Case Study Ariel in Trouble

1. Case study
Group Members:
Husain Karrar
Nadir Rahim
Wajahat Bukhari
Ali Jiwani
Salman Kaleem
Ahmer Mehdi
BRAND MANAGEMENT

2. Overview – Pakistani Market
Total market size by volume= 162,211 tonnes
Total market size by value= Rs. 19 billion
Detergent Market is growing by 5.7% annually for the past 2 year
Companies By Volume By Value
Unilever 45,000 8 billion
P&G 9,000 2 billion
Colgate Palmolive 80,000 8 billion
Rest 28,000 1 billion

3. Continued ……..
Brands By Volume By Value
Surf 25,000 38 billion
Bonus 35,000 21 billion
Brite 10,000 16 billion
Ariel 6,000 11 billion
Express 4,000 5 billion
Rin 2,000 3 billion
Rest 18,000 5 billion
Market Share By Volume (%) By Value (%)
Urban 73 79
Rural 27 21

4. Where Does Ariel Stands…….??
 On price its competing with Surf Excel and Brite
1. Ariel Rs 210
2. Surf Rs 200/kg
3. Brite Rs 170/Kg
 Rin, Express and Ariel are all going for SEC B
‘karak daar safaidi’
 Its going one on one with surf excel as well
Surf Excel ‘dadi ek minute’
Ariel ‘Sirf ek dhulai’

5. Comparative Analysis
Factors Surf Excel Ariel
Launch 1960 1998
Target market Mothers belonging to SEC A and B+ Housewives belonging to SEC B and B+
Price Rs. 200/kg Rs. 210/kg
Packaging Blue , pink and orange. Vibrant and Green and white.
attractive
Consumer 1) Approach- avoidance attitude of 1) Housewives associate strong pleasant
insight mothers. fragrance with cleanliness
2) Mothers want their kids to 2) Housewives are pulled towards
develop, learn and have fun functional benefits
3) But they don’t want dirty clothes to 3) Housewives perceive SKU’s which are
reflect on their love for their bigger to have greater quantity of
children and their competency as detergent
good mothers

6. Comparative Analysis
Factors Surf Excel Ariel
Brand Dirt is Good” / “Dagh tu achay hotain Initial positioning: to switch soap users
positioning hain (indirect route to persuasion)
Ad Appeal Functional and Emotional Functional and benefit
Campaigns 1990 - Tough on stains, soft on hands 2000 - Ariel Maa Campaign
1996 - Jaisa bhi daag ho, surf excel 2008 - Ariel longest kurta ad with Tariq Aziz
hai na 2008 - Ariel challenge with Zubeida Tariq
2005 - Dirt is Good 2009 - Ariel Bachat tip with Zubeida tariq
2007 - Games masti 2009 - Garam pani Thanda pani
2009 - Meetha/Khara pani 2010 - Ariel housewives ad
2010 - Dadi ek minute 2011 - Ariel housewives ad
2011 - Tools for school

7. Comparative Analysis
Factors Surf Excel Ariel
Brand activation and BTL activities 1) School Campaigns to 1) Blind tests
carry out Art/Paint
competitions & giving 2) Celebrity endorsements
prizes on door-to-door basis e.g.
Mr. Faisal Qureshi
2) Fun-oriented activities in
amusement parks to 3) Metro cash and carry
engage families & giving campaign
out gift hampers
3) Games masti
4) Tools for school

8. Comparative Analysis
Factors Surf Excel Ariel
Point of Parity among two Stain removal Stain removal
brands
Packaging & sizes Both the detergents are available in same sizes and packaging
Bleach Content Comparatively lower Higher content of bleach
Name Surf is a generic name. Thus Surf has a competitive
with time it has become a advantage as it creates
generic name for the association in the minds of
detergents category consumers

9. Media Spend
BRANDS 2009 (In Millions) 2010 (In Millions)
SURF 360 480
ARIEL 340 460
BRITE 120 160
BONUS 90 120

15. Current Persona of Ariel in Pakistan
 A chubby middle aged
woman
 Limited budget
 Travels in a rickshaw or other
public transport may be a
bike with husband
 Has two three naughty kids
 Not modern or stylish
 Puts her husband and kids
before herself
 Its the question of her pride
when it comes to clean
clothes of her husband and
children

16. Fundamental Questions
 Why does Ariel still target the lower segment
when it charges a price equal to Surf Excel…?
 Why are the market shares of Ariel still stagnant
when they spend as much as Surf Excel on
advertising…?

17. Points to Ponder
 A brand should stand for something
 Ariel’s wrong initial target market:
 Soap users (Indirect competitors) and were consistent with it over the years.
 Did not look at its direct competitors
 Ariel is a Premium priced brand, but it caters to lower classes
 Is under positioned
 Even though the major chunk of Ariel’s share belongs to Urban Markets , their
communication ideas still show housewives belonging to rural markets.
 AD spend by Ariel is similar to that of Surf Excel, but it failed to increase its market
share
 Position benefits instead of emotional appeal
 Advertising has no “punch”
 Surf a generic name, Ariel not a generic name. Surf has more top of the mind
recall (law of category)

18. Proposed Positioning
 Reducing price not an option
 So target A and B+ core target-
 A premium brand that quickly cleans clothes
 It saves time effort and has high quality cleaning capabilities
and aroma
 Therefore, in ads show a pretty house with well dressed
people who want products that save time and effort.

19. Proposed Persona
 A middle aged SEC A
woman age bracket 30-38
with a kid not necessarily
a house wife.
 She may be a working
woman who manages the
house along side work.
 She travels in a car driving
herself or with driver and
has to maintain a balance
between work and family
and to her time is money
 She does not compromise
on quality.

20. Proposed Celebrity Persona
Bushra Ansari Nadia Hussain
Having her would have If they want to go with
the additional benefits of the working women with
longer commitment young kids they can
reliability and take Nadia Hussain as
established brand well and she fits the
because she is older proposed persona very
and well known well.

21. Old & New Persona

22. Alternate Solution or a New
Dilemma?
P&G only has Ariel to cater one segment. It should bring
more brands in this category to become the market leader
Tide ( Positioned above Ariel)
But Tide is a middle tier brand in India and a Top tier brand in
USA and UK.
How they will go in Pakistan?