Persil and marketing

University Degree Business and Administrative studies

MARKETTING COURSEWORK

Task 1

Persil meets the principles of marketing by: -

Launching massive advertising campaigns around the country
Having special offers on their products like buy one get one free
Creating product differentiation to beat out the competitors
Carrying out surveys in order to know what customers want therefore producing the right products

It also uses the 4 p’s as a way of their marketing strategy namely:-

Price

Their pricing continues to follow a strategy of “value for money”. Their products are sold at a price which the customers believe is the value for money at the same time not just cheaply. Persil non-biological costs £2.55 for a 1.21kg compared with Fairy non-biological which costs £2.69 for 1.33kg, Persil colour care costs £3.39 for 1.5ltr’s and Persil performance costs £2.55 for 1.55kg compared with Ariel which costs £4.65 for 2.2kg.

Persil’s pricing strategy is more closely competition based where they charge prices based on what their competitors are charging and its also close to non-price competition where they compete with competition using other methods other than using price.

The other available pricing strategies available are:-

Penetration pricing- this is where it can charge very low prices on a new product to get customer interest in it and when its fully established in the market, they put the prices up because the customers are willing to pay for it.

Skimming- this is where they charge very high prices to make the product desirable to high income earners who are ready to pay the price.

Price discrimination- this is where the firm charges different prices to different customers for the same product. This normally happens depending on what region or country it is.

cost plus pricing- this is fixing a price at a product by adding a certain percentage onto the cost of production

Product

This is what the customers want to buy i.e. Persil products. Persil produces high quality products that it is regarded as a brand name in the country

Persil is a range of three products namely Persil performance, Persil non-biological and Persil colour care. They also come in different forms namely liquid, powder and tablets.

Persil performance is a biological formulation with a stain removing preposition targeted at family washing. Persil non-biological is a dermatologically tested version targeted and suitable for people with sensitive skins and Persil colour care is the formulation that offers brilliant cleaning to keep colours vibrant which it achieves because it doesn’t contain bleach. The recently released new version is Persil black velvet which, a liquid detergent which is designed especially for clothes with dark colours. The main target is the young consumers who won’t wear clothes if they are not dark enough and also the parents of teenagers with a predominantly black wardrobe

Place

Persil has many sell outlets including big supermarket chains in the country like Tesco and Sainsbury’s, local or individual owned shops, chemist shops like boots and super drug, garage forecourts and motor way service areas. Most sales end up in grocery multiples because they are more convenient and popular and many are starting to deliver a 24/7 service. They are also the leaders in price cutting than any other outlets. On the technological side, Persil has a website where it offers online ordering and the goods are delivered to the customers’ door steps. This is also convenient ...

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Place

Promotion

Persil promotes it Products by advertising on T.V mainly targeting specific programmes, carrying out advertising campaigns on radio, they also have a website which people can visit. It also includes all the different range of products they have which gets the customers to know them. Sometimes they carry out sales promotions like buy one get one free, they also advertise on posters/billboards and cinemas targeting family movies which will include an audience of mothers as well.

You can also submit your e-mail address if you are an internet user and they will keep you up to date about their products, the press is also an important form of advertising because it targets a big audience, Persil is a big sponsor of events, it has got persuasive messages on the products packaging like save 99p. Lastly, it donates money to charities which gives it a good reputation in the public.

Task 2

The internal and external influences of PEST and SWOT on persil are as follows: -

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strength

Persil has got high popularity in the country.
Its products have got a very good repetition in quality
It’s a brand name in the country
It has got a very high market share of 28% making the leading seller in the country
They have a full range of internal facilities like modern machinery and well trained staff able to deliver good services
Very good and convenient outwards distribution channels for their products
Since their products are consumer non-durables, they can always be selling
It’s a large well established international public limited company(PLC)
It has got a wide range of products

Weaknesses

Low development of new washing liquids i.e. little difference of new products from old ones
Poor communication with customers because it doesn’t supply products directly but through many distribution channels
Their products are targeted at a limited age group

Opportunities

Persil can diversify into a different market to get new market share
It can also try promoting using large marketing events
Sponsor big events like football matches which have a very big number of viewing audiences
Population of the country growing so more consumers
Increased consumer demand for laundry products

Threats

Persil’s main competitors like DAZ, bold and Ariel
More companies diversifying into the laundry industry
Recessions in the economy which means people will have less disposable income to spend
Negative government legislation i.e. it doesn’t allow monopolies

PEST ANALYSIS

Political

The government has tight regulations for selling biological products and biased advertising
An unexpected war can be very damaging to the economy therefore sparking less spending by consumers
Increase or cut backs in taxes can have good and bad effects on persil i.e. consumers will buy more if the taxes are relatively low and they will buy less if the taxes go up
Introduction of minimum wage system forced the company to cut spending in other fields

Economical

The bank of England always changes interest rates which has both negative and positive effects depending on whether they have gone up or gone down
The different budget of each single person during certain times affect Persil’s sales
Predictions of an impending recession might have negative effects on the company if it ever happens because people wont be spending much
Transportation costs for goods are also high

Social

Environmental campaigners are concerned that pollution from the factories is damaging to the environment
consumers tend to like brand names and international products better

Technological

The rapid development of the technological industry like the internet has had big effects on the way persil advertises and sells its products i.e. it advertises on its websites and also handles online orders
Costs of maintaining old and purchasing new machinery are high for the business

Task 3

There are three main strategic marketing models namely: -

Boston matrix

This is used by firms to analyse how their existing products are doing. This helps them decide which products are doing well and which are not doing so well. It is mainly made of three categories namely: -

Star product- This is where the product has successfully reached the growth stage in the life cycle. The products are doing as good as they can possibly do. They are the products with a large share of a high growth market

Problem child-These are the products that have just been launched and hold a future potential because they are in growth markets but their sales are not very good.

Cash cows- These are the products that have reached the maturity stage in their product life cycle and are now yielding quite a lot. These products are able to sell at a steady pace and maybe able to support other products, the probably been around for a long time and have a stable market share.

Dog-These are products that have declined. They are generating a negative cash flow and the business should get rid of them.

From all this I say that if I was to use the Boston matrix model, Persil would be a star product.

Ansoff matrix

This is the most useful method for businesses aiming for growth. It provides four different growth strategies namely: -

Market penetration- this is where the firm seeks to achieve growth with existing products in their current market segments, aiming to increase its market share.

Market development- this is where the firm seeks growth by targeting its existing products to new market segments.

Product development- the firm develops new products still targeting its existing market segments.

Diversification- here the firm grows by diversifying into new businesses and developing new products for new markets.

Product life cycle

This is the period over which the product appeals to customers. Firstly, the product may expand and grow, then the market will mature, and eventually the product will move into decline.

It is important for businesses to know the product life cycle because it helps them understand and plan for the present and future. By also understanding the product life cycle, they can evaluate the current and potential of the product i.e. if it’s doing well, they can think of ways to keep it on its highest peaks like sales promotion and if it’s doing badly, they can think of ways to increase the sales like launching more advertising campaigns.

From all this I say that if I used this model, Persil would be in its maturity stage

My chosen new possible marketing strategy for Persil is using the ansoff matrix model.

Task 4

The sources of information I have used to complete this task are: -