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Assignmnet focuses on the brand reinforcement of the Head & Shoulders shampoo an FMCG product of P&G Company

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Selected FMCG Product Overview

In this assessment the researcher has chosen the head and shoulder  shampoo product which is being manufactured by the organization P&G Company. It is one of the oldest shampoo products which was highly popular among the people, but it lost it brand image in the present days, and its popularity is decreasing due to the increase of many other competitors of shampoo production. The Head and Shoulder is mainly being used for washing hair and provides shining and sot hair to the people by delivering business in the hair. Every friend refers to this product as one of the beneficial and best product and has a tremendous spontaneous purchase decision. As said by Pant et al. (2016), the promotional methods of head and shoulders are very high because the company provides advertisements on television, banners, newspaper etc. so that people known’s about the popularity of the product. The Head and shoulders also put up their products after providing thorough clinical tests that need to be confirmed for the elimination of dandruff and its related symptoms and providing the clarified and cleaned hair.

 The company also makes sure that the shampoo product nourishes the hair and scalp and successfully achieved by removing the necessary symptoms and dandruff for the citizens. The organization was able to satisfy their customers by providing the best hair care product in this generation. As said by Singh & Malla (2017), with the help of head and shoulders, the people have able to cure their problem related to dry scalp and flaky scalp very quickly which is a significant advantage for them. The head and shoulder product is mainly an antifungal and antibacterial product that helps to reduce the growth of dandruff which is primarily caused by a fungus known as Malassezia which is predominantly present in the scalps of the human beings, but excess use of the shampoo could be very problematic for the user.

Critical Analysis

Marketing mix

The head and shoulder is mainly a subsidiary of the Procter and Gamble and primarily associated with the FMCG sector and the company P&G also offers other related products for the personal care of human beings. The brand targets mostly the up[per middle and middle-class people as their targeted customers. As said by Cohen et al. (2014), the marketing mix will help to provide the complete overview of the chosen FMCG product and their relative marketing strategies to gain the enormous amount of popularity from their targeted audience. The marketing mix of head and shoulders are:

Product

 The FMCG product Head and Shoulders has able to grab proper trust of their consumers by providing quality products with the significant number of promises.  The outcome of P&G is mainly related to the anti-dandruff segment and also offers excellent care in human’s hair so that they can able to get beautiful and smooth hair. The products can be used any gender and even some pet animals to aim a soft and silky hair. As said by Pérez et al. (2013), the head and shoulders product is also reliable for sensitive, dry and itchy scalp and also getting proper relief from dandruff which is present in the scalp. The brand has the tremendous amount of diversity in their product portfolio. Their shampoo products are Instant Relief Shampoo, Classic Clean Shampoo, Moisture Care Shampoo, Purely Gentle Shampoo and Citrus Breeze Shampoo. The Head and shoulder products also have 2 in 1 range products with fruit scents like Old Spice 2 in 1, Citrus Breeze 2 in 1, Classic Clean 2 in 1, Instant Control 2 in 1 and Green Apple 2 in 1. 

The head and shoulders products also have conditioners which are mainly used after using the shampoo products and the conditioners are Green apple conditioner, Classic Care conditioner, Smooth and silky conditioner, Dry Scalp Care with Almond Oil conditioner. The head and shoulder products also include Moisture Care Co-wash and the treatment products mainly include Full and Thick Advanced Thickening Tonic For men, Moisture Care Scalp Soother, Instant Relief Scalp Soother, full and Strong Scalp Hair Treatment etc (mapleholistics.com. 2018).

Place

The Head and shoulders are one of the most popular, and its presence has been spread all around the world. The brand was able to rise from strength to strength due to various penetration policies and was prepared to gain several international markets like United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The product is mainly based in location India during the year 1997 and was able to provide a unique market for their own. As said by Pappas (2016), the brand Head and shoulder has prepared to give an extensive distribution network and has ready to back their parent company which is known as Procter and Gamble. The distribution channel of the brand Head and shoulders mainly includes the respective services of retailers and distributors so that they can able to reach the consumers through discount stores, supermarkets, corner shops, local markets and hypermarkets. The products are now also being included in various online shopping platforms like Flipkart, BigBasket.com, and Amazon etc.

Price

The brand Head and Shoulder have provided the significant amount of war in their pricing strategy with other competitors. The company faces the massive amount of competition from their other competitors and for this reason they always have to stay updated with their pricing strategies as there are many competitors of the shampoo products all over the world. The brand head and shoulders also can maintain their penetration policy so that they can able to reach the new range of markets and also can grab many new customers.  As said by Halvorsen et al. (2013), the brands have always relied on a decent pricing strategy to maintain and attract loyal customers so that the products are pocket-friendly and affordable by any class of people. The head and shoulders are available in different sizes that are from a pouch to a bottle, and the people can easily purchase it for their personal needs. The brand also helps to advocate proper amount of promotion in their pricing strategies during the time of summer season and provides the massive amount of incentives and discounts when the sales are much higher, and this could result into the considerable amount of revenue and a large number of volumes.

Promotion

The organization Head and shoulders mainly depend on their marketing team for providing various strategies for promoting their products to their customers. The brand Head and Shoulders was able to adopt one of the most aggressive policies so that they can be very informative and creative for their customers. The head and shoulders brand is being recognized by all the people and was able to launch several amounts of ad campaigns to maintain and create proper visibility of the brand in the relevant market. As said by Cheng et al. (2014), the advertisement is mainly aired on television, radio and also displayed in various pamphlets, newspapers, magazines, hoardings and posters at different types of strategic places. The head and shoulders brand has also utilized celebrity because they are great believers of endorsement with the help of fame and has gained one o the most famous personalities for taking part in various advertisements (infoscout.co. 2018). The various celebrities like Kareena Kappo and Shah Rukh Khan star from India, Thalia celebrity from Mexico, Jenson Button former formula one driver who have been part of this famous brand.

Marketing Strategy of the chosen FMCG products

It could be found in the world that about 50 per cent of the people suffer from dandruff once in their lifetime and the brand Head and Shoulders has able to improve their marketing strategy by providing proper care to their customers. The main thing for head and shoulders is the brand endorsement with associated and robust names that helped them to penetrate the market more easily for extended and new brands. In India, the hair care industry is gaining the massive amount of growth, and for this reason, the competition has become much stiffer than the previous time. As said byPapp-Váry (2015), the company Head and Shoulders has the dominant financial position in the market and also has the massive amount of popularity.

 The availability of the products is enormous and can be found in various demographic areas. The product provides all the demands of the customers who address proper care in their hair, appropriate social needs, self-actualization. The brand offers the appropriate amount of product awareness to their customers. As said by Mollah et al. (2015), the main important thing that makes the brand more popular around the world is their pricing strategy because with the help of proper pricing the brand was able to gain substantial amount customers as it is being used by all class of people that includes low-class people, middle-class people and upper-middle-class people.

Strategic Recommendation

From the overall analysis of the survey results, it could be found that the brand Head and Shoulders must provide right pricing strategies like price skimming and psychological pricing to retaining many new customers. The company must also start to produce more costly products so that could provide more quality products to their customers with great personal care. As said by Rai (2013), these high quality products will help the organization P&G to gain customers who are from the upper class. The low price products of shampoo will only attract the common mass and not the popular celebration in various countries. As said by East et al. (2016), the main popularity gained by this chosen FMCG product is their pricing strategy which differs from other competitors. From the survey, it could be found about 35 per cent of the people like the classic and old products of the head and shoulders than the new products because according to the customers all the new customers are not being tested properly by the company and provides no proper difference from the old products. The main negative point of the company Head and Shoulders is that their new range of shampoo products does not offer much difference in the personal care compared to their classic product which is mainly popular. The main reason is majority of the lower class, and middle-class people does not understand the real purpose of proper treatment of their hair, and they only think the shampoo products are mainly used for cleaning hair.

Another major thing it could be found out from the survey that the customers' ahs different choice of the shampoo products and they always has the tendency to try different types of shampoo products instead of sticking to only one. Head and Shoulder requires motivational strategy and provides positive comments in the online portals for gaining a right convinced to achieve the proper stage of consumer behavior. The Head and Shoulders are not focusing on their products and promotional strategies to gain more popularity in the market because they are only focusing on the pricing strategy to acquire new customers. As said byPérez et al. (2013), the organization must use the more active approach in their advertisement to gain back their brand position in the market competition. 

The Head and shoulders products must also produce organic shampoo products because nowadays many people who are from the upper middle class and upper class are highly relying on the natural products for their personal.  According to them, organic products provide much more safety to their hair care and health than other shampoo products. It is an excellent opportunity for Head and shoulders to blend in the competition by providing organic shampoo products. The cultural and social background plays a significant role in the brand like Head and Shoulders, for this reason, the organization P&G must utilize this cultural background to gain more new customers from various countries. As said by Zabkar and Hosta (2013), the company must analysis the difference in the lifestyle and needs of the people in different countries because the lifestyle of people differs in many countries. In countries like the United States the brand Head and Shoulders can provide more quality products with high range. It is very important to gain changes in their products because with the change of time the people lifestyle and demands also change due to the rise of many new competitors.

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