Cottle-Taylor case analysis free essay sample

Cottle – Taloy : expanding the oral group in India Background Cottle Taylor was founded as a start hyup company in 1815. By 2009 they boast a product selection of over 200 oral care, personal, care, and home care products. In 2009 roughly 50% of the company revenue ($5.7 Billion) came from emerging markets. In 2009 Sales have grown 80% annually, net income 12% and earnings per share 14%. India Operations Cottle Taylor conducts its India operations through a subsidiary of the company called Cotte India. The India operations are solely focused on oral care, which includes toothpaste, tooth powder and dental floss. Throughout India they have a distribution network that sells in more than 450,000 retail outlets. India Demographics India is the world’s largest democracy with an area of 1.2 million square miles. In 2009 the population was 1.16 billion people with a median age of 25 and an annual growth rate of 1.4%. Population control campaigns have successfully slowed down the growth rate 17% in the following years. There are 28 states and 19 territories with citizens who speak primarily Hindi as well as English as a second language. In 2009 India’s GDP was 146 times greater than in 1990 but there is a clustered distribution of wealth with 4 states accounting for 30% of the total GDP. 37% of the population is impoverished and over 80% lived on less then $2 per day. Indian Oral Care Traditionally Indians have had very limited exposure to proper oral care. A typical Indian will chew twigs from the Neem tree which they call â€Å"Natures drugstore† In 2004 the Indian dental association launched campaigns to educate Indians about oral health care issues. Oral care grew 10% from 2008 to 2009. Quality of Life/Shopping Habits Basic health care is very limited with high illiteracy rates. A recent increase in mobile technology in India has revolutionized the country and has connected millions of people to the globe. Indians are extremely price sensitive due to the limited financial resources in the country. In semi-urban areas, smaller sized products at affordable prices are most favorable while urban shoppers prefer shopping at convenience stores, departments, supermarkets, and specialty retailers where the price is higher. Case Analysis Lang and Patel both have different ideas of what strategy should be implemented in India. The target customer is a major difference where Patel wants to focus on the low-end brushes for first time users, when Lang thinks it is better to concentrate on mid-range brushes and battery operated products for customers with higher income. The three primary messages that the company uses to market their products are: 1) Persuading consumers to brush for the first time 2) Increasing the incidence of brushing 3) Persuading consumers to upgrade to midrange or premium products. Patel, who wants to focus on reaching consumers buying the low-end products, essentially needs to imbue most of the advertising budget into the first message, which persuades consumers to brush for the first time. This is because 50% of Indians are not concerned with preventing or curing dental problems, especially in rural areas, if she aims to significantly improve sales she needs to educate these customers on the importance of oral hygiene. By educating this group, Cottle can capture this demographic and make a great profit. It is essential to start with this huge demographic of Indians who do not use tooth brushes to turn them into lifelong customers who will later on purchase more advanced dental products to compliment brushing Recommendations Uneven distribution of messages Urban, semi-urban: Message 1: 10% Message 2: 40% Message 3: 50% Rural: Message 1: 60% Message 2: 35% Message 3: 5% Above the line marketing strategy: promotional activities carried out through mass media, TV, radio, out of home, magazines, cinema and newspaper for above the line promotional activities. Cottle’s ATL strategy: Advertise through billboards on the streets Advertise aggressively on mid-range toothbrush Link it to CSR activity to educate society on brushing twice and market the product. Below the line marketing strategy: Non-media communication or advertising and has become increasingly important in the communications mix of many companies. It is efficient and cost-effective for targeting a limited and specific group. Cottle’s BTL strategy: Updating â€Å"Anganwadi† workers in villages about the oral hygiene and providing the free samples to people who come oral health problems. Free health check – ups in towns schools and colleges and provide them with samples. More focus on message 1 and 3 ; message 2 would be implicit. Message 1: target young people and their parents. School plays â€Å"the demand for the golden brush†. Playing the kinds, the parents, and the doctor. In the end of the play kids would get a voucher saying â€Å"10% discount on a kids toothbrush or a familiar toothpaste or an electrical brush Promote through radios: ads like â€Å"I have a gum problem but since I started to brush every day I don’t have a problem anymore† Message 2: brush more often: distributors and dentists would talk about it: Promote through flyers radio and TV Message 3: Upgrade the brush: focus on TV ads and dentists: Ads with â€Å"son brushing for the first time and father brushing with electric brush. In the end with the dentist recommending it†. Promote through radios.