Marketing Strategy for Products: The Case of Johnson & Johnsons Baby Powder - Essay Example

? Marketing Strategy for Products: The Case of Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) Baby Powder Executive Summary A marketing plan is a set of marketing strategies that a company uses to market its products to enable the company achieve its core objective, that is, to make profits. In order to come up with a competitive and successful product a company must take into consideration winning product characteristics (Juran & De Fao, 2010). The operating system must take into control the key characteristics of the product in order to meet the customers’ needs. The success of a product cannot be achieved without creating a brand name for the product. There are various strategies used for brand marketing such as competitive analysis and positioning. While taking into consideration the types of strategies to implement on branding, it is important to consider how the products fit in the target market as well as the organization’s objectives. This report will analyze the major strategies used in market planning by the Johnson's & Johnson's Company in branding their J&J baby powder. The report discuses major product characteristics such as color, size, shape and materials used in the manufacture. The report also explains the strategies used in branding such as position as well as how the product fits in the business market and the organizations objectives. Introduction J&J baby powder is designed to keep the skin dry, soft and smooth. Powder has been used for generations. The main users of baby powder are mothers. However, the company is also targeting at other adults who are not mothers. First of all, let's consider mothers as main buyers category. The J&J baby powder will keep the skin of their babies soft. The use of it will ensure that the baby is as comfortable as possible thereby keeping the baby calm. The delicate perfumes of chamomile and lavender will make the use of J&J baby powder more exciting and enjoyable. The use of chamomile and lavender in J&J baby powder is designed to help the reduction of friction in the skin and the clothes such as nappies and pampers. By eliminating friction the baby will be free from nappy rashes thereby keeping the baby’s skin soft and smooth. Now let's pay attention to the category of adult consumers who buy the product for themselves. The J&J baby powder has been designed for a wide variety of consumers including people affected by allergies. Special care has been put into consideration in choosing the ingredients in order to attend to the special needs of people affected by certain perfumes. The J&J baby powder is also designed to care for the skin by absorbing excess skin moisture. This product is mild and gentle so as to sooth cracked and sore skin and restore the injured skin to its normal texture. Besides, the J&J baby powder is designed to be used by adults in reduction of friction from wearing tight trousers and blouses, as well as sweat reduction. It can be applied in the face to control sweat; it can act as a deodorant to control smelly armpits. The J&J baby powder is effective in absorbing moisture and will absorb sweat in the face and armpits leaving the skin dry and soft. The product is suitable for applying in between fingers to reduce and eliminate finger warts too. Main characteristics of the J&J baby powder According to Juran, M.J. and De Fao (2010), the main characteristics of a product include color, size, material, shape and benefits. The baby powder comes in 500 grams, 200 grams and 100 grams potions packed in sophisticated pink, white and blue plastic bottles. The shape of the container will be that of a bottle neck. The bottle will be fitted with a cap that will have small holes or pouring or sprinkling the powder. The cap will have been well designed such that it is able to be capped and closed tightly. Even if the baby plays with the bottle the whole day no powder will be spilled. The J&J baby powder is designed to care for the young ones in every respect. The colors of the baby powder containers are light in colors with mild perfumes to keep the baby smelling fresh and lovely all day long. The main product type the company concentrates upon is chamomile, lavender, and talcum baby powder products. The main ingredients in the talcum powder include fragrance and talc. The talcum baby powder comes in a blue bottle. This product is helpful in reducing friction as it contains millions of tiny slippery plates that slide over each other and thereby reduce friction and irritations. It has a classic and clean scent. The chamomile and lavender baby powder is made from pure cornstarch. The ingredients for the chamomile and lavender powder include tricalcium phosphate, Zea Mays starch (corn), as well as chamomile and lavender fragrance. The chamomile and lavender powder comes in a pink and white bottle. The J&J baby powder has been clinically and dermatological tested to show that the powder does not affect allergic people and is gentle and mild. The J&J baby powder can be used at any time after bathing and after diaper or nappy change for babies. The product makes the skin dry, soft and smooth by sprinkling the baby powder in the hand and applying it smoothly to the body. It should be kept away from the face when sprinkling onto the hand to avoid particles from getting in to the eyes. There are no major problems arising from the use of J&J baby powder. Although talcum has been associated with skin cancer, clinical practitioners have conducted research that shows that talcum is safe to use and less likely to cause skin cancer. However, talcum powder when inhaled in large quantities can cause pneumonia. The company has advised mothers to use Talcum in small quantities. Product Brand Strategy The company aims at ensuring quality consistency throughout its marketing plan and at developing a brand identity with a mark of quality. The brand is to be communicated repeatedly in different ways with consistency and frequency throughout the brand life and the company’s life. The company is going to carry out research on the use and name of the powder; these feedbacks will be used to develop the brand strategy it will outlay. The company aims at creating a strong preference of this baby powder brand among the consumers. The company is going to adopt a brand strategy that will create awareness of the J&J baby powder as well as establish an identity that will result in a competitive advantage of J&J powder over other types of baby powders. The major strategy that the company will take in developing a competitive brand strategy is positioning. Ferrell and Hartline (2008) explain that positioning is a brand strategy that a company adopts in order to create a brand name among the consumers in the market. Positioning will enable the company to position the J&J baby Powder with the levels competition. The company wants to capture the customers’ conception of quality products. Positioning will enable the company to create a mark of quality among the customers by laying down the benefits of using J&J baby powder over the other types of powders such as Procter & Gamble’s baby powder. Positioning will inform consumers of the ingredients used to produce the J&J baby powder. They are chosen with care and guarantee delights of upbringing a healthy and calm baby. Such positioning statements will enable the company to cultivate a positive association with the emotions of the consumers. The positioning statements strategies will be aligned with the company’s missions and vision so as to enable the company to adapt easily in the business environment. The most important business environment that the positioning strategy will cater for is the economic and social cultural environment that deals mostly with consumers bargaining power (Ferrell Hartline, 2008). The company is going to carry out demonstrations in televisions advertisements and road shows, as well as personal selling to show the benefits of using J&J baby powder. There will be tutorials organized for mothers, especially young ones, on how to care for their children using the J&J baby powder. The name of the company’s baby powder is aimed at positioning the product among the consumers. The brand name of the baby powder is aimed at creating a unique product in the market apart from competitors. This brand name will be used to demonstrate to the customers that this particular product is different from other baby powders in terms of effectives and efficiency. The company is aiming at dominating the market that encompasses all the mothers of the world, as well as at finding a soft spot in the mothers’ perception in caring for their babies. By targeting mothers, the company will dominate a large market segment all over the world. The positioning strategy will ensure that the company knows what kind of statements and reception to use towards the mothers; it will enable the company to improve its operations strategies by accommodating various changes taking place in the business environment. Changes in the operations will ensure that the company is able to attain and maintain a competitive advantage over rivals in the market. The J&J baby powder comes in different colors, sizes and prices according to the fragrance and size differences. It is designed in different fragrances as well as sizes in order to satisfy different customer needs according to their budgets. Every customer is unique and has different preferences. The company aims at capturing and maintaining each and every customer; thus the need for different prices and fragrances. According to Agarwalm (2008), a product lining is a marketing plan which strategizes on offering products of related products for sale in its depth as well as breath. The company has been in business for years and also offers other products such as baby soaps and powders that come in different colors and sizes which can be used together with the baby powder. The overall company’s objective is to offer quality products at the least possible costs in order to retain and maintain competitive advantage. Agarwalm (2008) asserts that the distribution channel used in a product line should be sufficient in exposing customers to different products that an organization deals with. The distribution channel that the company uses is that of manufacturers to retailers to the consumer. By adopting such a simple distribution channel, the customer gets the chance to view all the company's products. By offering different fragrances and sizes the company’s organization strategy is met because the consumers will buy a quality product that fits their needs. A satisfied customer will always come back for more thereby creating a consistent market for the company. This ensures that the company gains a competitive advantage in the market, which, in its turn, will enable the organization to meet its objectives with full potential of other market opportunities. Conclusion The company is going to carry out a marketing plan for its baby powder product in order to create a brand name and gain a competitive edge ahead of its main rivals. By adopting positioning, the company will carry out a comprehensive competition analysis in order to determine the major characteristics that make the J&J baby powder to fit in the market. The company also produces other types of products such as soaps and baby oils that are used in line with the baby powder. First of all, positioning will enable the company to weed out various characteristics such as color that seem unpromising in the business environment. It will also enable the company to take into considerations strategies of adapting to the changing global challenges and discover more opportunities such as new products and markets for the company. References Agarwalm, R. (2008). Organization and management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Ferrell, O., & Hartline, M. (2008). Marketing Strategy. Mason, OH: South Western Cengage Learning. Juran, M., & De Fao, A. (2010). Juran's Quality Handbook: The Complete Guide to Performance Excellence. 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