Factors To Influence on the Toothbrush Market - Report Example

Entrepreneurial – Toothbrush A study of the market environment. For estimating the market environment, we take into consideration the available data for USA and Britain. These countries provide some data for the rest of the world. The most recent easily accessible data for the US1 market are the following: MARKET ANALYSIS 1998 1999 10,000,000 sold Toothbrush sales are expected to top 12,500,000 4.4 billion people in the world use toothbrushes 2.3 billion people replace their toothbrush every year The average price for a toothbrush sold was $ 2.75 The average cost to manufacture a toothbrush was $0.35 (Neustel Law Offices ,http://www.patent-ideas.com/marketanalysis.htm) VS. MARKETABILITY EVALUATION 85% of consumers do not care if they can brush their teeth 25% faster There are over 250 different competitive products in the toothbrush industry Consumers of toothbrushes do not change types of toothbrushes easily (Neustel Law Offices,http://www.patent-ideas.com/marketanalysis.htm) In the UK population, estimations show that 97% of the population cleans their teeth at least once a day. The consumer attitudes towards teeth healthcare have changed, consumer pay more attention to teeth healthcare in order to reduce dental treatment. According to Mintel’s report (Mintel, 2004) on teeth healthcare and toothbrushes, the market of toothbrushes reaches £201 million in 2004, with the volume decreasing by 8% from the previous year. Toothbrushes are divided into manual and powered. Most of toothbrushes sold in 2003 were manual but powered toothbrushes are helping the market to increase. The share of powered brushes is almost half of the value of the market. (The Infoshop.com, Toothbrushes –UK-April 2004, Available from: http://www.the-infoshop.com/study/mt19665_toothbrushes.html) Some data regarding thee sales of powered toothbrushes in the US are the following: Sales of Powered Toothbrushes in the United States by Cost (1999 vs. 2001) Toothbrush Price Sales* in Dollars (in Thousands) 1999 OND quarter 2001 OND quarter Index vs 1999 Brushes < $10 $641 $27,623 4,309 Brushes $10 - $30 $33,611 $55,583 165 Brushes > $30 $15,658 $25,170 161 (The clinical effectiveness of a novel power toothbrush and its impact on oral health Available from :http://www.thejcdp.com/issue010/biesbrock/07biesbrock.htm) PESTEL analysis. PESTEL stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legislative Political/Legislative/Economic There are not any major political, legislative or economic factors affecting the toothbrush market. Social The social factor that influences the toothbrush market is that consumers are getting more sensitive towards dental healthcare in order to reduce dental treatment. According to date UK consumers’ concerns regarding toothbrushes are: they value the features of the toothbrushes, the comfort they provide, if they are recommended by professional and they also have concerns more about health of gums rather than cavity protection. The findings suggest that consumers are willing to pay premium prices for toothbrushes addressing these concerns: (The Infoshop.com, Toothbrushes –UK-April 2004, Available from: http://www.the-infoshop.com/study/mt19665_toothbrushes.html) Technological The technological factor is the further evolution of power toothbrushes. Recently there has been a new invention of battery power brush. There is no specific environmental factors mentioned in reports, however the fact that more people are environmentally concerned should not be ignored. Any efforts in producing a new toothbrush should take this factor into consideration and adapt its manufacturing ability accordingly Developments of Toothbrushes. Toothbrush Development Timeline 3000 B.C.   Egyptians use small branches with frayed ends to clean teeth 1400s   Chinese invent bristle toothbrush, made of Siberian wild boar hair fixed to a bamboo or bone handle  1600s   European travelers to China bring back toothbrush, replace wild boar hair with softer horse hair 1885   Companies began to mass produce manual toothbrushes 1938   First nylon bristles introduced 1950   Nylon bristles were made softer 1960   1st electric toothbrush introduced in the U.S. 1987   1st rotary action electric toothbrush for home use introduced 2000   Low-price power toothbrushes grow power brush market (The clinical effectiveness of a novel power toothbrush and its impact on oral health http://www.thejcdp.com/issue010/biesbrock/02biesbrock.htm) As mentioned above there are two categories of toothbrushes: powered and manual. The powered toothbrushes continuously evolve the ones with round oscillating bristle heads have helped to improve oral hygiene. According to clinical studies, powered toothbrushes are more efficient to remove plaque than manual therefore they are widely accepted among dentists. In the late 1990’s the market of powered toothbrushes was shaped into two distinct categories: the high end toothbrushes ($20-$110) that provided complex motions to the bristles and the low end which provided very little cleaning benefit. A recent development is Crest’s SpinBrush which has low cost and it is battery powered “The brush head, with its combination of fixed and moving bristles, was designed to have a more traditional sized brush head permitting patients to brush their teeth in an optimal manner recommended by a dentist, while the motorized circular portion of the brush promotes more effective cleaning.  In addition, this brush has an angled shaft to permit easier access to the back teeth in the oral cavity” (The clinical effectiveness of a novel power toothbrush and its impact on oral health http://www.thejcdp.com/issue010/biesbrock/02biesbrock.htm) Consumer types The type of consumers that use powered toothbrushes are the therapeutic and cosmetic users whereas the uninvolved consumers use normal manual toothbrushes. According to US data therapeutic brushers amount to 46% of adult population, cosmetic brushers are 21% and uninvolved consumers are 33%. According to Mintel report (Mintel,2004) the profile of toothbrush users is the following: Therapeutic users: the 85% of them brush twice a day, they use professional brush (85%) and they floss regularly (54%). Cosmetic brushers: 85% of them brush twice a day, 81% use mouthwash, 54% use breath fresheners, 54% use professional brush and 69% floss regularly. Finally, the uninvolved brushers: 20% brush once a day or less, 66% use mouthwash, 28% use regular brush and 54% floss regularly. Competitor analysis. The major competitors are Colgate, Oral-B, J&J, P&G, Lever and Aquafresh. Philips and Gillette dominate the powered toothbrushes market. According to the Mintel report (Mintel , 2004) an estimation of UK market shares of manual toothbrushes is the following: Colgate 26% Oral-B 23% J & J 22% Lever 6% Aquafresh 5% P & G 22% The major brands for therapeutic users are: Oral-B Angle, Oral-B Regular and Colgate Plus (in this order). The cosmetic brushers prefer Colgate classic, Oral-B Regular and Colgate Plus whereas uninvolved brushers use Colgate classic, Oral-B Regular and Colgate Plus (the same as cosmetic brushers). Competitive conditions and advantages. Oral-B is the highest advertiser and it dominates (22%) the market of dentists. The average profit margin for a retailer selling toothbrushes is 25%-30%. Mass merchandisers sell on average 10 brands, the drug stores sell 12 brands, the food outlets 8 brands (US data)2. The marketing strategy. According to the marketing theory, our company is called a segmenter. Usually segmenters enter the market with a product that is slightly modified as it is in our case but the product is designed in such a way that it fits the needs of a specific market segment. These companies do not focus on R&D but on the design and production of the product. It is imperative for these companies to have skilled market research departments in order to find the market segments whose needs are not fully satisfied. More specifically the strategy The positioning strategy for the new toothbrush is to focus on a niche market for the short term trying to conquer the mainstream market in the long term. A niche strategy cannot hold for long since competitors will soon imitate the product. The estimations for entering the mainstream market range to 12-14 months. One further reason for this strategy is that it is easier to move from the high end to the low end market. The market segment that we are intending to target is travellers. Since a growing part of the population is interested in dental care there is a need for having healthy teeth and care during journeys. Our product is designed in such a way in order to cover the needs of the particular market segment. The marketing mix. Product We are selling a toothbrush with a tooth based inside it. The toothbrush will be 2in1 and also the head of the tooth brush can be changed, the base will be put inside the handle of the toothbrush. The brush head and the base are change able so the costumers after they buy the toothbrush they will continue buying the head brush and the tooth base and as as result will be continues profit. The product is going to be positioned as super premium offering high quality dental care. The distribution channels that are going to be approached for the short term are: drug stores, food stores and dentists. The approach to the drug stores will be to attract consumers with gum diseases and there will be an effort to build a high-end image in this channel in order to approach the mainstream market easier. The purpose in using the food stores as a distribution channel is to approach the home user. Finally, it is necessary to approach dentists since they are a powerful distribution channel and their recommendations are valued by users especially the therapeutic ones. In the long term the channels that are going to be added are: mass merchandisers, club stores. The mass merchandisers sell large quantities and the future trends are that they are going to expand more. The club stores currently possess a small share in the market but the trend is that they are going to increase their market share. Promotion will target in the beginning the therapeutic users (among them travellers – no available data for the percentage of travellers and therapeutic users) since they represent 46% of the adult population and they are the ones that seek high quality toothbrushes. They are health conscious and their age ranges from 30-50 years old. The message will emphasize the fact that the new toothbrush is more effective than others in plaque removal. Samples will be distributed in order that the consumers get to know the new product. The price of the new toothbrush will be $3.89 which positions it at the high end of the market. References Aaby,N.E., Discenza,R.(1993). Strategic Marketing and New Product Development, Journal of Business& Industrial Marketing, Vol.8,No.2,pp.61-68. Cravens,D.W.(1997). Strategic Marketing,5th edition, Chicago,IL:IRWIN. Hooley,G.J.,Saunders,J.A.,Nigel F.P.(1998).Marketing Strategy &Competitive Positioning.2nd edition.London:Prentice Hall Europe. Light,D.A.(1996).Introducing New Products.Harvard Business Review,November-December,pp.8-9. Mintel report (April 2004), Toothbrushes-UK- 2004. Available from:, {Accessed 06 March 2009] Neustel law offices, Market Analysis, Available from: [Accessed 07 March 2009] Rochford,L,Rudelius,W.(1997).New product Development Process, Industrial Marketing Management,Vol.25,pp.67-84. The clinical effectiveness of a Novel Power Toothbrush and its Impact on Oral Health,Available from:http://www.thejcdp.com/issue010/biesbrock/07biesbrock.htm [Accessed 06 March 2009] Toothbrushes - UK - April 2004, Available from: [Accessed 06 March 2009] Walker,O.C.,Boyd,H.W.,Larreche,J.C.(1996).Marketing Strategy.2nd edition.Chicago, IL:IRWIN. Read More