2. This project is about Market research in which I
have to analyse and compare the marketing
trends of the two major FMCG companies HUL
and P&G and consumer behaviour towards them
on Indian grounds.
3. This project was undertaken with a number of objectives listed
below:
To know the various products of P&G and HUL available in
India.
Research the marketing trends of HUL and P&G and compare
them.
To study the current marketing strategy of both companies.
To analyse the effectiveness of distribution channels of both the
companies.
It also looked into the different factors like quality, nominal
prices, availability etc that motivate a customer to buy a particular
product.
5. Key people Harish Manwani (Chairman), Nitin
Paranje (CEO and Managing Director)
Headquarters
Mumbai, India
Revenue Rs 20,869.57 crore (US$ 4.57 billion)
(2008-2009)
Employees Over 65,000 direct & indirect employees
Parent Unilever Plc
6. Type Public
NYSE:PG
Industry Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG)
Founded 1837
Headquarters Cincinnati,Ohio,US
Key people Bob McDonald (President and CEO)
Products Home & Personal Care, Foods
Revenue US$ 79.03 billion(2008-2009)
11. Against Tide, but at what cost to Rin?
As a part of its marketing strategy an audacious advertisement
campaign for Rin was started by Hindustan Unilever Limited
(HUL), on 26 Feb,2010, by pitching and comparing it with Tide
Naturals, a Procter & Gamble (P&G) product.
It became a hot topic of discussion for intellectual property rights
(IPR) enthusiasts. The ad is in the eye of a legal storm, and has
been described by some as an ego battle between the two FMCG
conglomerates.
Part one of this was staged by HUL before the Chennai High
Court when it filed a suit alleging that P&G’s claim that its
detergent ‘Tide Naturals’ contained lemon and sandalwood was
untrue.
Having convinced the court that it was only synthetic compounds
that smelled like lemon and sandalwood in ‘Tide Naturals’ and
not the real stuff, HUL got the court to direct P&G to insert a
disclaimer in all its ads to that effect.
12. The scene then moved to the television screens across the
nation which started airing a new Rin ad by HUL which
compared the white school uniforms of two boys, washed in
Tide and Rin respectively. While the shirt washed in Rin
sparkled, the one washed with Tide was yellowish.
It was P&G who went to the Calcutta High Court this time,
alleging disparagement and infringement of its trademark
‘Tide’. It was also pointed out by P&G that the disputed ad
used a packet of ‘Tide Naturals’ in its visuals, but used ‘Tide’ in
the voice-over.
The commercial was pulled off air in 8 days after the Calcutta
high Court ordered HUL to stop airing the commercial on
various grounds including disparagement.
The rules in the game of comparative advertisements have
been laid down both by the courts and also prescribed under
Section 29 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 (‘the Act’). While
Indian law permits comparative ads, denigration or
derogation of competing goods is impermissible.
13. The principles for grant of injunction in such
cases were laid down by the Calcutta High
Court and have been followed consistently by
various courts. Briefly put, these principles
state that a tradesman can declare his goods to
be the best in the world and better than his
competitor’s even if it is untrue and while
doing so, he can even compare the advantages
of his goods over his competitor’s. However, it
is illegal if he says that his competitor’s
products are bad.
14. Q1. Which of the following laundry products do
you use?
HUL(Rin, Wheel, Surf- excel)
P&G(Tide, Ariel)
Others.
Interpretation: The above chart shows that the HUL’s laundry products hold the major market
share (62%) while P&G holds 35% share in this market.
62
35
3
Laundry Products
HUL
P&G
Others
15. HUL(Sunsilk, Clinic-plus, dove)
P&G(Pantene, Head & shoulders)
Others
Interpretation: The above chart shows that the HUL’s hair care products
holds 50% market share while P&G holds 36% share in this market
16. HUL(Close-up, Pepsodent)
P&G(Oral-B, Crest)
Others
Interpretation: The above chart shows that the HUL’s oral care
products hold the major market share (55%) while P&G holds
only 12% share in this market.
55
12
33
Oral-Care
HUL
P&G
Others
17. HUL(Breeze, Dove, Lifebuoy, Lux, Pears, Rexona, Liri
l)
P&G(Camay, ivory)
Others
Interpretation: The above chart shows that the HUL’s soaps hold the major
market share (81%) while P&G holds mere 3% share in this market.
81
3 16
Soaps
HUL
P&G
Others
18. Q6.What motivates you to buy the selected
products?
Quality
Price
Both
Products
Interpretation: From the above chart we can analyse that large part of the
population buys HUL laundry products because of its product’s
nominal price and good quality and although the quality of P&G
products is good but they are dearer than HUL products.
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
HUL P&G
13
4013
7
74
53 Both
Price
Quality
19. Q7.Are you satisfied with the availability of the
selected products?
Yes
No
Products
Interpretation: The above chart shows that both HUL and P&G have good
distribution channels for their laundry products.
4
15
96
85
HUL
P&G
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
No
Yes
20. Consumers prefer to buy HUL’s products more
as compared to P&G products in all product
lines.
HUL provides good quality laundry products
at nominal price and although the quality of
P&G products is good but they are dearer than
HUL products.
Both P&G and HUL provide a good range of
hair care products for price conscious as well as
quality conscious people.
21. Superior quality motivates consumers to buy
P&G skin care products and soaps, while good
quality at nominal price motivates consumers
to buy HUL products.
Both HUL and P&G oral care products are
equally good at price and quality.
Both HUL and P&G have good distribution
channels for their laundry products.
Both HUL and P&G have good distribution
channels for their products but HUL’s channels
are comparatively better.
22. Both HUL and P&G Companies are well establish
companies in field of FMCG .
The demand of HUL products is more as
compared to P&G and other companies.
The qualities of products provided by the
companies are satisfactory.
Hul has lot of variety of the product as compared
to other brands in India, means has long product
line.
Distribution channels of HUL are better than that
of P&G in India.
HUL provides low price products as compared to
P&G and thus attract a lot of price conscious
consumers.
23. P&G has a huge opportunity to capture the
large Indian market as its quality is trusted by
most consumers. It should thus try to launch
more of its products in India like that of HUL.
A large number of consumers in India are price
conscious while the P&G products are
comparatively dearer. P&G should thus try to
launch products at cheaper rates.
As a lot of people prefer to buy various
products from departmental stores, P&G
should make its products easily available there.
