The Client brief description

Persil is a brand of laundry detergent made by Henkel; but which is now also licensed for
manufacture, distribution, and marketing in several countries by Unilever. Henkel and Unilever
both manufacture their own formulations. Introduced in 1907, Persil is notable because it was the
first commercially available "self-activated" laundry detergent.
Henkel was founded in the year 1876. The company has approximately 50,000 employees in all
over the world, and is considered to be one of the most well positioned German company at
international level. Consumers from all over the world have confidence in brands and
technologies Henkel.
Henkel is organized into three divisions that operate at the global level: "Detergents and products
to care for your home", "cosmetic products/toilet", "adhesives technologies".
Henkel Romania was founded in 1994 as a branch of the company Henkel Austria (which
became in 1998 Henkel Central Eastern Europe). The company currently has 500 employees, and
its portfolio includes more than 30 brands, thousands of products, from cosmetics, detergents,
adhesives both commercial and professional.
Since its establishment in Romania, Henkel launched successfully on the Romanian market a
substantial number of international brands in the portfolio Henkel: Detergents - Persil, PUR,
Rex, Perwoll, Silan, Clin, Bref; Cosmetics - Fa, Palette, Taft, gliss, Schauma, Brillance, Syoss;
Adhesives - Thomsit, , Super Attak, Loctite and Teroson.
In 2009, the company Henkel Romania had a turnover of about 571 Million lei (approx. 135
million). The companys growth strategy is based on innovation and customer satisfaction.
Symptoms:
-

A decrease in sales of Persil detergents.

A decrease of the market share.
A decrease in the demand for Persil detergents.

Causes:
1. Weak positioning in consumer preferences.
2. Competition: Ariel
3. Advertising
4. Promotional campaigns
The company wants to carry out a market research to identify the reasons for the decrease in
sales. Therefore, the managerial problem is constituted by the decrease in sales of Persil

detergents. The customer wishes to research in order to determine what stimulates purchases and
what are consumers preferences regarding detergents.
Having regard to this dilemma of the manager, the research team has examined all the variables
of the problem and has decided to start a market research, in Iasi city. This is why it has been
established that the problem of research to be formulated as follows: To learn about consumer
preferences of detergents in Iasi city.
The purpose of research is to find solutions to achieve an increase of their sales type of detergent
Ariel.
Objectives:
1. Identify brands of detergents purchased;
2. Knowledge of frequency of purchase;
3. Identify the type of detergent according to the figure indicated;
4. Knowledge of revenue target population.
After the problem occurred decisional and have been established research objectives, it is time to
describe methods and tools of research.
Research design
Qualitative and Quantitative research The interview and the questionnaire
An interview involves collection of data and information directly from the person using as a tool
for investigation and harvesting of information the questionnaire. I have chosen Personal
interviews direct or face-to-face because of a number of advantages useful for the research:
-

provides feed-back, i.e. the conviction subjects to participate in an interview and to give
answers to questions which, otherwise, would remain unanswered;
Provides the ability to obtain more precise answers to complex questions.
Ensures a relatively high rate of participation for the subjects in conducting the
investigation which is between 50% and 60 %.

Population
Total population in Iasi city is 305,978 people, of whom 160,901 are men and 145,077 are
women.
Population concerned: people of the city Iasi, from different areas (Copou, Podu-Ros, However,
CUG II).
The target population is female and male, aged 18-70 years, residence in Iasi city, which uses
laundry detergent for cleaning textile articles at home.

Research is through surveys carried out in the street or in commercial premises.

-

The sample for application of questionnaires will be built from 200 people randomly
picked 50 questionnaires for each operator.
The sample for application of interviews will be built from 15 people.

The variables of the research:

-

The quality of the detergent:

reasons of purchase: the causes of purchase a product (price, promotional activity, trust)
the frequency of purchase: the number of purchases made by consumers in a given period
of time
the ratio quality/price: the level of satisfaction of consumers from the point of view of
value-for-money
the price: the sum of money which the consumer is willing to pay for the purchase of
product
Age: the age of consumers

Data analysis
Once the data collection is complete, will be analyzed using SPSS.
Research report
Following the analysis stage, a report and a PowerPoint presentation will be created. A formal
presentation of all findings and conclusions will be given. A final copy of the report summarizing
the findings of all phases of the research will then be submitted in the form of hard bind report as
well as electronically through the mail.

Timeline
No.
Activity
Week
1. Finalize Objectives
1
2. Develop Questionnaire
1
3. Pilot Test And Revise Questionnaire
2
4. Develop interview methodology and questions
2
5. Apply the questionnaires and interviews
3, 4
6. Coding And Data Preparation
5
7. Analysis Of Data
5
8. Report And Presentation Preparation
6
9. Presentation And Final Report
6
The timetable shown above is the working schedule carrying out our research.

Budget
1. Human resources expenses
Salary - Interviewers
Salary Research analyst
Salary Data analyst
Salary - Coordinator
Total
2. Materials - expenses
Pens
Paper
Cartridges
Total
3. Transportation and other expenses
Bus tickets
Gasoline
Telephone bill
Total
TOTAL EXPENSES

RON
1,000
850
600
500
2,950
35
40
60
135
55
200
175
430

3,51
5