RIN

DETERGENT:
TO POSITION
OR
REPOSITION
Group 7
•2110135 ANGOTH RAVI TEJA
•2110146 KSHITIJ VISHWAKARMA
•2110153 MUNAPARTHI VENKATA RAVI KIRAN SAI
•2110172 SATYAMITRA SINGH
•2110182 SINHA ANTRA AJITKUMAR
•2010142 SRUJITH KUMAR GABBETA
•2010035 MANOJ HAZARIKA
The Company
• Subsidiary of Lever Brothers International
• Pakistan based company known as Lever Brothers Pakistan Limited (Levers)
• In 1998, Profit before tax was Rs. 277 million and sales of Rs. 3.65 billion

PRODUCT LINE

Skin and shaving

Shampoos Edible oils Margarine
creams

Toilet soaps Scourers Detergents

The Market – 1/2
• In 1998, the total fabric wash consisted of 263,050 tonnes of sales
• Lever’s 2 brands – Surf and Sunlight which were NSD powders, obtained 50% of
the market of NSD Powders
• Hard soaps (88%) and Bars (12%) together comprised of the total dishwash sales
which were 60,000 tonnes in the year 1998
• Levers had entry in neither laundry soap segment nor the dish washing market
Segment Quantity Growth from 1987-88 Price
Laundry Soap 247,000 5% Rs.10 – Rs.15/- per Kg
NSD Powder 14,500 12% Rs.20 – Rs.48/- per Kg
NSD Bars 1,550 29% Rs.3.25/125g (RIN)
Total 263,050 - -
The Market – 2/2
• Total liquid dishwash sales accounted to 160 tonnes
• Hard soaps were retailed for Rs.20 – Rs.40 per Kg with an annual growth rate of
5%
• Whereas bars were retailed for Rs.25 – Rs.40 per Kg with an annual growth rate
of 3%
• Sunlight liquid dishwash introduced by Levers in 1985 was discontinued in 1987
as it could not achieve more than 20 tonnes sales a year
• A competitor ZIP dishwashing liquid sold 600ml bottle @Rs.23 and accounted for
sales of approximately 100 tonnes a year
The Product – RIN 1/2
• Introduced @Rs.2.95 for 130g pack with an advertising and promotion budget of
Rs.5.7 million
• Advertised with reference to thunder and lightning which emphasized on the
brightness attribute of RIN
• The actual sales were not meeting the targeted sales from 1984-87 despite of
several promotion schemes, changes in price of the product or the leaflets that
were distributed

Year Sales Target (Tonnes) Actual Sales (Tonnes)

1984 1,000 300
1985 1,000 400
1986 1,000 650
The Product – RIN 1/2
• Finally, after its relaunch in the year 1987, it managed to cross the targeted sales
with the help of new advertising theme – movie star endorsing the product with
the phrase “You get much more out of RIN than you pay for”
• Since then, advertising techniques like trade promotions, leaflets and trade
meetings were carried out
• RIN was able to cover 100% of the retail outlets that were selling detergents
• Distributor's margin was increased to 3.30% in January 1985 from 2.91% in 1984
and were given the benefit of reimbursement of travel expenses up to 0.20% of
retail value of good ordered
Year Sales Target (Tonnes) Actual Sales (Tonnes)
1987 1,600 1,200
1988 1,300 1,550
The Company’s Dilemma
• A survey was conducted by Domestic Research Bureau (DRB) costing to
Rs.50,000 covering 12 sample cities and towns in the country
• The survey revealed that only 15% of respondents used
Consumer perception and usage of
RIN as a fabric washer whereas 65% used it as a RIN
dishwasher and the rest used it for both purposes Dish wash Fabric Wash Both
• The reason for wrong perception of the product by the
customers might have been the blue color of other 20%

dishwashers in the market which resembled the color of

packaging of RIN
• According to R&D department, removal of the fabric wash 15%

ingredients from the product would reduce its total variable 65%

cost by 33% and would not affect the dishwashing

performance
 Evaluating the market planning and implementation
Year Marketing activity Its effect
1984 • Conducted Thunder and Lightning bolt people got confused by the theme of the
advertising advertisement as they linked it to rain, and clothes
• Rs.0.50 price-off campaign could not be washed outdoors in rainy weather.
• Sales increased by only 10% while expected
was 50%

1985 • Provided discount of Rs.1 on purchase of 2
RIN bars on presentation of newspaper
coupon;
• Conducted a Rs.0.70 off-price campaign from
April to July.
• Actual sales was 40% less than the expected
coupon offer is valid when retailers collect the
wrappers and send it to the levers, which is a
lengthy process that reduces interest in
consumers. Even if they are providing, it should be
an ease on experience.

1986 • Pack size was reduced from 130 grams to 125 Due to this, their variable cost was reduced to Rs :
grams 1/-
• A new pack size of 250 grams was introduced.

1987 • New Advertisement by a middle-aged movie reached the people and increased sales of more
star endorsed RIN as being a superior washing than 1000 tons
product
• The phrase- “You will get much more out of
RIN than you pay for”
What could have been done
It was the only non-soap detergent bar available in the market, so they could have
charged a higher price for their product
More time, money and efforts should have been spent in the R&D of the product
initially
Free samples should have been rolled out in the market during the launch i.e., 1984
The content of advertisement (rain) should have been removed as audience thought
that cloths cannot be washed outside in rainy weather
Improve packaging by depicting cloths on the wrapper, so people can decipher the
correct usage of the product
There is lack of information to determine a pricing strategy and discounts being given
 Alternatives

Dishwasher Fabric Washer

Both Both
(2 in 1) (2 separate products)
Alternative 1 – Fabric washer
Pros –
• Does not require changing of the ingredients or the product
• Advertising cost would be less
• More market to explore

Cons –
• Wrapper/Packaging of the product need to be changed
• The blue colour of product needs to be fixed
• Would incur cost of promotions/campaigns to change customer perception
• Customer base would reduce
Alternative 2 – Dish Washer
Pros –
• 33% decrease in variable cost
• Already established customer base
• No need to change colour or packaging

Cons –
• Customer base might get affected in terms of the consumers using RIN as a
fabric washer
• Would incur advertising costs
• Brand image
Alternative 3 – Both (2 in 1)
Pros –
• No need to develop a new product
• customer base remains same (might also increase)
• Customers would get the benefit of both dishwashing and fabric washing in a
single product
• Would be a unique and new product in the market

Cons –
• Would incur packaging and advertising costs
• Might create confusion in the minds of customer regarding its usage
Alternative 4 – One product for Dishwash
and another for Fabric
Pros –
• Customer base will remain same or might even increase
• No confusion regarding the usage as there would be 2 different products
• Exploring the market

Cons –
• Product development cost
• Packaging and advertising costs
• Colour needs to be fixed for fabric washer
Recommended Alternative
1. Considering the 65%(majority) used it as dishwash will readily buy it as it is without any
change.
2. The scope of increasing market as fabric washing bar with changes in colour of bar &
wrapper.
3. Positioning 2 different products targeting women might increase sales.
4. The confusion of blue coloured fabric washing bar will no longer pertain.
5. The savings from 33% of total variable cost in ingredients of dish washing bar can be
used for other variable costs that will incur because of the new strategy.

• RIN wouldn’t struggle as much with a new product as it is already familiar brand.
• Hence, we would recommend the alternative 4 i.e., “Introducing both
dishwasher and fabric washer as two separate products”