Comparisons of Sure and Natrel Deodorant / Antiperspirant Products

This unit is part of my AVCE Business Studies course. In this unit I have been asked to produce a detailed report which compares and evaluates the Marketing and promotional strategies of Sure and Natrel which are two Anti-persperants in the women’s range.

To obtain a sufficient grade in this topic I will need to include details of the communication process, the product or brand positioning, the marketing and promotional objectives, the corporate image and aspects of the promotional mix. For example

* Advertising

* Branding

* Packaging

* Public relations

* Sale promotions

* Merchandising

* Direct marketing

* Interactive media

* E-commerce and the internet

To help me collect all of this information I will need to Contact the manufacturer, use the internet, visit local department stores to find the product and scan analyse it and i will also have to find advertisements on these products to help me gain an idea for the way these companies put their product across i.e promote it.

My research is critical in this topic because I need to find the correct material to be able to analyse it and compare the marketing strategies and even perhaps comment on which I think is the most effective either in the short or long term out of the two products.

Both the Anti-perisperants in question are big sellers in the U.K. so I should not have to much trouble in finding out what I need to know. The various different factors which separate these two companies will enable me to compare them to a better scale and I can pick out the advantages and disadvantages that either one has over the other.

My research will need to be form a vast variety of areas such as the internet the library newspapers magazines and even supermarkets. When using the internet I will need to go do different web sites to locate exactly what I am after.

My ideas

I now have a fair Idea about where I am going to begin my research. My ideas are that I need to take information from both Gillette and Elida Faberge websites to begin with to obtain any information about Sure or Natrel. Even product with indirect relevance to either of these could be helpful because it would give me an idea about promotional strategies and packaging in particular. I will be writing to different websites to try and get these companies to send me some much needed information about the two Anti-persperants. After this I will be gathering information from written sources and visiting super markets to gain packaging ideas in particular. I hope to be able to gain the relevant information by using one or all of these methods.

Methodology

Throughout this report I will need to gain various parts of information from different sources for example libraries the internet or even company magazines. This may include writing of to Elida Faberge and Gillette to ask if they have any information that may come in useful to me. For this first task I hope to produce standard comparisons between the two Anti Perspirants using only the correct information that I have got via the assignment brief. Feedback from these companies once I have written off to them could prove vital in my comparing work because any extra information I can include from a wide range of resources can help me to produce a good grade and a high quality piece of work.

As my research in this first task is based around Sure and Natrel I will need to cover the following points on both Anti perspirants to ensure a good comparison overall.

The points listed in the introduction are the points that I will need to research in particular I want to obtain a high grade. With this information complete I then I hope to help refer this to the following task as it may provide me with information that I need. After I have finished comparing my work I will write an analysis and a set of results explaining where I obtained my resources from and how I included them in various parts of my work.

Elida Faberge recent history

Elida Faberge began a silent revolution in 1992 to try and re-invent itself as a major force in the market place with a much improved innovation rate and customer service. This new generation for Elida Faberge began in 92 and six years on it is still running as strong as ever. Unilever is the brains behind Elida Faberge and specialises in hair, skin, and dental care Elida is a subsidiary of the personal products division of Unilever. Elida enjoys a strong hold upon its markets however in 1992 innovation levels were classed as unsatisfactory. At this time Elida Faberge could not keep up with the demand in customer service therefore in 1992 they chose to re-invent themselves. The current state of play at Elida is 12 nationally advertised brands, 800 employees, �256 million turnover, number one status in personal products in the U.K. with a market share of 13.8% . The market is highly broken down and fragmented and very competitive, Innovation being one of the key drivers in the toiletries and cosmetics business.

Gillette recent history

There is far more to Gillette than just razors and shaving foam. Although they do specialise in these areas there are other parts to the Gillette company which people have no idea about for example Gillette is a World leader in the Production of Alkaline batteries, toothbrushes and general oral care. This helps Gillette as a business because it allows is annual intake to become more as it is providing different ranges of products in different areas of the markets. Gillette’s speciality as we all know is the production of razors and shaving facilities manual or electric. It is now estimated that over 40% of the U.K. population owns a Gillette manufactured product of some description. Much the same as Elida Gillette is a world leader in its range and has a stable market share. Gillette sell their products via agents and retailers in over 200 countries around the world. Gillette also conduct operations at around 54 facilities in 20 countries yearly world-wide, which may help the sale of their products if people see first hand what Gillette’s future aims and aspirations are.