INSTITUTIONOF MANAGEMENTSTUDIES

Devi Ahilya vishwavidyala,

Indore

SESSION (2018-20)

Assignment
IMC

Submitted To Submitted By
Dr. Richa Mandondovra Kartik goyal(66047)
M.B.A.(FT) IV SEM
 Introduction to Unilever

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company with a
heritage of over 80 years in India and touches the lives of two out of three Indians. HUL works to
create a better future every day and helps people feel good, look good and get more out of life with
brands and services that are good for them and good for others. With over 35 brands spanning 20
distinct categories such as soaps, detergents, shampoos, skin care, toothpastes, deodorants,
cosmetics, tea, coffee, packaged foods, ice cream, and water purifiers, the Company is a part of the
everyday life of millions of consumers across India. Its portfolio includes leading household brands
such as Lux, Lifebuoy, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Pond’s, Vaseline, Lakmé, Dove, Clinic
Plus, Sunsilk, Pepsodent, Closeup, Axe, Brooke Bond, Bru, Knorr, Kissan, Kwality Wall’s and Pureit.
The Company has over 18,000 employees and has an annual turnover of INR 37660 crores .
HUL is a subsidiary of Unilever, one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods
with strong local roots in more than 100 countries across the globe with annual sales of € 51990
million in 2019. Unilever has 67.25% shareholding in HUL.
Brands in action 

From long-established names like Lifebuoy, Sunlight and Pond’s to new innovations such as the
Pureit affordable water purifier, the range of brands is as diverse as our worldwide consumer base.
Unilever has more than 400 brands, 14 of which generate sales in excess of €1 billion a year.
Many of these brands have long-standing, strong social missions, including Lifebuoy’s drive to
promote hygiene through handwashing with soap, and Dove’s campaign for real beauty.

About Surf Excel

 Surf Excel, launched in 1959,is one of the oldest detergent powders in India and Pakistan. Initially
the brand was positioned on the clean proposition of “washes whitest”. However, with the
emergence of numerous local detergent manufacturers and the entry of other global brands, Surf
Excel underwent various changes in its brand communication. This is in line with the global
communication platform of ‘Dirt Is Good’ , which is a communication strategy of Unilever for its
premium detergent products, sold under various brand names; such as Omo in Brazil and Persil in
UK and France. Now the mothers have the freedom to let their kids experience life without worrying
about stains.

 It is the oldest detergent to be present in INDIA Since 1960.

 It believes that children must be free to experience, their LIFE for themselves…
 First detergent powder in India was DET.
 Then SURF came with its strong sales promotion, advertisement and distribution width.
 Followed by TOMCO’S MAGIC and then NIRMA.
 Surf was the first brand of detergent that was advertised on TV. It is advertise on more than 300
channels across the globe .
 Introduced the concept of bucket wash to housewives who were used to washing clothes
 with laundry soap bars.

Success strategies
Surf Excel, as a brand, defines its own winning strategies, as

         Winning with brands & innovation.

         Winning in the marketplace.
         Winning through continuous improvement.
         Winning with people.
 Surf Excel Market Share in India
The synthetic detergent in India is categorized into:-

 Premium (Surf, Aerial)

 Medium (Rin, Tide)
 Economical (Nirma)

Among this premium category HUL leads market by 60%.

Marketing strategies
4 Stages of costumer lifecycle

Uniliver believes in customer attraction, retention, growth & survival. They identify the ideal
costumers, and group them as a separate costumer segment. In order to maintain & retain these
customers they usually adopt the following measures:
• Customer segmentation;
• Customer profitability objectives;
• Customer lifetime value;
• Generating profitable leads;
• Low-cost acquisition of customers;
• Effective on boarding to reduce churn.
With this information an they develop both a targeted customer acquisition and
retention strategy and up-selling programs; furthermore, it also leverage the desired
communications channels in order to improve lifetime customer value.

4 P’s (of Services)

 Product
Surf Excel came up with the idea of "Surfing along, par Excellence"!! It has a wide product range
which includes-

 Surf Excel Top Matic

 Surf Excel Front Matic
 Surf Excel Blue
 Surf Excel Quick wash
 Surf Excel Bar
 Surf Excel Gentle wash
 Surf Excel Quick Wash Detergent Powder
 Surf excel blue
 Surf excel gentle wash
 surf excel bar
 Surf Excel Matic Top Load

Price
The pricing Strategy for Surf Excel have always been in accordance with its competitors.
A change in pricing strategy for HUL’s Surf Excel brand, which dominates the 5000 crore detergent
powder market, seems to be on the cards.
The FMCG major conceded that its price reduction strategy has not yielded any value gains for the
brand and had, in fact, led to its ‘commoditization’.
HUL has announced a drastic reduction in price by Rs. 20 per kilo on surf excel, its premium
detergent brand, making it equal to competing brand Ariel from P&G. Price cut from Rs 155 to Rs
135 per kg.
HUL is now reworking its Surf Excel Strategy by moving away from positioning the brand on
functional benefits to building an emotional connect.

COMBO OFFERS

 Surf Excel quickwash 1 kg Rs. 146 + Comfort fabric conditioner 200ml Rs. 29 = Rs. 175
 Pay Rs. 163*/- for the combo pack and save Rs. 12/- *(inclusive of all taxes)
 16 litre bucket pack free with 3.3 kg surf excel blue, & so on.

Promotion
They started promoting via various means like Print media, Electronic media, Live Demonstrations,
Social Events etc.
Apart from these they made various catchy lines in order to gain customer attention & get promoted
like:-
  Dirt is  good: “Daag achhe hain.”
 “Phir waqt hai khelney ka”
 “Kharay ko meetha banaye”
 “The machine is not guilty,use the right detergent”
 “Surf Excel hainna”.
 “ Surf Excel easy wash, now has power of 10 hands.” Etc.

Place and Distribution

HUL distribution network – key strength (Which helps reach out its product across the length and
width of the vast country). Direct coverage in over 7000 Stockist 2000+ Suppliers & Associates.

Distribution Network
Factory Company warehouses Distributor Market.
Factory Wholesaler & Big retailers (Bulk orders) 30% Sales.
They follow HUL’s Distribution strategy. HUL‟s distribution strategy has changed over time. Earlier
wholesalers and large retailers used to place orders directly to the company. The company
salesmen used to collect these orders and then deliver the goods to the concerned customers. This
simple system was good enough in the beginning. But then they changed things in order to provide
quality service to its customers. They appointed one wholesaler in each market as a Registered
Wholesaler. This wholesaler was then the guy to whom all the salesmen went with the orders that
they have taken. He handed over the products to the salesmen who then distributed them to the
customers. This strategy helped they to reach more customers. As time went by and the competition
got tougher, HUL had to make its distribution network leaner and meaner than ever before. Also,
Surf Excel being a detergent powder is a FMCG. So they had to make sure that the retailers‟
shelves were replenished in time. To do that, they had depots all over the country. These depots or
warehouses stocked finished products and acted as buffers in case of an increase in demand.
Earlier the registered wholesalers used to get the goods direct from the company. Now the company
sent the goods to the depots from where the redistribution stockiest.
 STP of Marketing of surf excel
Segmentation
Surf Excel divided the market into 5 major segments

 Quick wash
 Easy stain removal and whitening
 Travelling
 Water conservation
 Car washing.

Targeting
SKU’s (Stock Keeping Units) Sachet packs (Rs.2) of Surf Excel are targeting mass market
consumer, convenience and affordability.
Targeting upwardly mobile group with increase in disposal incomes. They have basically divided
consumers into three groups- Rich, Aspirers and Strivers and have compared target sequences from
2003 to 2019 and it was seen that in 2003 Strivers were maximum in number then next came
aspirers and finally rich ones.

Positioning
Positioning of surf excel is due to:
• Brand name
• High quality
• Attractive packing
• Removes stains 10/10
• Dirt is good (every child has the right to play and discover his own world)
 SWOT Analysis of Surf Excel

Strengths
 Strong Brand Name: Surf Excel is a strong brand name in the South Asian countries it is present in.
The brand was launched way back in 1947 and since then has been able to gain credibility with the
customers. It has created strong advertisement campaigns which have also contributed immensely
to creating a strong brand name.
 Popular Tagline: Surf Excel has created very attractive and famous advertisement campaigns in the
recent years. Its tagline “Daag acche hai” is very popular amongst its target group.
 Strong Distribution: Surf Excel is driven by the distribution of Unilever and thus it has the wide reach
and good support of distributors. Surf Excel is targeted towards the urban population and thus is not
penetrated in the rural market, but it has a strong presence in the urban cities.
 Unilever Support: Surf Excel is a premium brand under Unilever’s umbrella and thus it is strongly
supported by the company. Unilever has a strong portfolio in the detergent segment and has a hold
of the South Asian market in the category.
 Multiple Variants: Surf Excel has expanded its portfolio by bringing in many different variants in both
the hand wash and machine wash segments to target specific problems that people face in washing
clothes. It has variants like Surf Excel Quickwash, Surf Excel Easy Was and Surf Excel Bar etc.

Weaknesses
 Low Rural Penetration: Surf Excel is a product in the premium category of Unilever and thus its
penetration in the rural market is low. It loses out on a large market due to its premium
pricing strategy.
 Expensive: Surf Excel is targeted towards the urban upper middle-class market and thus is charged
at a premium price point. It loses out a huge market due to its pricing strategies.
 Contains Less Biodegradable compounds: Surf Excel contains sodium and potassium salts in high
amounts which make it less biodegradable than other competitors like Nirma.

Opportunities

 Increasing disposable income: The disposable incomes of people in countries like India are
increasing which will increase the expenditure on premium detergents like Surf Excel.
 Growth in a Detergent market: The detergent market is growing at a CAGR of over 13% in the last 5
years in India and it is expected to grow at a similar rate in the near future. Similar patterns of
growth have been observed in the other markets as well. This ensures growth in demand for Surf
 Excel in the near future.

 Increase penetration in rural markets: Surf Excel can look forward to increasing penetration in the
rural market as it can expect good sales from some parts of the rural markets.

Threats

 Intense competition: Surf Excel faces stiff competition with brands like Ariel, Tide and Nirma etc.
Such intense competition puts pricing pressures and reduces market share.
 Market cannibalization: Unilever has 3 major brands in the detergent segment, namely, Surf Excel,
Rin and Wheel in Indian and South Asian markets. Although these brands have different target
groups 3 popular products in the same category does induce overlapping in the market.

\
 Surf excel IMC MIX

Daag acche hai

‘Daag Dhoondte Reh Jaoge’
‘Surf Excel hai na’
‘Do bucket paani ab rozana hai bachana
#HaarKoHarao
'Daag tou achay hotay hain/Dirt is good'.
#ReadyForLife
 Daag Acche Hai

A Lowe Lintas brainchild that changed the face of Surf Excel’s brand identity

A detailed guide of how the Daag Acche Hai campaign changed the fate of Surf Excel and helped
them stand out in the detergent market.

https://youtu.be/ALxiXkHxqCc

With the launch of new products, their campaigns have also evolved over the years. The ‘Daag
Dhoondte Reh Jaoge’ proposition of the brand is still fresh in our minds and especially the woman
who twirls her finger and challenges her husband to find the stain. The campaign extended to ‘Surf
Excel hai na’, an assurance that it will remove all kinds of stains and later to ‘Do bucket paani ab
rozana hai bachana ‘(We can save two buckets of water everyday)’.

https://youtu.be/sbxP8IGj_x4

There have been several extensions to Surf Excel’s brand campaigns over the years; however, the
one campaign that changed the course of Surf Excel’s brand journey has been ‘Daag Acche hai’
(stains are good). Launched in 2005, it is part of the global campaign ‘Dirt is good’ done by BBH. In
India, Lowe Lintas is the agency behind the campaign.
Social Samosa takes a look at how the Daag Acche Hai campaign changed the fate of Surf Excel and
helped them stand out in the detergent market.

Daag Acche Hai – The Beginning 

The Daag Acche Hai proposition offered a different take in the detergent category. While other
players harped on the need to remove stains and giving spotless cleanliness, here was Surf Excel
saying that stains are good. It urged the consumers to celebrate stains because it isn’t difficult to get
rid of them. Their competition on the other hand, had other detergent brands like Nirma, , Tide and
others which were mainly focussed on the product features and cleanliness that they brought.
One of the first campaigns, in Surf Excel’s Daag Acche Hai journey, featured two adorable kids that
stole hearts pan India.

The video was about two children returning from school, when the younger sister accidentally falls
into a puddle and dirties herself; and starts crying. Her protective brother dives into the same
puddle to take ‘revenge’ and make it apologize to his sister. The innocence of both thekids and their
charm touched hearts and we still remember the ad vividly.

https://youtu.be/7D3rvf9WvEw
 According to a report by  Business Today, “The whole idea was if you
are powerful you won’t fear your enemy, rather you’ll celebrate
him,” said R. Balakrishnan, the then Chairman and Chief Creative
Officer of Lowe Lintas & Partners.

In the later part of the Daag Acche Hai chapter, the brand tried their hands on storytelling

occasions such as Diwali and Ramzan and extended the core proposition of ‘Daag Acche Hai’

to highlight the festival through the eyes of the kids.

While the Eid ad for Pakistan market was successful and appreciated, experts felt that the
Diwali campaign was high on emotional quotient but the story was repetitive.
https://youtu.be/iVkZsFGF4ls

https://youtu.be/GV2TsgY2uw4

On Ground Extension 

Surf Excel undertakes various projects from time to time which helps them to get a real feel
of the on ground audience. For e.g. in 2012, the brand had their project called ‘Mamma Mia’
, where they went and spoke with 240+ mothers, 20 Grandmothers and 5 Great
Grandmothers across 10 locations around the world. The interesting findings from the
project helped them to further strengthen their grasp in the market.

Also, recently during the launch of the campaign ‘Haar Ko Harao’,  the brand hosted a panel
discussion which spoke about the current societal view on failure and what it means for kids
as they grow up. Some interesting takeaways from the discussion were on what parents
and society can do make the future of these kids pressure free and provide them a happier
environment.
At the same event, surf Excel had influencers such as Sourav Ganguly, Twinkle
Khanna,  Pullela Gopichand and others, who shared their experiences and pledged to look
at failure as a learning experience. These celebrities, shared their individual experiences of
how they fought with failure and battled with it with the audience.

Real time marketing

Surf Excel further extended and strengthened the proposition of ‘Daag Acche Hain’ by
associating itself with trending topics. Like in 2014 during General Election, it ran the
campaign ‘Agar ungli pe daag lagne se achhi sarkar banti hai, to daag achhe hain’ (if the
staining of a finger results in the formation of a good government, then the stain is good).
Here the daag stood for the ink mark used for voting and urged people to go and vote.

In one of their campaigns, the brand urged young kids to join hands to keep India and their
surroundings clean.  It was launched at a great time, just when there was enough news and
brands championing for PM Modi’s ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’.
https://youtu.be/oh5U_dBA4Oo

Social Media Presence

Surf Excel is quite active on social media, with 1,501,221 followers on Facebook and 4,240
followers on Twitter. The brand mainly uses both the platforms to share information related
to their campaigns.

Extensions of ‘Daag Acche Hai’ 

In 2016, Surf Excel launched #ReadyForLife an extension of their Daag Acche Hai
strategy. The  of two and a half minute film narrated an anecdote of a mother-son duo
where the mother persuades her son to follow his passion of playing football. After failing to
make it to the team multiple times, her son finally makes it to the team and is rewarded with
new shoes.  Unbeknownst to the mother, her son is actually supporting his friend, who can’t
afford to buy shoes.

https://youtu.be/C-jPrQzvE9E

Yet another extension of the campaign, is #HaarKoHarao, launched in December, 2017.

The campaign is rooted in the modern parenting challenge of helping kids cope with
failure. In a society that is so achievement-oriented, a lot of kids struggle when they are
faced with failure. The brand with the help of this campaign wanted to highlight that as  a
society, our tolerance for failure is extremely low.

https://youtu.be/YicuKTFPxX0
https://youtu.be/g4-BsyNLq1A
 The objective behind this new proposition is to tell parents that if kids get dirty in learning
to defeat failure, then dirt is good. If kids fail, it is not the end of the world, in fact, it
signals a beginning of a whole new world.

An Epilogue to Daag Acche Hai

Over the years Surf Excel has managed to synonymize themselves with Daag Acche Hai –
a campaign that has managed to engrave itself in consumers’ hearts and minds with
perceptive storytelling imbibed with subtle branding.

Two of the main highlights of the campaign would be – using children as protagonists,
narrating stories with an innocence and charm that other detergent brands could not
replicate. Second would be the choice of stories and causes Daag Acche Hai associated
itself with.

Nearly a decade long campaign, Daag Acche Hai reinstates the power of storytelling once
and again!
 Pros and Cons

face by surf excel by his campaign Daag Acche Hai

Pros
1.Positioning of product
2.Emotional touch to user
3. Attractive advertising
4.Targeting the soft point by advertising through children"s
5.Premium range product
6.Change advertising by festival to festival
7.Cover all religion to target
8.Spread brotherhood
9.Tagline which is always on everyones mouth.
Cons
Because surf excels "DAAG ACCHE HAI" campaign involve religion factor and festival thing
in it,sometimes they have to face severe anger of people too, like they face the one in a add
launched at the time of Holi and id, where an hindu girl is saving muslim boy to cross the
road to pray a namaz ,but some hindu take that ad otherwise by concluding that surf excel
says holi colour a "DAAG" which is defamatory of the hindu religion.

FOR EXAMPLE
THANK YOU