Brand Repositioning

Comfort Fabric Conditioner

This report, based on Primary and secondary research, composed with the aim of presenting an overview of Unilevers activities in Pakistan for their brand Comfort. Bilal Hamid (BME-1599) Submitted to Mr. Hassan Haroon (MKT-616)

LETTER OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
13-June-2013

Dear Readers: I would like to take this opportunity to thank our instructor Sir, Hassan Haroon, our respected teacher, who made this report possible by providing his unconditional guidance and cooperation throughout the semester. I also wish to express my gratitude to all people, who helped me in marketing research and compiling this report by sharing their valuable thoughts, expertise, knowledge and experiences, without which, this report would never have been possible. Sincerely,

Bilal Hamid BME-1599

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pa ge #
2 5 6 7 8 8 9 9 13 14 16 18 20 21 Executive Summary Introduction To Brand History Of Unilever Pakistan Limited History Of Comfort Fabric Conditioner Mission Statement Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning Perceptual Mapping: Quality And Price SWOT Analysis Competition Promotional Mix Analysis Evaluation Recommendations Appendices References

Topics

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Comfort is a fabric softener produced by Unilever Company.

The category is still emerging. The need for a fabric softener is not fully felt by regional consumers. Especially the pre-wash treatment of clothes are at early stages. Hence the task of this brand is to create an awareness about the need for such products. The initial section is the introduction of Comfort that includes its current status and category of products. Furthermore, based on marketing theories, its segmentation, targeting and positioning is discussed which affect Comforts marketing plan and the buyer behavior. Next, there are various factors that have an effect on consumer decision making process, that effects their purchase involvement, information search, evaluation criteria of product, and post purchase is been discussed. Finally, the last part gives the general recommendation to Comfort about brand repositioning, advertising, promotion, etc. in order to improve to be better according to the regional target market of Pakistan.

INTRODUCTION TO BRAND

Comfort is a well-known brand name and has gone through the performance in Pakistan since 2011. Comfort, is a new component to the laundry category of Unilever Pakistan. Comfort does not only provide exceptional softness and fantastic fragrances; using Comfort in every wash leaves clothes feeling soft and gentle on your skin, helps your clothes to breathe and protects the colors of clothes. It also helps to keep clothes looking newer for longer, and after washing it speeds drying times and helps make ironing easier. Globally, the fabric conditioner category is the fastest growing after detergents. In recent years success in this category has been focused on South East Asia as owing to economic growth and rising incomes, developing markets have huge potential in terms of growth for the fabric conditioner category. According to the Unilever Pakistan, the dynamics of the fabric conditioner market are closely tied to those of detergents they offer in market. Comfort in the fabric conditioner category is best taken forward with laundry synergies. In a country like Pakistan, where five to 10% of households have been converting from laundry bars to detergents year-on-year and detergent penetration is about 99%, Unilever Pakistan estimates that this was the right time to introduce a new laundry sub-category.

Brand Promise:

1. Makes clothes soft, smooth and great to wear

2. Adds a long-lasting freshness to your clothes that you can experience even 7 days after washing!

3. Maintains the shine of clothes

HISTORY OF UNILEVER PAKISTAN LIMITED

The Unilever Pakistan Limited (UPL), formerly Lever Brothers Pakistan Limited was established in Pakistan in 1948. The town of Rahim Yar Khan was the site chosen for setting up a vegetable oil factory. Unilever Pakistan is the largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company in Pakistan, as well as one of the largest multinationals operating in the country, now operating six factories at different locations around the country. The Unilever's Head Office was shifted to Karachi from the Rahim Yar Khan site in the mid 60's.

Brands in Pakistan Market

Food Brands 1) Badami 2) Blue Band 3) Brooke Bond A1 4) Brooke Bond. 5) Brooke Bond Supreme 6) Cornetto. 7) Energile 8) Fruttare. 9) Knorr 10) Instant Noodles 11) Ketchup, Sauces 12) Lipton 13) Magnum 14) Pearl Dust 15) Rafhan Personal Care Brands 1) Clear 2) Close Up 3) Fair & Lovely 4) Lifebuoy shampoo 5) Lifebuoy soap 6) Lux . 7) Pond's. 8) Rexona 9) Sunsilk. Home Care Brands 1) Comfort 2) Rin 3) Surf Excel

HISTORY OF COMFORT FABRIC CONDITIONER

Comfort was the first fabric softener to be launched in the UK in 1969. Today Comfort is a global brand, operating in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. 1984 saw the launch of the first concentrated fabric softener for Comfort, which was three times more concentrated than regular fabric conditioner. In the 1990s, the Comfort brand went through a number of changes: a new logo and more modern packaging in 1992 and the first fully biodegradable formulation in 1993. In 1998, Comfort replaced cartons with more environmentally-friendly and lightweight crushable bottles, introduced their first hypoallergenic fabric conditioner and launched tumble dryer sheets. In 2004 Comfort produced the first ever fabric softener capsules in the UK, Comfort Pearls. In 2005 Comfort launched a premium variant called Comfort Crme.
International Variants 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. Comfort Blue (Now Blue Skies) Comfort Silk Comfort Pure Comfort Garden Fresh Comfort Vitality Comfort Easy Iron Comfort Fast Dry Comfort Passion Flower & Ylang Ylang Comfort Lavender Bloom (South Africa) Comfort Lily & Rice Flower Comfort Wild Pear & Ginkgo Comfort Mango & Citrus (Limited Edition) Comfort Mandarin & Green Tea Comfort Creme Almond Comfort Creme Jojoba Comfort Sunshie (Now Sunshiny Days) Comfort Naturals Aloe Vera Comfort Naturals Olive Blossom Comfort Naturals Jojoba & Orchid Comfort Tropical Comfort Tempting Nature Comfort Rainforest Comfort Twilight Sensations Jasmine & Black Gardenia Comfort Twilight Sensations Vanilla Comfort Exhilarations Strawberry & Lilly Comfort Exhilarations Blueberry & Jasmine Comfort Exhilarations Melon & Lotus Flower Comfort Exhilarations Bluebell & Bergamot Pakistani Variants 1. 2. 3. Lilly Fresh Morning Fresh Comfort Pure

29. Comfort Bright Whites 30. Comfort Bright Colours

MISSION STATEMENT
Guided by the mission To add vitality to life, the company has diligently fulfilled its commitment to raising the quality of life for people everywhere through the provision of its branded products and services. Every product line is originated and developed perfectly in tune with the overall mission. Whereas Comfort, has been positioned as Do the little extra thing for the one you love.

SEGMENTATION, TARGETING & POSITIONING

Target Market
Target market: Housewives, busy people with fast modern lifestyle, new moms, new husbands and wives. Age: Over 20 Gender: Male and Female Occasions: the purchasing of Comfort occur weekly and monthly Usage: the usage will be divided into heavy user group as household ladies, new parents. The light user group contains busy people. Benefits Sought: Comfort One Rinse brings the convenience, softness to any type of silks, one for many feature in term of saving time and money. The general public doesnt just want stain removal and effective cleaning from a laundry detergent. They want their clothes to smell great and look bright. Comfort is targeted at consumers who use detergents (as opposed to those who use detergents and washing bars in conjunction). However, as there is 9

also a Rs 10 sachet SKU (in addition to the 200 and 400 ml bottles), there is a chance that it may be picked up by other consumers as well the brand wants to focus on housewives who purchase good quality detergent. Brand Strategy.

PERCEPTUAL MAPPING: QUALITY AND PRICE

SWOT ANALYSIS
Strength 1. The worlds largest fabric conditioner brand 2. Available in 2 variants Comfort Lily Fresh & Comfort Blue 3. Excellent distribution channel available 1. Comforts ad in UK that described Comfort Pure as "U.K.'s most trusted fabric conditioner for sensitive skin" was judged misleading recently, in response to a complaint from rival P&G. 1.Although the market is nascent, there is a hidden potential for such fabric care products in the urban market

Weakness

Opportunity

2.The pre-wash treatment of clothes are new to consumers in emerging markets 3. Increased purchasing power and care for clothes 1. Still mainly used just in urban areas by middle and upper middle class families 2.The need for a fabric softener is not currently felt by Pakistani consumers 3.Hindrance to the category's acceptance will be the time and effort for using such a product

Threats

Market Positioning & Trend Study

POSITIONING: Comfort conditioner will do what a detergent cannot do alone TAGLINE: Shine and fragrance that no detergent can deliver alone
The ambition is to alter the laundry routine of Pakistani consumers by making them aware that detergents alone will not give superior results. Making the required breakthrough will require both time and money. Prior to Comforts launch, the majority of the small percentage of Pakistani consumers who were aware of fabric conditioners had either never used Comfort or were using it only for towels and baby clothes. As for the wider public, fabric conditioners are still not considered as essential to their laundry routine. To overcome these issues, Comfort has based its selling proposition on the benefits of using laundry products, thus the tagline Shine and fragrance that no detergent can deliver alone (although this is the same selling proposition that most detergents use). Comforts positioning is the premise that a conditioner will do what a detergent cannot do alone. According to the Unilever brand manager; habit change to occur, consumers need to be educated on a sustained basis, saying that fab-con education is a two-step process. Firstly, consumers need to understand why they should use it (the RTB or reason to believe). Secondly, they need to be told how to use it.

If the law of the mind (one of the infamous 22 immutable laws of branding), which says it is better to be first in the mind rather than first in the marketplace is to be believed, Comfort may well reap the benefits of being the first to advertise fabric conditioners, (even though it was the second to launch in the category after Softlan). The development of the fabric conditioner category will also bring incremental growth to the detergents category and will benefit competing brands as well.

CONSUMER DECISION MAKING

Consumer decision making process indicates the process of how consumers identify the problems, finding appropriate solutions based on different norms then making decisions, and recycle the process. The process contains five stages; problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, store choice and purchase, post purchase processes. Consumers of Comfort also follow these steps in order to resolve their problems. In this section of the report, the consumer decision making process is applied to identify how the consumers want to purchase Comfort products.

Problem Recognition
This is where consumers begin to recognize their problems. The problem is normally a difference between the desired state and the actual state. The consumers actual state is the clothes after washing are clean and white but not perfumed well and softened. The desired states are that clothes become softer and smoother, easy to iron, and well perfumed. The differences trigger the consumers to notice and research what type of products would satisfy the differences.

The level of purchase involvement is low because the consumers do not really concern for their purchase process when they buy Comfort. As a result, the type of consumer decisions is said to be the habitual decision making. More specifically, the type can be classified as the repeat purchase decision. Consumers with this type have a repeat pattern of purchasing the same good or service overtime.

Information Search
Customers find information about Comfort generally on TV advertisement; Magazines and newspapers are also the other information sources. Other than these sources, when consumers spontaneously seek information about the product, consumers search information externally by seeking opinions from friends or directly experiencing through trials. However, most customers tend not to exercise the external information search, and depend on internal search of memory from experiences and recognition created by advertisements. Comfort is categorized as in evoked set which is the group of brands the individual is willing to purchase for the solution of a consumption problem. Comfort has an advantage against other brands during consumers information search.

Evaluating and selecting alternatives

The main competitive alternative product of Comfort is Softlan by ColgatePalmolive. Softlan and Comfort are very similar products. Sensory discrimination between these products is very low. The customers might realize the Comforts just noticeable difference which is the smell, but customers often do not notice this at the purchase process. What most customers require as the most important evaluative criteria is the level of

softness after washing. Second, how clean the clothes become is wanted. And thirdly, the fragrance type and its lasting time are considered. Consumers may prefer Comfort because it belongs to Unilever which is the famous brand that has high reputation. Moreover, it has better promotional campaigned on ATL. Consumers of Comfort go purchase the product usually at supermarkets or small stores. The consumers care more for outlet, such as its location and store image, and select the brand secondly. Thus their decision sequence is outlet first, brand second. Therefore, it is more important for Comfort products to be intensively promoted at the purchase point in an outlet in order for a customer to choose Comfort rather than other competitive substitutes.

Shopping orientation
The main customers of Comfort are housewives. Their shopping orientation in purchasing Comfort products is a routine shopping for ordinary household goods. There is not really a strong incentive for a consumer to go shopping just to buy Comfort product, but it is purchased during a routine life-cycle shopping.

Post purchase and consumer loyalty

Usually consumers sometimes suffer dissonance about differences in price reduction and less promotion at different stores, thus they may have doubt about their purchase decision.

COMPETITION
Brand Comfort Pure Comfort Comfort (Unconcentrated, Imported) Softlan SKU 200 ml 400 ml 2 Liter Price (Rs.) 110 200 440

500 ml

120

Lenor Woolite

750 ml 750 ml

350 795

Like the others, Comfort has to face up with a lot of competitors; such as Softlan, Lenor, Woolite, Arm and Hammer. But the major compatiors are Softlan. Comforts SKUs are different from those of Softlan, a brand manufactured by Colgate-Palmolive, and the only other significant player in the fabric conditioner category in Pakistan. Softlan also has a Rs 10 sachet but its larger SKUs include 500 ml and one-liter bottles. There is also a significant price difference between Comfort and Softlan. The 500 ml bottle of Softlan sells for Rs 100, whereas a 200 ml bottle of Comfort retails for Rs 120. Regarding the differences in price and SKUs, it clarifies that Unilever wanted to offer smaller bottles of Comfort to induce trial. The higher price point is because Comfort is a concentrate while other brands are available in diluted form, as a matter of global policy, Unilever is moving towards concentrates because the Comfort concentrate gives a much better result, a wow in the first use, which is needed to hook consumers. Furthermore, using a concentrate also helps drive Unilevers sustainability agenda, as it requires less water, smaller packaging and thereby creates a more efficient use of resources.Unilever also faces competition from its own imported version of Comfort and a few other foreign brands that enter through the grey channel. Those brands will have to live with the fact that grey imports of their own brands will be part of the equation. The challenge that lies ahead for team Comfort is market development of a product category that is in its infancy. Unilever is aware of the challenge and is ready to invest.

PROMOTIONAL MIX ANALYSIS

UPL mainly used the Pull Strategy to inform, persuade and stimulate demand. The main promotion strategy system of Comfort is Above the Line. Above-the-Line is the promotion activities for product on TV, magazines to announce, persuade and remind customers about their products. The Promotion Mix included: TVC, Print Media, Merchandising, Product Placement, POS materials, Company Website, Store Promotions through company reps

TVC

Duration: 45 Seconds Jingle Tag Line: Abhi Na Jao Chor Kay Characters: A newlywed young couple from Middle Class Technique: Real Characters + Animation Situation: Husband is shown turned off mood, and every effort from Mrs. is turning his mood on goes fruitless. There enters the comfort fabric conditioner Mrs. Uses the conditioner, on his shirt and the shirt ripples with jubilance as the swirls of fragrance emitting from the shirt (thats the animation part) and yet that fragrance uplifts the mood of husband as well.

Print Ad:

Promotion Analysis:
The message design is emotional and based on one sided argument. Since the declining sales of Comfort Fabric Conditioner in Pakistan is evident that the Promotion Mix designed to motivate sales is failed to yield desired results. To analyze the failure, a market survey has been conducted to get insight on the matter.

According to the UPL the target market for Comfort Fabric Conditioner in Pakistan are those housewives who use detergent instead of washing bars for home laundry. This definition of target market sums up to a quite big segment which includes upper, middle and some lower middle class. 1. Now, since it is a vast segment that it can be categorized as semi-mass market segmentation, whereas their ATL promotion doesnt supports that claim as the TVC only showed a young middle class couple which doesnt addresses the whole segment. 2. Through market research it came to know that lower middle class housewives which is a biggest chunk of the segment is less interested in the promoted features of shine and fragrance rather they are more interested in soft, smooth and durability features, because they think, that the detergent they uses is enough to indulge fragrance in the clothes. All they want is that Comfort Fabric Conditioner treats the coarseness of fabric through soft, smooth feature of Comfort. But it is to be noted that the feature durability doesnt promised by the brand, but its the consumers own interpretation regarding products expected benefits, due to the Comforts positioning Comfort conditioner will do what a detergent cannot do alone. 3. This argument validates that the shine and fragrance are not particularly the features of the complete target market which UPL is aiming to acquire. Rather it can be soft, smooth with durable fragrance which might addresses the complete segment as an average. Since the successful IMC requires the awareness of audiences media habits and preferences And right understanding of audiences knowledge and beliefs about the product therefore the MARCOM is failed to inform and persuade the product features which communicated to the target audience, because it mismatched with the regional taste and perception of the segment.

EVALUATION
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In a global sales trend of Unilevers fabric conditioner category made a good contribution to the growth, helped by the launch of Comfort anti-bacterial. But in Pakistan it doesnt seems that brand has not met the performance level that was expected from a usual Unilever launches. The evidence is being the market research conducted in Karachi Market and yet it absence from main stream media especially TVCs is evident that the sales is not picking up. To support this fact, despite the effort, the brand wise sales figure is not available due to the Unilever policy. However through market research and field study it has been evaluated that: -

Marketing Strategy:
1. The Comfort fabric conditioner is failing due to its improper segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) execution. 2. The Segment Is Not Measureable & Compatible: The segmentation evaluation is not accurately profiled. The segment for Comfort fabric conditioner is defined as a Housewives Who Use Detergent. This is a very vague segmentation, since the detergent segment in Pakistan itself clearly distributed in three to four different segments established on the basis of price, usage and region whereas the product mix (price, branding & packaging) of Comfort fabric conditioner doesnt properly fit in all those predefined detergent segments. 3. Targeting Error: As described Promotion Analysis regarding the beliefs about the products features, it is established that the targeting is not based exactly on the Beliefs, Ideas, Attitudes, Impressions & Actions of the target consumers. 4. Positioning Error: Comfort conditioner will do what a detergent cannot do alone. There is huge gap exists in products current and desired positioning because the desired USP of product is not properly communicated. 5. Brand Breadth Error: Breadth refers to the range of purchase and consumption situations in which the brand comes to mind. Brand Breadth provides a potential value creation and maximizes the selling opportunity.

i.

ii.

iii.

it has been came to know through Market Survey Research that house wives who are using Comfort were using and experimenting different types of fabrics with it including kitchen ware fabrics, towels, linen etc. It is also concluded as a promotional mismatch that, the Brand Breadth has been not justifiable with target market, since the only usage situations that has been communicated is garment rather than fabric in general. According to the dictionary Clothing is any garment collectively, included, clothes - dress apparel etc, which denotes a narrow and a lot smaller segment of products associated with Comfort. Whereas the Fabric is defined as a product made by weaving, knitting, or felting fibers or woolen, hence providing a vast range of products that has been used for situation based promotion and consumer communication. The target potential consumer does not know about such vast usage of product and on effort had been taken to communicate such breadth of product to target consumers, which can definitely stimulate different types of benefit sought.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Brand Repositioning
On the basis of market research, conclusion and evaluation established in the report, the Brand Repositioning is recommended. As the established criteria for Brand Positioning are Strength, Favorable and Unique. It has been established through market research that the Brand Positioning of Comfort in regional consumer target market is weak. In this context the following recommendations are being submitted to enhance 1) Brand Associations 2) Brand Awareness. BRAND ASSOCIATIONS: Redesigning of IMC; adding Softness feature: In light of target consumers perception about Comfort Fabric Conditioner, the products core benefit should be accurately communicated through IMC. The brand promises following three core features Soft, smooth, Shine, Fragrance The market research defines the following rating about features of product: Soft, smooth High Fragrance, Medium - Shine, Medium However the soft, smooth features are not been communicated at all in its promotion rather it heavily relied on Shine and Fragrance as a core product benefit, Therefore the smoothness feature should be properly communicated through IMC to the target consumer to stimulate sales. Since the brands positioning Comfort conditioner will do what a detergent cannot do alone is communicating a better expectation to target consumer. A common augmented benefit of a good quality detergent is maintaining durability of fabric over a period of time. Hence consumer seeks this augmented benefit of durability of fabric from Comfort fabric conditioner as well. But since the durability is not promised by the brand, therefore it is suggested that to fix this positioning error the

word durability should be commutated in promotion with fragrance to meet regional target consumers expectation. Existed Tagline: Shine & fragrance that no detergent can deliver alone Recommended Tagline: Shine & Softness with durable fragrance that no detergent can deliver alone BRAND AWARENESS: Redefining Brand Breadth of Comfort Fabric Conditioner: According to Keller's CBBE model, two key dimensions distinguish brand awareness, namely depth and breadth. Depth of brand awareness refers to how easily customers can recall or recognize the brand. Breadth refers to the range of purchase and consumption situations in which the brand comes to mind. A highly salient brand is one with both depth and breadth of brand awareness. For many brands, the question is not whether customers' can recall the brand, but rather where and when do they think of the brand, and how easily and often do they think of it. Increasing the salience of the brand in those settings can help drive consumption and increase sales volume. The Comfort is a Fabric Conditioner not just a Garment Conditioner. Market research showed that the frequent users of Comfort using it with all sort of fabrics ranging from bed sheets to stuff toys, whereas, in IMC of Comfort only promoting it for garments. There is a huge number of fabrics which can be promoted to increase Brand Breadth of Comfort which can increase the awareness of potential consumers and stimulate sales, some of the fabrics category includes: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. Table Linins Towels Kitchen Clothes Blankets Bed Sheets Pillow Covers Coushin Covers Stuff Toys All Type Of Garments 9

j. Shirts k. Trousers l. Sweaters m. Sweatshirts Hence increasing brand awareness in context of the range of purchase and consumption situations in which the brand comes to mind of target consumer can not just enhance the positioning of brand but also can stimulate sales of the brand.

APPENDICES
Market Survey Form

Comfort Fabric Conditioner

Your Name: ___________

Your Age: _______

Gender: __

Area: _________

Have you heard of Comfort Fabric Conditioner? Yes No How did you first hear about Comfort? TVC Print Ad. Other __________ How likely are you to purchase Comfort after seeing TCV? Very Likely Less Likely Never Which of the following brands have you used? (Select all that apply.) Softlan Lenor Woolite What words first come to mind when you think of Comfort Fabric Conditioner? ________ What do you like most about Comfort? ________

What do you dislike most about Comfort? ________ How likely are you to purchase this product again? Very Likely Less Likely Never What was the most important feature of this product that made you want to purchase it? Softness Shine Fragrance

REFERENCES
a. It takes two to Comfort Posted on December 2, 2011 by Aurora By Anam Hakeem b. www.comfortpure.co.uk c. Comfort on Facebook d. Aaker, D. A. 2004. Leveraging the corporate brand. California Management Review, 46(3): 6-18. e. Anon. 2005. Integrate image initiative. Available online f. frorn:http://www.indiana.ediy--urcp^irnage/gloss.shtrnl [Accessefd: 1 September 2005]. g. Belch, E.G. & Belch, M.A. 2004. Advertising and promotion: an integrated marketing communications perspective. New York: McGrawHill. h. Berg, B.L. 2007. Qualitative research methods for the social sciences. Boston: Pearson. i. Botha, L. 2005. Segmentation. Presentation at Sales Academy, Johannesburg, 20 May. j. Clow, K.E. & Baack, D. 2004. Integrated advertising, promotion and marketing communications. NewJersey: Prentice Hall.