the Pro-Vitamin formula in the consumers mind by running repeated advertisements- it wants to make the shampoo synonymous with the word ‘Vitamin’ which are highly essential for healthy hair. action steps (conclusion) C&A has to hire a team of dedicated individuals who would implement the marketing plan of Pro-Vitamin shampoo. The second step is to launch celebrity endorsements in order to position the brand in the consumer’s minds. One the positioning and marketing is done, the company would offer shampoo at promotions like buy one get one free and similar offers during festive seasons. Gradually the brand would gain popularity among its target market and consistent quality maintenance would help in creating brand loyal customers. Reference list (APA format) Ahmed. A, 2013, ‘Rural Marketing Strategies for Selling Products & Services: Issues & Challenges,’ Journal of Business Management & Social Sciences Research, Volume 2, No.1, Accessed on 13th November, 2014, Fritzen et. al, 2014, ‘Is your supply-chain operating model right for you?’ Accessed on 13th Novemebr, 2014, < www.mckinsey.com/.../07%20Supply-chain%20operating%20model.ash> IBISWorld, 2011, ‘Operating Conditions,’ Accessed on 13th November, 2014, < http://colgate-palmolive.wikispaces.com/file/view/32562_Cosmetic_%26_Beauty_Products_Manufacturing_in_the_US_Industry_Report%5B1%5D+(1).pdf> Mohanty. S, 2012, ‘Indian Shampoo Brand Positioning: Multi Dimensional Scaling Approach,’ Internal Journal of Computing and Corporate Research, Volume 2, Issue 5, Accessed on 13th November, 2014, < http://www.ijccr.com/September2012/3.pdf> Rahman. K, Kazi. R and Sourav. S, 2012, ‘Analysis Of Hair Care Products With Reference To Shampoo Market In India,’ Volume No.1, Issue No.11, Accessed on 13th Novemeber, 2014, Sharma. H& Mehta.S, 2012, ‘Customer Attitude Towards The Use Of Shampoos: A Case Study Of Sirsa City’ IJRFM, Volume 2, Issue 2, Accessed on 13th November, 2014, The Economist, 2009, ‘Unique selling proposition,’ Accessed on 13th November, 2014, Titheesawad. I & Kijboonchoo. T, n.d, ‘The Effects Of Bundle Composition, Price, Framing And Familiarity On Consumers Purchase Intention,’ Accessed on 13th November, 2014, Yannopoulos. P, 2011, ‘Defensive and Offensive Strategies for Market Success,’ International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 2 No. 13, Accessed on 13th November, 2014, AppendiCES Appendix 1 Packaging Appendix 2 Supply Chain Model Source: Fritzen et. al. (2014) Appendix 3 Marketing Strategies Source: Sharma &Mehta, 2012 Read More