Brand Overview
Head & Shoulders is
a brand of anti-dandruff produced by P&G.
Matt Elliott got Procter & Gamble
researchers to start making a new anti-dandruff shampoo in 1950. Nearly a
decade of research went into making a new formula, which introduced pyrithione
zinc into the shampoo. It was first introduced to the U.S. market in November
1961 as a blue-green shampoo formula.
Head & Shoulders is the world's number one
anti-dandruff shampoo. A power brand from P&G, this brand made it debuted
in India in year of 1997. In the highly competitive shampoo market, which is
estimated to be worth around Rs.1800 Cr, H&S is a major player in the
anti-dandruff niche.
Now anti-dandruff segment constitute around 15%
of the shampoo market moreover P&G is the global market leader in the
retail hair care market with over 20% of the global market share behind Pantene
and Head & Shoulders. According to P&G's annual report of 2011, the
Beauty and grooming market share which primarily deals with the beauty segment
constitute of '% of net sale of 24% and percentage of net earning account to 23%'
for P&G. The prominent brand is Head and Shoulders in this segment
Segmentation
A market
segment consists of a group of customers who share a similar set of needs and
wants. Rather than creating the segments, the marketers' task is to identify
them an decide which ones to target.
The available segments of H&S can be found
based on demography, geography, pshychography or life style. But being an FMCG
product a shampoo brand like H&S the demographic and geographic
segmentation is not as important as it based upon the life-style as well as
customer preferences despite of their above segmentation. The core segments are
·
Anti-dandruff
·
Black hair
·
Shiny hair
·
Low-price
H&S started operating in the anti-dandruff
segment. As a added benefit it also emphasized on smooth hair.
Target Market
The target market for H&S are the higher middle
class people who are brand conscious, early adopter and who care about the
overall health of their hair. H&S targets the people of middle age men ( in
the beginning) having scalp and dandruff problems. At the initial period of its
marketing strategy, it showed advertisement which shows the facts with only one
use of the product, the shampoo gives almost 100% relief from shampoo. It
introduced many other features like menthol, volume boost, and hair-fall
therapy for the college going youth and young professional with hair conscious.
H&S took the advantage of physiological mentality of this user group with
adopting ads where prominent actors were used.
Positioning
H&S is positioned
as anti-dandruff product which clear flakes with one wash. As the market leader
it has successfully acquired the niche market of anti-dandruff segment. The
effective distribution channel and deep penetration in the rural market has
boosted up the sales in past year making it a leader. According to annual
report of H&S 2011 the quote states "H&S was relatively small, primarily
north American brand a decade ago. We invested in combination of marketing and
product innovations and began to expand the brand globally. Since then we have
more than tripled sales and H&S is now the largest shampoo brand in the
world."
Point of parity
(POP)
Head and Shoulder
consists of such POPs:
•Dream soft & Smooth
•Stunning Black Shine
•Lusciously Thick &
Long
•Anti-Dandruff Solution
•Hair Fall Solution
Point of Difference
(POD)
It was during
2005 that Head & Shoulders began its aggressive campaign to regain the lost
market.The brand roped in the bubbly Preity Zinta to endorse the brand. Earlier
Ajay Jadeja had endorsed the brand.During this period, the brand also extended
its positioning from Anti-Dandruff to "Soft hair + dandruff removing
" proposition. The brand also introduced different variants like Menthol,
Aloevera, Black, Naturally Clean,smooth & silky to increase the product
line depth.
The brand also changed ZPT formula to Vitazinc to support the new positioning. Along with the new brand ambassador, the brand also talked about eliminating 5 problems arising out of dandruff : Flakes,Irritation,Itchiness,Dryness and Oiliness.
The brand also changed ZPT formula to Vitazinc to support the new positioning. Along with the new brand ambassador, the brand also talked about eliminating 5 problems arising out of dandruff : Flakes,Irritation,Itchiness,Dryness and Oiliness.
Recommendation:
Although Head & Shoulders
has aggressive in the market, it is still lagging behind Clinic All Clear in
terms of creative campaigns. Globally, Head & Shoulders had come out with
some highly creative campaigns which was not replicated in South Asia by the
agency.The brand is now available in a new look and with the aggressive
campaigns, the brand hopes to keep its Head High. The brand should try
to make more creative campaigns.
References
