Sunsilk A Hair Care Brand Marketing Essay

Sunsilk a hair care brand which focuses on the women of the society is the product of unilever group. Sunsilk is now known as the world’s leading company in hair care conditioning and as the second largest in case of shampoo. The products of sunsilk are available in about 69 countries.

Sunsilk as a brand is sold in various countries but has different names likes Elidor, Sedal, and Seda. The main market for the brand is Asia followed by Latin America and the middle east. IN Asia the main industry is in India followed by Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The introduction provides details of the company over the period of years discussing its new launches and developments. This report also discusses the 4 p’s of the brand giving details of the promotion techniques and the channels adopted by the company and the SWOT of the company which is followed by the recommendations.

INTRODUCTION

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Sunsilk was launched in the UK in 1954, and by 1959 it was available in 18 different countries worldwide. At the time, Sunsilk had an advantage over other shampoos in the market as it only needed one application, and so meant washing less natural oils from the hair. Sunsilk cream shampoo for dry hair was launched in 1956.

In 1958, a new transparent polythene tube for the liquid shampoo was introduced as an alternative large size pack to the bottle. Sunsilk was also available in such tubes.

In 1960, Sunsilk Tonic shampoo was launched, containing skin healing ingredient Allantoin – designed to help keep the scalp free from infection.

In 1961, Sunsilk Liquid shampoo was re-launched to Sunsilk Beauty, because ‘Liquid’ in the name, originally used to distinguish the product from powdered shampoos had become meaningless as the majority of shampoos were now in liquid form.

In 1962, Sunsilk was marketed as a range of shampoos for different hair types.

Sunsilk significantly improved product formula and launched new variants in 1966: the first major shampoo to contain olive oil, which acted as conditioner to make hair soft and manageable; shampoo for dull hair, which restored hair’s natural shine; lemon shampoo for greasy hair with deep cleansing ingredients.

Sunsilk hair spray was first launched in 1964 to enter an expanding hair-spray market, but in 1966 a new product formula was developed which gave hold, even in damp weather whilst still caring for hair. The hair spray contained a French perfume and could easily be removed by brushing or shampooing it out.

In 1969, all Sunsilk shampoo was re-packaged in new PVC bottles, which were larger than traditional glass bottles for the same price.

Sunsilk conditioner was launched in 1971 with three variants for dry, normal and greasy hair. In 1973, Sunsilk launched an aerosol dispensed setting lotion. An economy size shampoo bottle was introduced for Sunsilk in 1974.

In 1975, Sunsilk became the biggest name in hair care with 1,000,000 packs being sold every week.

In 1980, the whole Sunsilk range was re-launched, with improved formulations and packaging design to bring the brand into the 1980s.

In 1985, Sunsilk styling mousse was launched and 2 years later a conditioning mousse followed.

In 2001, Sunsilk moved into the hair colourant market for Asian-type dark hair, offering a range of seven permanent colours from natural black to copper with purple, red and gold tints.

In 2003, Sunsilk launched a new range of shampoos and conditioners, which were developed to meet women’s hair needs and reflect the way women think about their hair. The fake institute (a trademark by Sedal) “Elida Hair Institute” developed the products in response to market research. Each product contained a unique formulation of ingredients, combining the best from natural and scientific worlds to help combat common hair problems.

Launching Sunsilk in INDIA

Understand the issues and challenges in launching a brand in the market

Study the hair care market in India and examine how Unilever launched Sunsilk in the country.

Analyze the promotional strategies adopted by Unilever to promote the Sunsilk brand in India, particularly the ‘Hairapy’ and the global ‘Life Can’t Wait’ campaign.

Analyze the future prospects of Sunsilk brand in India and explore strategies that the company can adopt.

Largest beauty shampoo brand in the country. Positioned as the ‘Hair Expert’.

Sunsilk was a leading brand of Unilever, marketed in more than 50 countries in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa It was launched in India in 1964. In the initial years in India, Sunsilk was a cosmetic beauty shampoo. Within ten years of its launch in India Sunsilk

Launched a tonic shampoo for dandruff, which was the first anti-dandruff shampoo in India.

In the India, Unilever’s goal was to position Sunsilk as a brand that understood the problems faced by women and their needs and preferences.

Sunsilk had a range re-launch in 2006 followed by launch of new variants in 2007 when conditioners, Livon and hair masks were introduced – transforming Sunsilk into a complete hair care brand.

The 4 Ps 

PRODUCT

The range consists of Sunsilk:

Yellow Sunsilk with Bio Proteins from Vegetable Extracts:

Normal hair needs wholesome nourishment. New Sunsilk with Bio Protein extracted from Vegetable milk has nutrients that deeply penetrate each hair strand, to nourish it leaving hair strong and beautiful.

Dull hair needs a rich black shine.

 New Sunsilk with Melanin extracted from plants serves this purpose very effectively. It helps in the growth and retention of the black color of hair, giving it a rich black shine.

Green Sunsilk with Fruitamins Vitamins from fruit Extracts:

Thin and limp hair needs extra body and volume. New Sunsilk with Fruitamins has natural extracts from fruit that contains Vitamins. These vitamins help in giving extra body, shine and amazing manageability to the thinning and lifeless hair.

Pink Sunsilk with yoghurt proteins:

Dry hair needs wholesome conditioning, extra shine and style. New Sunsilk with yoghurt proteins makes the dry hair full of life. Its especial ingredients moisturize each hair right to its tips leaving it shiny and beautiful.

Orange Sunsilk with active nutrients from Citrus Extracts:

The advanced formula of orange Sunsilk is the result of the latest research. This shampoo is especially designed for oily hair type that looks flat and greasy due to the excess of moisture. New Sunsilk with active ingredients from citrus extracts cleans the excess oil off hair while its nutrients deeply penetrate each hair strand to nourish it.

PRICING

HINDUSTAN UNILEVER claims to practice value-based  pricing in which the customers’ perception of the product’s price provides a starting point for developing the marketing mix of the product. The research department determines this price usually by using focus groups. The price of Re 1 and 2 for Sunsilk

Shampoo sachets shows how the price also reflects a concern to make the purchase more convenient, since the rupee is denoted in this value

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Sunsilk is also available in Rs 45 and Rs 169 price bottles to cater to the demands keeping in mind the wants of this particular customer segment.

The primary importance of this value-based pricing is that the product demand will be much higher if its price is in line with the customer’s perception of its value

One crucial concern for value-based pricing is strict management of cost in order to be able to make a profit at the value-based price. After the initial price is determined, HINDUSTAN UNILEVER then uses target costing in order to achieve the required profits.

PROMOTION

· Build top of the line consumers’ awareness.

· Creating a personality of the brand.

Besides having these general objectives, the advertising objectives are set avoiding to the advertising strategy for each product, e.g. Sunsilk advertising objectives since it was being re-launched were:

· To increase the usage.

· Conditioning benefits.

· Makes the hair appear clean and shiny.

· Imparts a feeling of freshness-due to fragrance.

· Easy to manage, silky, soft hair.

· Unique shampoo for every hair type.

· Effectively communicate brand promise.

Promotional strategy

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Innovative campaigns such as ‘Hairapy’ and ‘Life Can’t Wait’ were launched to attract women to the bran Sponsored short films that were broadcast during popular television shows.

Media platforms used were:

Print media

internet rural campaign

environment concern ads

Music videos

Free sample distribution

Demo campaigning

Promotion of the products in the sunsilk range through movies such as “Fashion” Sunsilk has come up with a new promotional campaign GOOD HAIR DAYS in six major cities in collaboration with famous hair stylists of the country.

Hoardings

Sponsorships

Enhancement of product mix

Advertising

HINDUSTAN UNILEVER believes that messages about product delivered by credible sources can be very persuasive. Hence Jawed Habib who is a hair care expert endorses Sunsilk and more value is added to the brand.

Consumers relate to products itself, they can relate to a human being who consumers believe is an expert so Jawed Habib is an expert so is Sunsilk. Jawed Habib a recognized and highly qualified hair stylist is used by Sunsilk in its ads because they want to bring out an expert’s image.

METHODS ADOPTED TO PROMOTE THE BRAND NAME OF SUNSILK

Actresses as spokespersons

Co-marketing

Some of these films were made exclusively for retailers like Wal-Mart and were telecast in-store

Sponsor for fashion shows

INNOVATIVE AND UNIQUE STARERGIES IMPLEMENTED BY SUNSILK IN INDIA

Hindustan Unilever launched the  Gang of Girls website in June ’06.

“India’s first online girl community concept.”

Gang of Girls site pushed online and via TV and print.

Lots of media mentions it as a “successful branded space.”

Direct contact with target audience.

Gang of Girls events at 60 college festivals, malls and multiplexes across India.

Sunsilkgangofgirls.com benefited from redirect from Sunsilknaturals.com. This site has 100,000 registered users and very similar features.

Hindustan Lever claims 2,500,000 registrations to Gang of Girls site —

25,000 girl gangs

200 million hits

12-13 million page views every month

Company taking benefits of new web 2.0 technologies ranging from blogs to

power of social networking.

PLACE

Distribution Objective:

“To reach as many towns and villages as we can”

HINDUSTAN UNILEVER has 150 distributors whose function is to sell to

wholesalers directly. There are different distributors for different areas. They are

carefully selected and their performance is constantly evaluated.

Milestones

1954 – Sunsilk first launched in the UK.

1955 – First advertisement of Sunsilk appeared on TV.

1964 – Launch of Sunsilk hair spray.

1968 – Sunsilk shampoo re-packaged in PVC bottles.

1971 – Launch of Sunsilk conditioner.

1975 – Sunsilk became the biggest name in hair care.

2003 – Sunsilk glossy magazine launched in Argentina.

2008 – Social networking site Gang of Girls was introduced in India.

First advertising

Sunsilk began advertising in 1955 with a campaign that focused on specific hair “issues”. In the UK, the campaign focused on shiny hair. During the 1960s, a television commercial of Sunsilk featured a tune composed by John Barry, “The girl with the sun in her hair”, which proved so popular that it was subsequently released as a pop single.

Sunsilk radio commercials were aired in 1969 featuring Derek Nimmo to support the new Sunsilk Herb shampoo for problem hair called “Hairy Tales”. In the early 1970s, Sunsilk was advertised with the slogan “All you need is Sunsilk”.

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Celebrity associations

Madonna, Shakira and Marilyn Monroe all featured in Sunsilk’s 2008 advertising campaign “Life Can’t Wait” which launched with a Super spot. The philosophy behind the campaign was about girls taking positive steps to gain better control of their lives “Hair On = Life On”.

Actress and former Miss World Priyanka Chopra is the brand ambassador for Sunsilk in India.

In 2009, singer Delta Goodrem was announced as the “face of Sunsilk” in Australia. The singer and her music have since featured in several Sunsilk adverts.

In 2007, British girlband Girls Aloud launched a campaign for Sunsilk after securing a sponsorship deal worth over £1,000,000. Members Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle, Cheryl Cole, Kimberly Walsh and Sarah Harding all represented the brand, which included shooting a television commercial. Sunsilk also sponsored their following tour.

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Magazine

In 2003, Sunsilk (Sedal) launched the first hair only glossy magazine in Argentina aiming to communicate to the professional hair industry. More than 800,000 copies are published each month. The magazine focuses on hair, fashion and beauty issues as well as showcasing hairdressers’ work. It is sold locally on news stands and distributed to hair salons.

Gang of girls

In 2008, Sunsilk India launched a social networking site called Gang of Girls,[7] which offered its users access to a variety of local and global experts to address various hair care needs through its content, blogs and live chat room. The site includes rich content of hair care and fashion, and users can also take part in interactive games and quizzes.In 2011, Sunsilk was listed in The Brand Trust Reportpublished by Trust Research Advisory.

Co-creation collaboration

From 2009 Sunsilk started working with a number of professional hair “experts” to develop new and improved products. Each hair “issue” variant links to an “expert” with the relevant specialist hair knowledge.

For example, Dr Francesca Fusco, a New York dermatologist, co-created a “hairfall” variant for the brand. The line up also includes: Jamal Hammadi for Black Shine, Rita Hazan for Vibrant Colour, Teddy Charles for Plumped Up Volume, Thomas Taw for Damage Reconstruction, Ouidad for Defined Curls and Yuko Yamashita – inventor of Japanese hair straightening process ‘YUKO’ – for Perfect Straight.

Availability

Sunsilk is available in over 60 countries worldwide. However Sunsilk products seem to be no longer available in the United States. The Sunsilk website has a list of countries where their products are sold; the USA is not one of them.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF SUNSILK

STRENGTHS

· HINDUSTAN UNILEVERs India Limited is one of the largest

Organizations in India.

· Company has advanced technology and well skilled professionals.

· The New Sunsilk Shampoo is a high quality product in terms of hair protection.

· The target market is educated, professionals and belongs to premium and middle class.

· Company totally owned, systematic distribution network, transparent communication system.

· Participative management style

· Very good distribution network all over India, in all major and small cities.

WEAKNESSES

· Competitor has strong promotional activities.

· Customers are offered better alternatives by the competition.

· Advertisement flaws-

â-‹ Devaluation of product

â-‹ Product’s quality looses its values

â-‹ Poor promotion of free samples

â-‹ No unique identification of product

OPPORTUNITIES

· Population expanding at a rapid rate.

· Consumers are becoming more quality conscious

· Current capacity utilization is 80%, which can be further broadened with the increase in demand.

· Customer base is increasing with effective marketing.

· Baby shampoo is another area where HINDUSTAN UNILEVERs can make huge gains.

· Shampoo plus conditioner and anti-dandruff shampoos are another area where HINDUSTAN UNILEVER can earn huge profits.

· Rural areas are a large prospective market where they can introduce Sunsilk.

THREATS

· Political and Economic factors.

· Partial Government policies.

· High rate of competition.

· Local and Foreign competition.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Emphasis on quality and results

By adding free products or offerings

Attractive packaging

New emerging countries

Global expansion

Shampoos for seniors and male segment after doing hormonal and environmental research. If dermatologist consult must be there which help company to formulate new Shampoo

Sunsilk v/s Head and Shoulders

Sunsilk being launched in 1954 in the U.K has target market of females in 16-40 age group but in their promotions they target the entire market. Its main objective is to grab the market and to be a superior in the market therefore it focuses on the lower income group as it comprises of the major chunk of the population.

Sunsilk is offering the family size bottle for just 165rupees. It uses innovative techniques and pervasive ways to establish a position and make people aware of the product.

Head n shoulders have about 65%market share in the anti-dandruff market segment.

It is based on the lifestyle of the customers therefore its target customers are the higher middle class people who are brand conscious, early adopters and who are actually worried about the health of their hair.

It is different from the other shampoos in this segment because of the new element of ZPT formula.

Head n shoulders offer a family size bottle for 220rupees so it is the reason for it to be a fast selling product with the higher middle class group.

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Conclusion

Sunsilk has huge potential of rural market which is 72% of total population but not yet develop a successful strategy to penetrate this market. The success of Sunsilk emulated which captured the rural market by two strategies- Develop strong distribution structure and Adopting packaging and pricing. Sunsilk increase buying of raw material so that it does not have to suffer devolution and continuously increase in tariff rates. They introduced a smaller 100ml pack of Sunsilk in order to capture lower income segment. Sunsilk enter into web marketing. They should increase frequencies of advertising by electronic and print media. They should introduce 2 in 1 shampoo plus conditioner which demand huge potential market. Finally, taking everything in account we can say that if Sunsilk emphasize more on social responsibility and create more attractive marketing programs, they can grab huge number of customers