Assignment 2

Marketing strategy of different

companies
1)NIKE
Psychographic Segmentation
Segmentation is used mainly to target a certain group from within a population.
Psychographic segmentation is one which uses peoples lifestyle, their activities,
interests as well as opinions to define a market segment. Psychographic
segmentation is quite similar to behavioural segmentation.

But psychographic segmentation also takes the psychological aspects of consumer

buying behavior into accounts. These psychological aspects may be consumers
lifestyle, his social standing as well as his AIO. Do refer more to Activities,
interests and opinions.

Marketing strategy
Marketing strategy is a small part of Business strategy. Where business strategy
deals with manufacturing, operations, procurement etc; Marketing strategy will
look towards marketing mix, business environment, distribution and other such
marketing related areas.

Both, business strategy as well as marketing strategy, are important for a firm to
move forward. A firm needs to know what Business strategy it needs to follow?
Which businesses will the organization like to be present in? Where is the industry
heading? And what moves need to be taken to establish and sustain the business?.

The same way a firm needs to know its marketing strategy. What are the
organizations strengths and weaknesses? What products does it have? What
segment can these products be sold to? Can we design a new product? Where are
gaps present in the system so that an optimum marketing strategy be designed?
After taking all these factors into consideration, a marketing plan is prepared. The
marketing plan is nothing but a written document which is a roadmap of HOW you
are going to achieve your marketing strategy. This marketing plan is then presented
to investors or bankers to get funds for your organization. Or the same can be used
as a reference for the management or in any future endeavours of the organization

 Positioning Strategies

a. Positioning by Product Characteristics – Your product has various characteristics

which can be used in the positioning process by the company. You need to learn
how to position by product characteristics.

b. Positioning by price quality – Price and quality have always been at

loggerheads. If you lessen price, peoplethink quality is low. If you keep price high,
it will be perceived as higher quality. How to position your product by adjust price
and quality is mentioned in this article.

c. Positioning by Use or application – Usage of the product leaves to different form

of segment altogether which is the behavioral segmentation. Naturally, you can
position by use or Application as well.

d. Positioning by product class – If you are buying a toothbrush, you might get the
toothpaste free. In such cases, the product class is the same and it is being cross
promoted to maintain higher positioning.

e. Positioning by product process – How the product is made also contributes to the
positioning of the product. Example – Organic farming. So you can also position
your product by product process.

f. Positioning by cultural symbols – Each country has a different culture and the
cultural symbols vary too. So you can use these cultural symbols to position your
product accordingly.

g. Positioning by competitors – If BMW considers Audi, Mercedes and Jaguar as

its competitor, then BMW must be in the premium class as well. Thus, you can
position yourself on the basis of which companies you target as your competitor.

2) AMUL
Marketing Strategy
Brand’s Tagline – The Taste of India wasn’t just a corporate positioning or an
advertising jargon, it was a commitment that the brand made to its customers.
The brand had a big task at hand – to make quality food and products accessible
for every Indian, and the company went all guns blazing to achieve this mission.
The first step towards achieving the goal and to really make the brand the taste
of India, Amul formed a distribution strategy that made its products available at
even the remotest of the areas.
Apart from its exclusive “Amul stores” which sell its products, Amul boasts a
strong network of supply-chain for distributing its products.

PROMOTION:

Amul’s ad when BJP won Lok Sabha elections in 2014

The most important thing about Amul ads is at what time of the curve they
catch the issue.
Over the years, Amul has emerged as an opinion leader having its own witty
take on the most current issues and significant events.

PROMOTIONAL CHANNELS:
AMUL CREDO IS – Huge ad campaigns are not required to create a mark in the
customers’ mind, what is required is an interesting way to interact with your
customers.
Amul used different ATL, BTL, and digital channels to interact and
communicate with its customers:
Offline channels (ATL, BTL): The main aim of the offline channels is to
increase brand recall and brand awareness. The offline channels of promotion
included sponsoring television shows, Newspaper and magazine ads, Billboards
etc.

Digital channels: Changing times needed a change in the advertising

strategy. In order to target millennials, Amul started using digital channels like
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for promoting their products. Digital channels
not only helped the company get first-hand reactions of the customers for their
products but also gave them the opportunity to interact with them on a one-to-
one basis.

3)Colgate
Colgate segments its offerings across Oral, personal & Home care product
categories based on demographics, psychographics & behavioural factors. Such
as different Deo’s for men & women, Oral care products for different age &
income groups meant to satisfy different needs.

Although Colgate products are targeted to mass population but Middle class is

where most of its sales comes from. Also Colgate-Palmolive usage & benefit

based positioning helped them to

4)Vicks
High effectiveness of all products:
 There are about four seasons in our country, which includes dry winters and hot
monsoons. Therefore, it is very common for the general masses of India to suffer
from common cold and fever. After the introduction of Vicks VapoRub in India,
people were impressed with the quick effectiveness of the medication that
increased its demand in India. It quick action effectiveness against common cold
ailments and muscle or joint pain made it more popular among the general masses
of India. 

Grassroots approach:

Indian people have a habit of blending their home remedies with modern medicine,
which would prove effective in many cases. After encountering such application of
their products, they used a grassroots approach for exposing themselves to the
general masses of India. For example, the method of adding a spoonful of Vicks
VapoRub in a hot water for inhaling its steam was discovered during their regular
field checks. Such types of approach not only increased its application but also
magnified its popularity.

The positive effect of Ayurveda:

During its early years’ company notice the favoritism of general masses towards
Ayurveda. Indian people have a great faith upon the Ayurvedic medicines.
Therefore, the company was able to launch completely natural and more
effective ointment, which was based on the ancient texts of Ayurveda. The
company marketed it under tagline Natural, Herbal, Ayurvedic Product. This
made it more popular among the people of India.

Effective exposure of the company: In India, the product range of this

company includes Vicks VapoRub, Vicks Cough Drops, Vicks Inhaler, Vicks
Action 500 Extra, and Vicks VapoCool. All these products were marketed as
under its legendary tagline “The only thing more powerful than a mother’s
touch”. This company also would also use regular means of mass
communication for exposing their products in a more effective way.
Vicks VapoRub Campaigns  
The ionic marketing campaign, which helped Vicks VapoRub to get established
in India was the “Khich-Khich” campaign. It signifies the effectiveness and
warm feeling of a mother towards her child with the help of Vicks VapoRub.
This campaign was the most effective campaign launched by the company that
helped it in becoming a household item. 

This company has also collaborated with several other sports star and
celebrities for promoting their products. Vicks collaborated with cricketer Virat
Kohli for promoting Vicks MultiPain Relief Gel. Recently, the company has
launched another campaign known as #TouchOfCare under the tag line of
“Every Child Deserves the Touch of Care”. It showcases the transformation of
living conditions of an unfortunate girl with the help of her adoptive parents.
The company has repeatedly focused on its famous tagline “breathe life in” for
emphasizing on its core vision. 

5)Pepsi
Market Positioning and segmentation:

Before moving on to the details of Pepsico’s marketing strategy, take a look upon
how it has positioned its brand and products in the market. It has positioned itself
as a snacks and beverages brand that include nutritious and low calorie choices
apart from normal soda products. There are 22 iconic  billion dollar brands in its
portfolio. Pepsi is positioned as a brand that reflects young energy and this is also
a key theme across its advertising and marketing campaigns. The customers of
Pepsi are mainly from the 13 to 35 age group. In other words you can say, it is a
brand for the millenials.  Pepsi has maintained a pricing strategy that has made it
an affordable brand. Its customers are from all income segments including lower
middle class to upper class. Now, it has also released smaller options for its
several soft drinks to make its products more affordable and accessible. Its
customers include the teenagers and youth with a modern and fast moving lifestyle
Product and Packaging Innovation:
Pepsi has continued to invest in product quality and packaging to stay the
customers’ first choice. However, apart from these things, it has continued to
diversify its product portfolio bringing new, healthier and more nutritious
choices for its customers. Behind its excellent marketing strategy, there is a
diverse and rich product portfolio filled with a large variety of flavours and
nutritious and tasty choices. Product quality and packaging are very important
elements of Pepsi’s marketing strategy where it has continued to innovate
whether in terms of product quality, variety as well as packaging. Its reward
winning design team has continued to innovate with package design. Regularly
updating the package design also helps retain customers and attract new ones.
Attractive packages can also drive sales higher and it is why Pepsi has
continued to innovate the packaging style and sizes based on consumer demand
and expectations. With time, people’s taste and choice of flavours has changed a
lot. They are looking for healthier products and product innovation helps churn
demand. However, apart from investing in product quality and design, it is
equally important to invest in marketing and Pepsi promotes its brand through
both digital and traditional channels.

Digital Marketing Campaigns and Big Data:

part of its marketing campaigns. Effectiveness of Pepsi’s digital campaigns is
also an important determinant of its sales and profits. Popularity of these digital
campaigns affects its level of sales and profits directly. Some of its digital
campaigns have enjoyed immense popularity like the ‘Bring Home Happiness’
campaign containing a 20 minutes long video [1]. This video grew so popular
that people watched it more than one billion times. It leveraged the power of
social media to run the campaign.  The brand is using digital technology in
other aspects of business too but in the area of marketing, the role of digital
technology and that of social media is especially very important. Since a very
large number of customers are now found online and can be reached through
social media and other digital channels, digital marketing has become the
central focus of Pepsi in terms of marketing. Apart from promoting its brands
separately, Pepsi also uses digital marketing for creating higher loyalty and
higher customer engagement. Its another promotional campaign titled ‘Made for
This’ targeting the millennial generation and featuring High school athletes was
also highly popular. The campaign that featured young athletes underscored that
Gatorade was made to fuel young athletes and their passion [1]. Marketing and
media environment are changing rapidly which have made it mandatory for the
brand to use new channels for advertising and promotions. Pepsi is also
leveraging Big Data to create real time marketing messages that help it market
its brands more effectively. The brand also uses consumer research for the
purpose of designing marketing strategies that help it grow its reach and
effectiveness.
Sports Marketing and sponsorships:
Apart from these promotional campaigns, the brand has also relied heavily on
sponsorships and partnerships to grow brand awareness as well as for building
customer loyalty. 2017 marked its second year of partnership with UEFA
champions’ league. Through this partnership, it has continued to promote some
of its biggest global brands including Lays, Gatorade and Pepsi across more
than 100 markets [2].  ‘Sports marketing’ is a key part of the brand’s marketing
strategy. The relationship between Pepsi and Sports is old. It has struck
partnerships with several sports bodies globally to promote its brand in most
important markets. In 2015, it announced a new marketing partnership with
National Basketball Association. This partnership will also allow for the
promotion of Pepsi products through the WNBA, NBA Development League
and USA Basketball [2].   Pepsi owned Gatorade already had a partnership with
NBA. The new partnership will promote its Mountain Dew through signage and
other branding efforts during the NBA events. Pepsi has entered similar
partnerships in cricket too for the promotion of its brand and products.  In 2016,
it entered a partnership with the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Pepsi has
used this partnership to promote its Gatorade sports drink on the field [3].
‘Sports Marketing’ is known to generate highly favourable results for the soda
brands and the competition between Coca Cola and Pepsi is intense on the
sports field too. The design team of Pepsi focuses on creating meaningful
experiences for the customers and consumers during major global events
like Super Bowl LI to Milan Design Week to the UEFA Champions League
Final.
Facebook strategy :
Facebook is the primary social media channel that brands and marketers utilise
for marketing and promotions.  On Facebook, Pepsi has more than 37 million
followers. However, it also has separate accounts for separate products.
Mountain Dew has more than 8.5 million followers and Pepsi Max also more
than 1 million [4]. One can easily judge the popularity of the brand by its
number of fans. It promotes its products as well as sponsorships and events, all
through its Facebook accounts. It is not only about the social media campaigns
but it also promotes its TV ads and other promotional events on Facebook.

5)Google
Many people feel confused over whether Google has a marketing strategy or not.
It does have a marketing and branding strategy and now it is also spending on
promoting its search engine through ads. At the root is Google’s brand image. Its
image of a customer friendly brand has two important pillars. First it is a user
friendly brand and most of its products are so friendly to use that even kids do
not have a problem using them. from their search engine to the Google maps, all
of them are fun to use. Second, is the price factor. Its products are not just good
quality, for individual users many of them are nearly free. So, its products are
affordable and accessible. Both these factors are effective in terms of marketing.
An easy to remember name is easier to market.

You can also understand it in terms of Google’s branding strategy. It is a brand

that has grown popular based on utility. Chrome is definitely a great browser.
Google plus has not been able to provide the kind of utility that Facebook and
Twitter can and still it has got a nice user base. As in case of Apple, great
marketing begins from great products.. Google too has brought some matchless
products to the market. This was the product part.. Google has also managed to
balance the price part of its marketing game. However, that does not mean it
does not have to spend on marketing and advertising. In the Asian markets, it is
promoting its search engine through television ads. The search engine is
available in local languages too. Now, it is a household name and in the
technological circles and IT industry, you know the value and special importance
that its name holds. To learn more, have a look at its marketing mix..so as to
understand how its marketing strategy has progressed through these years.

7)Ariel
This has been the differentiating factor for the brand from its counterparts. The
tagline of the brand is ‘Your Laundry Will Thank You’The brand always
focuses on showcasing the technology used in making the product and how it is
innovative and different than others.

A lot of campaigns are done by the brand on the lines of ‘seeing is believing’.
The ads focus on the fact that what we show you is what happens in reality
when you use Ariel to wash your laundry.

The current brand ambassador of the brand is star chef Sanjeev Kapoor who has
done various advertisements for the brand focusing on the fact that however bad
the stain on your clothes is, Ariel is here to clean it up and maintain the quality
of the fabric as well.

This campaign was introduced by the brand in the year 2016 and it was very
well received by the audiences. The aim behind this campaign was to promote
the fact that doing laundry is not only the job of the woman in the house. It was
very well-made campaign and it did touch the correct string in the minds and
hearts of the audiences.

Ariel is also known for making detergents for specific washing machine as well. It
has a range of detergents for a front load as well as a top load machine. It focuses
on educating the audience too, by sharing information on what to use, which
detergent to use and how much of it is to be used while doing the laundry. As the
brand makes various formats of detergents, knowing which one to use when is
something that the brand focuses on through their website as well as YouTube
channel.

8)MARUTHI SUZUKI
Having the wide range of models in almost every segment of
the automobile market. Maruti Suzuki offers 16 brands and 150 variants
spanning across all segments consisting of Maruti 800, Maruti Zen EstiloMaruti
Omni, Maruti Alto, Maruti Versa, Maruti Gypsy, Maruti A Star, Maruti Wagon
R, Maruti Swift, Maruti SX4, Maruti Kizashi, Maruti Eeco, Maruti Ertiga,
Maruti Grand Vitara. Thus serving the diverse range of
customers. Brand product strategy focuses on catering to the needs of almost all
the segments from the middle class to high class.

With cars in the economy segment, mid-range segment luxury and super
premium segment Target group for the brand includes anyone above 4 Lakh p.a.
salary, people looking to switch from 2-wheeler to 4-wheeler, millennials
employed as professionals and managers. The middle class, Upper middle class,
High class, and Affluent class the age bracket of 21-65 years comprises of its
target group.

MSI positions all its16 brands in almost as many ways to serve different wants
and desires of consumers such as:

Alto– Let’s go- Positioned as India’s most fuel efficient car which can be

afforded by lower income groups as well.
Wagon R– Inspired Engineering- Positioned as a brand which goes well with
people who want to lead economic and interesting lifestyle, reflect confidence
and have the multifaceted personality.

Swift– You’re the fuel– Positioned as the car with style, modern looks, and
young attitude.

Swift Dzire– The heart car- Positioned as an entry-level sedan for the

aspirational class.

SX4– Men are Back– Positioned as the powerful car for men.

Ertiga– “A Feeling called LUV” – Life Utility Vehicle– Positioned as a

compact seven-seater, one which will have a small footprint and a tight turning
radius.

9)ASIAN PAINTS
Asian Paints is known for its decorative as well as Industrial paint offerings in

the market. It also provides solutions for home paintings and related services.

The products made by the brand are long lasting, leak proof, sun proof and

washable. They come under the acrylic category of products.

The company offers the following:

 Decorative Paints: The company is known for making wooden surface

paints, metal surface paints, interior and exterior paints which can be used at
homes and other commercial spaces.
 Industrial Paints: The brand makes protective coatings, road markers
and floor coatings under this category of paints.
 Asian Paints Royale: This is an innovation and unique painting concept
which was introduced by the brand. The painters are trained to paint the walls
by using different kinds of paints and techniques which make the house
stands out and look beautiful.
 Ancillaries: These products are used before the painting process takes
place. They include primers like wall and wood and putty like acrylic and
exterior wall putty.
 

Asian paints also has products for the auto industry. This is a joint venture with
a company called PPG Industry and together they form, PPG Asian Paints. The
products include the manufacturing of plastic coatings and body coatings.

Asian Paints has its market in over 17 countries and has manufacturing units in
11 out of those 17 countries.

The operations of the brand are held in 5 regions viz., Caribbean region, Middle
East region, South Pacific region, South-East Asia and South Asia. It also has a
massive research and development center in India.

The pricing policy of the brand is very flexible. It has various sub brands under
it so that it can be made available to any segment of the society. The product
quality even of paints which are cheap is good. The strategy has been kept of
value-based pricing policy with prices going up and down as per market
situation.

› Marketing and Promotions of Asian Paints

In the year 1954 cartoonist R.K. Laxman created a mascot for the brand called
‘Gattu’. This cartoon became very popular at that time and is still remembered
because of his long golden hair!

In the 2002, a rebranding was done by the brand and this mascot was then
waived off by the company.

The new logo of the brand is very contemporary and depicts sophistication. The
promotions done by the brand are always related to family values, homes and
relationships. Their campaigns always have an emotional edge. The tagline of
the brand is ‘Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai’
To promote this well, the brand had roped in popular Bollywood siblings – Saif
Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan for this campaign. They were endorsing the
brand Asian Paints Royale.

The ads were done up very well and had a great emotional connect. There was a
series of ads which was launched by the brand in this category.

However, Saif Ali Khan has done several other ads for the brand as well and has
been associated with them for a very long time.

Deepika Padukone was also roped in by the brand and many ads focusing on
the emotional and family values have been made by the brand featuring her. A
few ads also feature Prakash Padukone (father) and Anisha Padukone (sister).

This is the latest campaign by the brand. The ads made in this campaign are
unique and showcase the various types of paints manufactured by the brand for
homes. The campaign focuses on parents who have their children living away
and they give their homes on rent to other children.

The concept of the ads is brilliant, and it is depicted very well too.Again, the
focus lies on the emotional angle and relationships between families

10) FEVICOL
Marketing and advertising are all about creating and fulfilling demands of
customers in a profitable way. Fevicol is one iconic Indian brand which has
been doing this for years. It is owned by Pidilite Industries, a company which
has been manufacturing adhesives since 1959. The story of Fevicol’s success is
a very unique and interesting topic for marketing professionals.
Fevicol is among those popular Indian brands which are recognised by most of
the people in the country. The logo of Fevicol represents the message wants to
convey to the customers. It shows 2 elephants stuck together with the bond of
Fevicol and the rising sun behind these elephants shows the freshness and
popularity of this brand in adhesive products market.
Fevicol has never increased the price of their products abruptly and this helped
the buyers to have good faith on the brand. Advertising campaigns of Fevicol
have also played an important role in helping Fevicol to become the number 1
brand in Asia in its category. Fevicol not only makes ads to increase the
information of its products but also shows everything in a very entertaining
way. The advertisers of Pidilite know how to connect with Indian audience and
leave an impact on their minds.
Some of the Fevicol’s TV commercials are all-time favourites of Indians
including Fevicol Egg ad and Fevicol Bus ad which delivers the message in a
very funny way.
Another strategy that has helped Fevicol is the variety of products that the
company provides. Pidilite has not only kept their target audience to carpenters,
Fevicol has become a household item and available in small shops also.
The mindset of Indian audience has changed a lot in past few years and Fevicol
has perfectly maintained the connection with its customers by being updated
about the market changes. Understanding the needs of consumers is the best
thing a brand can do and Fevicol has been doing this from decades. There are
many things that marketers and advertisers can learn by studying the case of
Fevicol.
We hope this article has helped to in knowing the reasons behind the success of
Fevicol. If you want us to cover more such marketing cases do let us know in
comments.