HUL's tidy advertising strategy - a case study of Indian laundry segment

The proxy war between the brands, Rin and Tide of detergent category of the multinational giants HUL and P%G that commenced in December 2009 has entered into non-price to price war, promotion war, brand war, legal war on several fronts, unethical practices war, flouting of Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) rules, war to denigrate and outwit each other, open war and indeed what not in a 'guerrilla marketing' way. Though Indian marketing has seen lot of such wars, Rin vs. Tide is a rare case where one brand has challenged its competitor's brand head on. The intervention of the law of the land has put this war temporarily on hold, and has restrained the parties from taking potshots awaiting final verdict, but the detergent episode has put under review the application strategy of side by side advertising that may take unprecedented turns in times to come in the big Indian market for gaining market share by the brands of different industries. The wrestle between the two leads to the conception of desperation-driven strategy perfected by timing of its application. Consumers' intervention through complaints to ASCI against the tidy strategy gives another twist to it that might cause their mistrust on the brands.