Super Shampoo

A successful marketer had always wondered how shampoo transformed from an unaffordable product to an affordable one and also believed that the rural markets in India offered a huge potential in consumer products. He was doubtful about the brand names of different shampoo brands being complex to understand that is why he decided to launch a product called “super shampoo’ which was easy to pronounce and projected a superior Image against whatever It was competing against.

To develop a strategy for positioning the new brand in the Indian market he needed to do a market survey in a rural market. The survey was related to the several attitudinal aspects of consumers towards the shampoo category as well as towards the brands. The target population was defined In terms of elements, sampling units, extent and time. As part of the survey, the respondent profiles, attitudes, interests and opinions were captured. Data was collected using shampoo category and brand – specific questionnaires.

The main concerns he had were that he didn’t have the financial muscle to compete against the advertising of the megabrands, since marketing communication was so Important In a such a competitive and glamour ridden category. Since rural India was a highly heterogeneous consumer market, it would be difficult to target it as a single consumer market. It would be hard to persuade the consumers to try a new product when three major brands of shampoos were already ruling the market. unlike urban India, rural India a kind of dark media market i. e. the media penetration was very low.

As per the data collected using the survey, it would be imperative for super shampoo to come out In sachets along with small – sized bottles since In rural India 90% of the shampoo sales occur as sachets. TV advertising and word of mouth should be the two main marketing strategies based on the attitudes of the consumers towards trying something new. Print marketing to be done through putting up posters in the local stores to create awareness about the product. The target audience for the advertisements should be women aged between 25 to 40 years since they are the ones doing the shopping for the family’s needs.

The shampoo should be classified as part of one of the three segments i. e. cosmetic (shine, strength, health etc. ) or Ann-dandruff or herbal as the consumers relate more to the stability of the product. The high penetration yet low per capita consumption of the shampoos is indicative of the available opportunity in the category. If efficiently exploited this segment could turn out to be the biggest advantage for the brand. This requires understanding the psyche of the rural consumer through market research and experimentation. hich was easy to pronounce and projected a superior image against whatever it was s towards the brands.

The target population was defined in terms of elements, he didn’t have the financial muscle to compete against the advertising of the megabrands, since marketing communication was so important in a such a when three major brands of shampoos were already ruling the market. Unlike urban shampoo to come out in sachets along with small – sized bottles since in rural India since they are the ones doing the shopping for the family’s needs.