COLGATE: The Precision Toothbrush
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Colgate Palmolive's senior management decided to launch a new toothbrush priced in the Super Premium segment. Susan Steinberg, the product manager, has to determinate the best marketing mix to implement and which of the follow options are the best in order to position the product in the market: A) Under a mainstream B) Under a niche strategy. Each strategy has involves different prices and volumes of unit sold.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
Customers: More and more customers look for toothbrushes that satisfy their needs. For example Baby boomer's generation, one of our main targets, look for products that help them to have healthy gums. Colgate research identified that 82% of the toothbrush sales were unplanned, as well the average of the consumer replaced their brushes occurred every 7.5 months. Consumers differed in the industry of their involvement in oral hygiene: 1) involved oral health consumers ? therapeutic brushers (46%); 2) involved oral health consumers ? cosmetic brushers (21%); 3) uninvolved oral health consumers (33%).
Competition: Competition in the Toothbrush market for Colgate Palmolive was tough. Competition by segments. Value segment: Level (7.2% by volume of total market shares in 1991), Pizar and Sunstar. Professional segment: Johnson & Johnson (19.2% by volume of total market shares in 1991). Super-premium segment: Oral-B (23.1% by volume of total market shares in 1991), Procter & Gamble and Smithkline Beecham (0.9 % by volume of total market shares in 1991). Oral B's brushes were positioned in the super premium segment. Where it had no strong competition for the moment since Johnson and Johnson, with its Reach brand focused only on the professional segment.
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