Consumer Behavior Towards Ariel and Surf Excel Essays

Consumer Behavior Towards Ariel and Surf Excel Essays Consumer Behavior Towards Ariel and Surf Excel Paper Consumer Behavior Towards Ariel and Surf Excel Paper Introduction of FMCG Industry The FMCG sector which has been the foundation of the Indian Economy, started to take its shape only during the last fifty odd years. The sector touches each facet of human life providing consumers non-durable goods required for daily or regular use. So, it easier said than done to describe an industry whose range is so huge. The FMCG sector consists mainly of sub segments like personal care, oral care and household products. HUL, PG, Britannia are the major Indian consumer product companies which have very strong presence through their strong brands. The wide distribution network, diversified portfolios and scale economies of these companies deter new players from entering into the market. Therefore, Brand Equity is an extremely important factor in FMCG Industry where as ability to build, develop, and maintain a wide distribution network is one of the critical factors. . History of Fabric Wash Market In India The size of fabric wash market in India is around Rs. 800 crores whereas the total volume is about 2. 3 millions. Hindustan Lever Limited (HUL), Procter and Gamble (PG) key players in fabric market of India. Surf Excel enjoys 37. 8% market share compared to 7. 7% of Ariel. The per capita consumption of detergents in India is 2. 7 kg per annum. The synthetic detergent market can be classified into three main categories: * Premium (Surf Excel and Ariel) – 15% of total market * Mid Price (Rin an d Wheel) – 40% of total market * Popular (Nirma) – 45% of total market Surf Excel Surf Excel is product of Hindustan Lever Limited (HUL), which was formed in the year 1933 as Lever Brothers India Limited and came into being in 1956 as Hindustan Lever Limited through the merger of Lever Brothers, Hindustan Vanaspathi Manufacturing Company Limited and United Traders Limited. The company believes that dirt is a valuable way to enhance lives, both young and old. To make certain everyone, anywhere in the country, can contribute to in this imitative, Unilever invests heavily in developing a range that suits the pockets of all income groups. This has included launching affordable packs that not only offer the top clean advantage of Surf Excel, but also reduce the time, physical effort and amount of water needed to wash the clothes by hand. Surf Excel products in the market are Surf Excel Blue, Surf Excel Quick Wash, Surf Excel Automatic and Surf Excel Detergent Bar. Ariel Ariel, a product of Procter and Gamble (PG), was introduced in India in the year 1991. Procter and Gamble is a marketing range of consumer goods product. Ariel detergent gives impeccable cleaning in stain removal. It contains unique ingredients that cannot be found in other detergents, thus it is designed to remove a multitude of stains better. Ariel is perfect for everybody washing needs. The unique formula bas been designed to give brilliant cleaning and long lasting freshness. Ariel is available in three variants namely, Ariel Fresh Clean, Ariel Spring Clean and Ariel Front or Mar. Total Customer Benefits Total customer benefit is the difference between total customer cost and total customer values. Total customer cost is the cost that customer expects to incur in evaluating, obtaining, using and disposing of the product or service. Every value deliver to customer involves cost. Total customer value is the perceived benefit that the customer associated with the product. It’s not only about the core benefit of the product but the number of the benefit associated. Mainly in customers look for the function such as: The customer cost in purchasing Surf Excel is low because of availability of the product due to wide spread network of HUL, strong brand recognition and heavy advertisement. The customers save cost in evaluating the brand with competitors and also save the cost in purchasing also. While purchasing the product customer will not only look for the benefit, he will also look for availability of the product, the price of the product and the cluster of benefit they will get if associated with this product very true for the company where there is intensify competition product between Surf Excel and Ariel. The total customer benefit and cost plays very important role in order to create the brand loyalty especially in such low involvement products. So it can be broadly categorized into the following: Economic benefit: Surf Excel was first brand to be introduced in Indian market than Ariel. The price offered by the both competing brand is genuine in nature. A Price of Surf Excel 20 gram sachets costs Rs. 1. 50 where as price of Ariel in 20 gram sachets costs Rs. 2. Psychological benefit: Surf Excel has psychological advantage over Ariel and has become a generic name for detergent category creating association in mind of its customer. Surf Excel advertisement campaign such as â€Å"Daag donthe rah jaoge (1990)†, â€Å"Jaise Bhi Daag ho, Surf Excel hai na (1996)†, Daag Acche Hai Na (2005)† have slogan Daag with continuity which makes consumers remember and recognize it. Functional benefit: Both the detergent concentrates on stain removal and top cleaning which reduces the time and effort taken to wash the clothes. Packaging of Surf Excel and Ariel is very attractive. In surf excel the consumers can use less quantity of detergents when compared to Ariel which consumes more detergents. Comparison of Total Customer Benefit Available to Surf Excel and Ariel Surf Excel * Customers believe that dirt is a valuable way to improve their lives. * It reduces the time, physical effort amount of water needed to wash clothes by hand. * Surf excel completely cleans all the stains in just one wash. * It saves energy and water, while washing for the customer. * It reduces wrinkling so less ironing required. * Surf excels anti bacterial formula doesn’t allow germs to form while sweating. It is a detergent which takes care of customer hands also because it doesn’t dry the skin. * It is available in different variants for different types of customers. * It is perceived as premium brand. * Success of slogan – Dirt are good. Ariel * Ariel is focusing on product innovation to address the changing consumer’s needs and values. * Ariel is associating the brand with customers on the bases to give them superior quality makes the ground for customer to provide a theme which cause to have happiness. * It is a trusted and a premium brand in India. Ariel product has a very good fragrance. * It is available in variants as well. Point of Difference It is basically a characteristic or benefits consumer associated with the brand that can’t cater to them by the competing brand. Basically it is unique feature that is possessed by your product only. Point of Difference in Surf Excel and Ariel * Emotion Appeal on Advertisement: Surf Excel focuses on kids and their learning process on their advertisements where has Ariel focus is on mother and cause of marketing for charity by hiring celebrities. Slogan: Almost all slogans of Surf Excel there is continual use of â€Å"Daag† which has helped Surf Excel to have psychological advantage over Ariel by creating association in mind of its customers. * Content of Bleach: Ariel has larger amount of bleach for better cleaning of white fabric giving more shine and clean look. But in the case of Sur f Excel active ingredients is formulated with high quality phosphate builders and multi-active surfactant system to give superior cleaning and stain removal. * Harm on skin: Due to presence of high bleach content in Ariel it’s harmful for skin. Brand Loyalty: Surf Excel maintains brand loyalty among its consumers where as Ariel is focused on increasing brand loyalty among the consumers. * Product: Surf Excel is launching product extension but Ariel is doing product innovation. Points of Parity Point of Parity is not necessary unique features and attributes to the brand but these features and attributes can be shared with other brand as well. Points of Parity among Surf Excel and Ariel * Both available in Variants: Both the brand Surf Excel and Ariel has varieties in their product that are offered at market for consumers. The different products of Surf Excel are Surf Excel Blue, Surf Excel Quick Wash, Surf Excel Automatic and Surf Excel Detergent Bar. Similarly, the different products of Ariel are Ariel Fresh Clean, Ariel Spring Clean and Ariel Front or Mart. * Penetration on Rural Areas: Both the detergent company focuses to penetrate in rural areas identifying new market segment for growth. * Price: Surf Excel price are slightly lower than compared to price of Ariel in small sachets of 20 gm. The cost price of 20 gm sachets of Surf Excel costs Rs. 1. 50 where as cost price of same quantity of Ariel costs Rs. . 50. * Opportunities: Both the brand of detergent is addressing growing needs of rural areas. The increase in level of income of people will help to open new market share. Customer Value Comparison between Surf Excel and Ariel In present marketplace, a company must integrate its traditional business function to provide a superior value to targeted customers because the value provided serves cus tomer best interest. Customers buy value, not product or features. Moreover, the customers buy it from the company that provides the most value. And the company also succeeds in attracting new customers is able to continually improve the value that are offered to existing customers for customer retention. Surf Excel Unilever has introduced concentrated version of detergent and adopted recycled materials and also using fewer colors on its labels in order to minimize impacts on the environment. Surf Excel introduced Surf Quick wash, the first eco-friendly detergent into the country being aware to the increasing concerns on environmental pollution and water scarcity problems. Surf Quick wash is low lather variant and uses almost half the water other detergents need. In customers point of view surf excel is available in every areas of retail market where the cost incurred by the consumers are minimum due to availability of product, brand recognition, advertisements are more regular by keeping the themes same and changing the perception of ads in nature. The offer of bucket in Surf excel is helping the manufactures from transferring stock from retail shop to their home. Ariel Ariel contains unique fragrance in detergents with new technology based detergent. It is more focused on product innovation to attract new consumers from existing brands in the present market. Though Ariel is expensive, it has good performance and it protects color. Economic Benefit: If we calculate the initial expenses that we have to make in order to purchase the Ariel it seems in the higher side than to purchase of Surf Excel but if calculation is made on per day Surf Excel is far cheaper than Ariel. If the comparison is made with Ariel here also Surf Excel wins the battle. Since the price of the product of Surf Excel are cheaper than Ariel. Psychological Benefit: Both the product are detergent for fabric wash and both are effective in nature, but the basic problem of Ariel is their harsh on skin due to content of bleach used in it for better cleaning. However, in case of Surf Excel does not harm skin because it’s milder than compared to the Ariel. Functional Benefit: Both detergents removes a multitude of stains better but Surf Excel uses little quantity of detergent for washing clothes when compared to over Ariel and it also reduces the time, physical effort and amount of water needed to wash clothes by hands. Ariel protects the color and Surf Excel dose not protects the color. Conclusion and recommendation Surf Excel spends huge amount of money on advertising due to impulsive buying behavior of consumer. There is competitive pricing between the products of Surf Excel and Ariel in order to attract the customers who are very sensitive to the price. HUL keeps price of Surf Excel with regard to price of Ariel. The cost of 1 kg of Surf Excel costs Rs. 110 per kg and cost of 1 kg Ariel costs Rs. 115 per kg. The rising income of the people is opening door for more market share. Both the brand have Brand Breadth, customers will appreciate if the companies will introduce new product like liquid detergent for color clothes to maintain brightness. Bibliography surfexcel. in/ (April 08, 2011) pg-india. com/hp/ariel2. htm(April 11, 2011) icmrindia. org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/MKTG246. htm (April 12, 2011) http://ebookee. org/Value-Based-Marketing-for-Bottom-Line-success-5-Steps-to-Creating-Customer-Value_945828. html (April 09, 2011) http://scribd. com/doc/ (April 04, 2011)

Timeline of the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya

Timeline of the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya The Mau Mau Rebellion was a militant African nationalist movement active in Kenya during the 1950s. Its main aim was to remove British rule and European settlers from the country.   Background of the Mau Mau Rebellion The uprising grew out of anger over British colonial policies, but much of the fighting was between Kikuyu people, an ethnic group that makes up about 20 percent of Kenya’s population.   The four main causes of the revolt were low wages, access to land, female circumcision (also known as female genital mutilation, FGM), and kipande - identity cards African workers were required to submit to their white employers, who sometimes refused to return them or even destroyed the cards making it incredibly difficult for workers to apply for other employment. Kikuyu were pressured to take the Mau Mau oath by militant nationalists, which were opposed by conservative elements of their society. While the British believed Jomo Kenyatta to be the overall leader, he was a moderate nationalist and threatened by the more militant nationalists who would continue the rebellion after his arrest. Milestones and Timeline of the Mau Mau Uprising August 1951: Mau Mau Secret Society RumoredInformation is filtering back about secret meetings being held in the forests outside Nairobi. A secret society called the Mau Mau was believed to have been started in the previous year. It requires its members to take an oath to drive the white man from Kenya. Intelligence suggests that membership of the Mau Mau is currently restricted to members of the Kikuyu tribe, many of whom have been arrested during burglaries in Nairobis white suburbs. August 24, 1952: Curfew ImposedThe Kenyan government imposes a curfew in three districts on the outskirts of Nairobi where gangs of arsonists, believed to be members of the Mau Mau, have been setting fire to homes of Africans who refuse to take the Mau Mau oath. October 7, 1952: AssassinationSenior Chief Waruhui is assassinated in Kenya he is speared to death in broad daylight on a main road on the outskirts of Nairobi. He had recently spoken out against increasing Mau Mau aggression against colonial rule. October 19, 1952: The British Send Troops to KenyaThe British government announces that it is to send troops to Kenya to help the fight against the Mau Mau. October 21, 1952: State of Emergency DeclaredWith the imminent arrival of British troops, the Kenyan government declares a state of emergency following a month of increasing hostility. Over 40 people have been murdered in Nairobi in the last four weeks and the Mau Mau, officially declared terrorists, have acquired firearms to use along with the more traditional pangas. As part of the overall clamp down Jomo Kenyatta, president of the Kenya African Union is arrested for alleged Mau Mau involvement. October 30, 1952: Arrests of Mau Mau ActivistsBritish troops are involved in the arrest of over 500 suspected Mau Mau activists. November 14, 1952: Schools ClosedThirty-four schools in Kikuyu tribal areas are closed as a measure to restrict the actions of Mau Mau activists. November 18, 1952: Kenyatta ArrestedJomo Kenyatta, president of the Kenya African Union and the countrys leading nationalist leader is charged with managing the Mau Mau terrorist society in Kenya. He is flown to a remote district station, Kapenguria, which reportedly has no telephone or rail communications with the rest of Kenya, and is being held there incommunicado. November 25, 1952: Open RebellionOpen rebellion against British rule in Kenya is declared by the Mau Mau. In response, British forces arrest over 2000 Kikuyu who they suspect of being Mau Mau members. January 18, 1953: Death Penalty for Administering Mau Mau OathGovernor-general Sir Evelyn Baring imposes the death penalty for anyone who administers the Mau Mau oath. The oath is often forced upon Kikuyu tribesmen at the point of a knife  and calls for the individuals death if he fails to kill a European farmer when ordered. January 26, 1953: White Settlers Panic and Take ActionPanic has spread through Europeans in Kenya after the slaying of a white settler farmer and his family. Settler groups, displeased with the governments response to the increasing Mau Mau threat have created their own Commando Units to deal with the threat. Sir Evelyn Baring, the Governor-general of Kenya has announced that a new offensive is to begin under the command of Major-general William Hinde. Amongst those speaking out against the Mau Mau threat and the governments inaction is Elspeth Huxley, author (who wrote The Flame Trees of Thika in 1959), who in a recent newspaper article compares Jomo Kenyatta to Hitler. April 1, 1953: British Troops Kill Mau Maus in HighlandsBritish troops kill twenty-four Mau Mau suspects and capture an additional thirty-six during deployments in the Kenyan highlands. April 8, 1953: Kenyatta SentencedJomo Kenyatta is sentenced to seven years hard labor along with five other Kikuyu currently detained at Kapenguria. April 17, 1953: 1000 ArrestedAn additional 1000 Mau Mau suspects have been arrested over the past week around the capital Nairobi. May 3, 1953: MurdersNineteen Kikuyu members of the Home Guard are murdered by the Mau Mau. May 29, 1953: Kikuyu Cordoned OffKikuyu tribal lands are to be cordoned off from the rest of Kenya to prevent Mau Mau activists from circulating to other areas. July  1953: Mau Mau Suspects KilledAnother 100 Mau Mau suspects have been killed during British patrols in Kikuyu tribal lands. January 15, 1954: Mau Mau Leader CapturedGeneral China, the second in command of the Mau Maus military efforts is wounded and captured by British troops. March 9, 1954: More Mau Mau Leaders CapturedTwo more Mau Mau leaders have been secured: General Katanga is captured and General Tanganyika surrenders to British authority. March 1954: British PlanThe great British plan to end the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya is presented to the countrys legislature General China, captured in January, is to write to the other terrorist leaders suggesting that nothing further can be gained from the conflict and that they should surrender themselves to British troops waiting in the Aberdare foothills. April 11, 1954: Failure of the PlanBritish authorities in Kenya admit that the General China operation revealed previously to the Kenyan legislature has failed. April 24, 1954: 40,000 ArrestedOver 40,000 Kikuyu tribesmen are arrested by British forces, including 5000 Imperial troops and 1000 Policemen, during widespread, coordinated dawn raids. May 26, 1954: Treetops Hotel BurnedThe Treetops Hotel, where  Princess Elizabeth  and her husband were staying when they heard of King George VIs death and her succession to the throne of England, is burnt down by Mau Mau activists. January 18, 1955: Amnesty OfferedGovernor-general Baring offers an amnesty to Mau Mau activists if they would surrender. They would still face imprisonment but wouldnt suffer the death penalty for their crimes. European settlers are up in arms at the leniency of the offer. April 21, 1955: Murders ContinueUnmoved by the amnesty offer of Sir Evelyn Baring, Kenyas Governor-general, the Mau Mau killings continue. Two English schoolboys are murdered. June 10, 1955: Amnesty WithdrawnBritain withdraws the offer of amnesty to the Mau Mau. June 24, 1955: Death SentencesWith the amnesty withdrawn, British authorities in Kenya can proceed with the death sentence for nine Mau Mau activists implicated in the death of two English schoolboys. October 1955: Death TollOfficial reports say that more than 70,000 Kikuyu tribesmen suspected of Mau Mau membership were imprisoned, while over 13,000 people were killed by British troops and Mau Mau activists over the last three years of the Mau Mau Rebellion. January 7, 1956: Death TollThe official death toll for Mau Mau activists killed by British forces in Kenya since 1952 is said to be 10,173. February 5, 1956: Activists EscapeNine Mau Mau activists escape from  Mageta  island prison camp in Lake Victoria. July 1959: British Opposition AttacksThe deaths of 11 Mau Mau activists held at Hola Camp in Kenya is cited as part of the British opposition attacks on the UK government over its role in Africa. November 10, 1959: State of Emergency EndsThe state of emergency is ended in Kenya. January 18, 1960: Kenyan Constitutional Conference BoycottedThe Kenyan Constitutional Conference being held in London is boycotted by African nationalist leaders. April 18, 1961: Kenyatta ReleasedIn return for the release of Jomo Kenyatta, African nationalist leaders agree to take a role in Kenyas government. Legacy and Aftermath of the Mau Mau Rebellion Kenya became independent on December 12, 1963, seven years after the collapse of the uprising. Many argue that the Mau Mau uprising helped catalyze decolonization as it showed that colonial control could only be maintained through the use of extreme force. The moral and financial cost of colonization was a growing issue with British voters, and the Mau Mau revolt brought those issues to a head. The fighting between Kikuyu communities, however, made their legacy contentious within Kenya. The colonial legislation outlawing the Mau Mau defined them as terrorists, a designation that remained in place until 2003 when the Kenyan government revoked the law. The government has since established monuments celebrating Mau Mau rebels as national heroes. In 2013 the British government formally apologized for the brutal tactics it used to suppress the uprising and agreed to pay approximately  £20 million pounds in compensation to surviving victims of abuse.