SUAVE

ABOUT
SUAVE
⊹ Suave was a men’s hairdressing in the 1950 s the first shampoo &
under the name Suave was launched in 1962
⊹ Suave products were used in 16 million homes more than 90 %
shampoos .
⊹ Finesse was launched with a $ 20million in advertising was one of &
the heavily promoted hair care brands in the industry Finesse had a
much higher gross margin due to the price differential generated &
twice the dollar profit per case as compared to suave Hence Suave
had taken a back seat to Finesse .
⊹ Yet suave had the longest line of shampoos in the industry with a
total of 40 SKU s average of 12 in any grocery store New product ’ &
variations were constantly introduced to maintain brand s vitality ’ &
to allow suave users to switch within the suave line . 2
RVIE
W
3
 Discuss importance of
understanding consumer
1 behavior in designing
communications programs,
in light of the case
“ The Shampoo Market

⊹ Highly fragmented market.

⊹ Matured Market.

⊹ Low Brand Loyalty.

⊹ Highly Competitive.

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 Understanding the consumer behaviour
⊹ Market Research

“ ⊹ Large Scale Interviews

⊹ Hired Independent Market Research Organization.

⊹ Focus Group Interviews

⊹ Analysis of Psychographic Profiles

⊹ Statistical Analysis (To profile “Suave Users” vs “Trier Rejectors”)

⊹ Understanding the Purchasing Patterns 6

“ Designing Communication
Programs
⊹ Need for Point of Difference was really essential.

⊹ Advertisement programs are highly competitive for

competitors.

⊹ Necessity to improvise in order to increase and improve

sales.

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 Discuss the importance of
good marketing research in
consumer behavior
2 considering the case
information
“
Consumer differentiation
• Demographic segmentation – Age, Gender, Income,
employment.
• Psychographic segmentation.

Reveal characteristics of a target market

• Flurry of new product activity
• High importance of retail support
• Low brand loyalty

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“ Building a picture of consumer behaviour.

Provide Insights for building business strategies

• Research to profile suave users vs trier rejectors (no usage
in the last six months)

Understanding Purchasing patterns

• Comparison with competitors
• Research to examine what other brands of shampoo Suave
customers purchased

Understanding consumer response to marketing

programs
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3 Pull vs Push Strategies
“ Push Marketing Strategy
⊹ The brand was commonly sold to retailers at a discount,
approximately 60% of the marketing budget was for trade
promotions.

⊹ To retain the market positions and develop loyalty, companies

had accelerated new-product development, appealing to
specialized consumer needs.

⊹ New-product variations were constantly introduced to maintain

the brand's vitality and to allow Suave customers to switch

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“ Pull Marketing Strategy
⊹ Tom Kuykendall believed that Suave had reached a plateau and
there was an opportunity to increase all of the awareness and
usage measures.

⊹ Through prime time, it was believed that more current and

potential consumers could be reached, particularly working
women.

⊹ Ellen Vallera suggested that Prime time can be used in the first
half and Print can be used in the second half.

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 Media Mix Decision
4 Criteria & Ways
“ Ellen Vallera’s $7.8 million Plan

⊹ $7.1 million would be allocated between day time & prime

time television & $ 700,000 to the print campaign.

⊹ Out of $7.1 million, approximately 43% was allocated to

prime time & 47% was allocated to day time network & the
remaining to the print campaign.

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“ Tom Kuykendall’s $10.2 million
plan

⊹ $ 9.5 million was allocated to the prime time network &

nothing during the day time.

⊹ The rest $700,000 approximately was allocated to the print

campaign

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5 TEAM INTERPRETATION
 Accepting Ellen Vallera’s $7.8
“ million plan

⊹ Helps maintain profit margins.

⊹ Increase in expenditure could not be justified.

⊹ Provides a wider reach.

⊹ Only daytime television could provide continuity

throughout the year.

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“ Recommendation

⊹ Communication

⊹ Product

⊹ Product Development

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