Cae No. |
PRoDucT
Case Study on Product Life cycle of Sunsilk
Introduction
‘Sunsilk is a hair care brand, primarily aimed at women, produced by the Unilever group, which is now
considered the world’s leading company and brand in hair conditioning and the second largest in
shampoo. Sunsilk is Unilever’s leading hair care brand, and ranks as one of the “billion dollar brands"
Sunsilk shampoos, conditioners and other hair care products are sold in 69 countries worldwide.
iB
G
SUNSILK SINS ING
Sunsitk was launched in the UK in 1954, and by 1959 it was available in 18 different countries
worldwide. At the time, Sunsilk had an advantage over other shampoos in the market as it only needed
one application, and so meant washing less natural oils from the hair. Sunsilk cream shampoo for dry
hhair was launched in 1956.Madonna, Natalia Oreiro, Shakira, and Marilyn Monroe all featured in
Sunsilk’s 2008 advertising camp: ‘Can't Wait"! which launched with a Super Bow! XLII spot.
The philosophy behind the campaign was about girls taking positive steps to gain better control of their
lives “Hair On = Life On",
fe cycle (PLC) is a portrayal of the life of a product in the market attempting to capture the
dynamics of a brand from the perspective of business/eommercial costs and sales
measures. Product Lifecycle has 5 stages through which a product or its category bypass, from its
development to introduction to the marketing, growth, maturity to its decline or reduction in demand
in the market.
‘Sunsilk was launched in India in 1964 and it grew with the growth in the hair care industry. specifically
the shampoo market, in India, launching a number of product variants.
Steps taken by Sunsilk at each stageINTRODUCTION - The introduction stage of the product life cycle is where a new product is launched
into a market,
Sunsilk was launched as a cosmetic beauty shampoo, and was positioned the same way during its initial
years in India. Sunsilk began its publicity efforts in 1955 with an advertising campaign that focused on
specific hair "issues".
OPPORTUNITY- In its early years in India as well, Sunsilk focused much of its marketing attention
to position the product as a beauty shampoo.
GROWTH - In the growth stage of the product life cycle, the market has
accepted the product and sales begin to increase,
In the early 1970s, Sunsilk was advertised with the punch line “All you need
is Sunsilk”. In its growth stage, the communication of Sunsilk was focused on
different product variants and promoting the use of Sunsilk conditioners.
Within ten years of its launch in India, Sunsilk introduced a tonic shampoo for
dandruff, which was the first anti-dandruff shampoo in India. In the
subsequent years, it launched many shampoo variants such as Sunsilk Silky
and Straight Shampoo, Sunsilk Care & Repair Shampoo, Sunsilk Hydra,
Sunsilk for Hair Damaged by Daily Wear and Tear. Sunsilk also came out,
with its range of hair conditioners such as Sunsilk Daily Repair Conditioner
and Sunsilk Soothing Conditioner.
a |
MATURITY. In the maturity stage of the product life cycle, sales will reach their
peak.
Sunsilk attained maturity as a global brand, with its products being sold in 69
countries. To prolong the set in of the decline stage, Sunsilk went for Brand
rejuvenation in 2003 and came out with “SUNSILK NATURALS”,
From 2009, Sunsilk has started working with a number of professional hair experts to develop new and
improved products. Each hair issue variant has been linked to an expert with the relevant specialist hair
knowledge. For example, Dr Francesca Fusco, a New York dermatologist, co-created a “hairfall”
variant for the brand, Sunsilk created a new look with new variants, new packaging, new advertisement
and a new tagline “Life can’t wait”,
Sunsilk has managed to stand apart from its rivals, Sunsilk understands that different girls have different
needs and hence has created 7 products that cater to a variety of them.
On June 17, 2006, Unilever launched Sunsilkgangofgirls.com, Indie's first “online all-girl community"
which quickly caught the attention of the target group as it was promoted through a 360-degree media
communication blitz. The site was branded space to promote Sunsilk, while at the same time it provided
a social networking platform for girls. The site offers its users access to a variety of local and global
experts to address various hair care needs through its content, blogs and live chat room.COMPETITION & CHALLENGES- Sunsilk faces tough competition from the ‘sachet’ market which
accounts for 70 percent of the market. Also Sunsilk still neglects the rural market which is the major
chunk of the shampoo industry in the present day scenario. Furher, the brand is restricting its target to
20 something women only and in hence neglecting the middle aged customers. They have also lost a
hhuge segment of male users by naming them ‘Desperate Guys”.
DECLINE- In the decline stage of the product life cycle, sales will begin to decline as the product
reaches its saturation point. Most products are phased out of the market at this point due to the decrease
in sales and because of competitive pressure. The market will see the product as old and no longer in
demand,
SUNSILK is in its maturity stage, as it already made its impact on the market and is still far away from
the decline stage.
In the early years, Sunsilk focused much of its marketing attention on gaining international presence.
‘A new campaign was launched to recruit younger users. The new products focused on hair color,
texture, feeling, dryness, etc. The updated Sunsilk campaign, "Get Hairapy", followed the same
strategy, marking a bold move towards users in theit 20s and upwards said to be in their "quarter-life
crisis". Around 20% of the brand’s current users are new users after repositioning while 40% are brand
loyal. The brand is also approaching the rural areas with “Sunsilk Sahelian”,
Questions —
1, Identify and discuss different strategies adopted by Sunsilk at various stages of ITS Product
Life Cyele,
2. What are the Challenges in front of Sunsilk? In your opinion how Sunsilk should overcome
those challenges?