Surf Excel Marketing Mix (4Ps) Strategy

Marketing Mix of Surf Excel analyses the brand/company which covers 4Ps (Product, Price, Place,
Promotion) and explains the Surf Excel marketing strategy. Let us start the Surf Excel Marketing Mix:

Product:

The product strategy and mix in Surf Excel marketing strategy can be explained as follows:

Surf Excel is a leading detergent & soap brand which is synonymous with cleaning clothes & apparel.
Surf Excel categorizes its product offerings as a part of its marketing mix into Hand wash and
Machine wash sub segments. The hand wash category is targeted at mid-rise population who
cannot afford to have washing machine or because of preferences. Surf Excel products in the
category include Surf Excel liquid detergent, Surf Excel bar and detergent powders such as Surf Excel

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Quick Wash and Surf Excel Easy Wash. For machine wash, Surf Excel has launched its product under

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the sub-brand name of Matic. Matic line of products are specially manufactured for the front load

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and top load washing machines. Its products include Surf Excel Matic Liquid front load, Surf Excel
Matic Liquid top load, Surf Excel Matic front load detergent powder and Surf Excel Matic top load

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detergent powder.
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Price:

Below is the pricing strategy in Surf Excel marketing strategy:

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Surf Excel targets premium and mid-tier consumer with maximum market share pricing strategy. All its
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products are priced lower than the rival P&G brand Ariel. This is due to price sensitivity of Pakistan
consumers across the market segment. Surf Excel deploys product line pricing by pricing its products line
targeting premium segment higher than the price of products targeting mid-rise segment. The company
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sells its product in different packet sizes based on weight to capture the customers who want to spend
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less in one time. Surf Excel follows product-bundling price strategy for the selected line of products
which it wants to promote. Surf excel offers periodic price discounts and revises its prices quite often in
response to market changes. The discounts offered are broadly of two types, one is quantity discount
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available on bulk purchase as it wants to inculcate the habit of bulk purchase in Pakistan consumers to
achieve efficiency in its operations and second it gives seasonal discounts.
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Place:

Following is the distribution strategy of Surf Excel:

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Surf Excel line of products are available in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Major portion
of brand’s revenue comes from India. The product line similar to Surf Excel is marketed by Unilever
globally under different brand names like Ala in Brazil & Argentina, Omo in Bolivia, and Persil in

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 United Kingdom. HUL had country wide distribution network as a part of its marketing mix in all
these countries.

Surf Excel products are also available through e-commerce websites like Amazon, Daraz and Flipchart.

Promotion:

The promotional and advertising strategy in the Surf Excel marketing strategy is as follows:

Surf Excel adopts 360-degree promotion for its products. The company has based all its campaign on the
baseline of “Dirt is Good”. HUL has adopted both above the line (ATL) and below the line (BTL)
promotion strategy for the brand. In ATL, the company focuses heavily on effective TV advertisements. To
establish emotional connect with the customers; Surf Excel has featured children in its ad campaign
using various themes. The company has used various TV and movie celebrities for its ad campaigns. The
company has also used billboards, posters, and print media such as newspaper, magazines, and major

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radio channels. In its BTL campaigns the company has organized various competitions like hand painting

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competition.

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PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
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Every product that is introduced in the market comes with a shelf life. It typically undergoes four
stages. FMCG products usually have longer life cycle as people once buy a product, continue to buy
it for a longer period of time till its inventory lasts.
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The four stages of a Product Life Cycle are:

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1. Introduction Stage:

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Surf Excel was introduced in 1948 as "Surf" in Pakistan and has deep rooted heritage which has
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2. Growth Stage:
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As the detergent market started growing in Pakistan many of the competitors came into picture with
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better prices. Surf Excel introduced variety of products and changed its campaign " Daag ache hai".

3. Maturity Stage:
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Sales peak during this stage. Since a long time Surf Excel has stayed in the maturity stage as it has
the highest market share. Many competitors introduce their products. The company should modify
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and upgrade their products to stay at the peak.

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4. Decline Stage:

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 Sales drop down at this stage. Profit is the lowest in this period. The company changes its focus and
concentrates on loyal customers or changes the target group to comparatively lower income groups
so as to maintain sales.

Surf Excel is in its maturity phase as it has the highest market share.
The biggest challenge the company is facing is:

To maintain its market share with so many competitors with lower prices.

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Therefore it is introducing more range of products and technologically upgrading.

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They are widening their scope to rural markets. All this has lead to sustainable growth.

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Dynamic pricing

Surf excel do not charge dynamic prices on the basis of their customer willingness to pay.
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They are charging same for end customer.

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Three mechanisms to maintain segmented structures

Price offer configuration:

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Price matrices:
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Surf Excel per Grams and per Kg

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Price Fence
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Purchase quantity fence: for availing discount you have to buy certain slabs in order to qualify for
instance 1-1000 packs will lead to 1% discount on net bill, 1001-2000 will lead to 2% discount.

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 Mind your Pricing Cues

Sales Sign

They use sales sign as below

1 Kg pack = 1100 grams = 10% extra , 10% extra for buying 1KG pack

20 Rs surf excel = 65 grams = now offered on 15 Rs = save 5 rupees, Surf excel which was sold for 20
rupees of 65 gram is now being sold for 15 which means customer can save 5 rupees.

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Price that end with 9 rs e
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Yes they do charge their customer 99 rupees instead of 100 rupees for 320gram pack, this leads to make
customer think that they are getting good deal.
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Sign Post

They are price setters in the industry; they do not follow the trends they make them. They charge
premium for their product.

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 Price Guarantees

They do not offer price guarantee because they are already charging more than the market because
of the quality of their product and because of brand image.

THROUGH ATL:

Prices are being communicated with the help of Advertisement on TV & Radio

THROUGH DIGITAL:

Digital posts and other tools are used on digital platform for price communication (DARAZ,ALI BABA)

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THROUGH POSM:

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Point of sale materials are also used for price communication within store. Also, price mentioned on

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product also communicate the pricing of product

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COMPETITORS
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 Economical DETERGENT

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 PRICING & MARGINS

Brand Company SKU Trade Price Retail Price

ARIEL P&G 35GM 9.44 10

ARIEL P&G 65GM 18.58 20

ARIEL P&G 2+1 DOWNY 27.4 30

ARIEL P&G 170GM 46.7 50

ARIEL P&G 500GM 147 155

ARIEL P&G 1000GM 293 310

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BRITE C.P 35GM 9.48 10

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BRITE C.P 65GM 19.08 20

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BRITE C.P 65GM 13.23 15

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BRITE C.P 170GM 47.5 50

BRITE C.P 500GM 148 155

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BRITE C.P 1000GM 295 310

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BRITE C.P 2000GM 562.98 590

SURF UNILEVER 35GM 9.5 10

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SURF UNILEVER 65GM 14.33 15

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SURF UNILEVER 170GM 47.76 50

SURF UNILEVER 500GM 148.04 155

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SURF UNILEVER 1KG 296.8 310

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SURF UNILEVER 2KG 560 590

SURF UNILEVER 3KG 783.19 820

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SURF UNILEVER 4.5KG 1175 1230

SURF UNILEVER T/L 500GM 190 200

SURF UNILEVER T/L 1KG 381.09 400

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