Colgate Max Fresh: Global Brand Roll Out - Essay Example

Colgate Max Fresh: Global Brand Roll Out Question 1 The launch of Colgate Max Fresh in the United States promised immense profitability owing to the success of the market research and analyses the company’s marketing department carried out. The launched positioned the brand strategically thereby enhancing its success. In the United States, consumers of toothpaste among other oral products are literate and investigate for a number of features in the products they purchase. The case shows that the market in the United States is conscious of the nature of the products and, therefore, seeks therapeutic benefits in such products. Protection against tooth cavity and reduction of plaque buildup in the teeth is two of the main demands from the American consumers of the products. With such information about the market, the company positioned Colgate Max Fresh as an ideal product that promises both qualities besides a number of other cosmetic benefits. The company managed to balance between therapeutic and cosmetic benefits thereby managing to position the product favorably thus enabling to attract a large target market. More importantly, the company priced the product competitively. Price, an element of the marketing mix, influences the purchasing behavior of the consumer. Colgate Max Fresh had an appropriate appeal. The management priced the product competitively thereby making it attractive. Before, during and after the launch of the product in the United States, the marketing team carried out extensive promotion of the product. The team used a variety of media including the broadcast, print, website and social media among many others. The extensive promotion helped create adequate awareness of the new product thereby enhancing its competitiveness. In retrospect, the marketing team in the United States carried out adequate research on both the product and the target market thereby creating a profitable launch plan that would help increase the product’s market share in the country. The marketing team considered such vital features as the product itself thereby developing an attractive packaging that would help attract more consumers. Additionally, the team considered such other features as price, promotion and place. Such resulted in an increase in the product’s market share. Question 2 The toothpaste market in China is different from that in the United States a feature that influenced a number of changes the company’s marketing team carried out on the launch of Colgate Max Fresh in China. Firstly, the Chinese market factors the local brands that are cheaper than other international brands such as Coalgate. With this knowledge, the marketing team made a number of vital changes beginning with changing the name of the product in order to appeal to the local market. The team changed the name from Max Fresh to Icy Fresh, breath strips to cooling strips and the celebrity it used to position the product. The changes were costly. However, they would enhance the profitability of the product in the market. As explained earlier, markets have different structures and, therefore, require unique appeals. The changes in marketing Colgate Max Fresh in China were appropriate since they helped position the product strategically and competitively in the market. Colgate Max Fresh offered both therapeutic and cosmetic benefits. The Chinese market demanded therapeutic benefits but at lower costs. Colgate Max Fresh prided itself in both the benefits. As such, the team made the changes with the view to enhancing the appropriateness of the product. Promotion is a vital element of marketing. The marketing team changes the celebrity by seeking the services of Jay Chow in China. The celebrity was both popular and strategic. She was popular and appealed to the youth. As such, she helped increased the popularity of the product thereby positioning the product strategically. An effective marketing team must know how to introduce a product to a market even if the undertaking requires a number of changes. The changes the marketing team undertook when introducing the product in the Chinese market were appropriate. The company sought to appeal to the company. As such, it had to create an appropriate communication that would appeal to the local consumers. The team changed the name of the product to Icy Fresh since the change would enhance the product’s appeal to the local market. Carrying out a complete makeover on the brand was appropriate since it helped position the product strategically and competitively in China. Question 3 Launching the product in Mexico was an equally difficult task given the slow pace at which the market grows. Fortunately, Colgate enjoys the largest share of the Mexican market. This would, therefore, lower the cost of launching the new product. However, the marketing team had to carry out extensive marketing and develop appropriate ways of launching the product because Colgate Max Fresh’s main competitor, Crest’s Cool Explosion was launching a similar product on the same day. In order to counter this, the marketing team made a number of vital changes on the launch plan in order to make it appeal to the local Mexican market. The market demanded therapeutic value. The team therefore sought to introduce the product as an ideal oral care product that offered a number of therapeutic values to its consumers. Additionally, the Mexico customers demanded teeth whitening effects and cavity prevention some of which Colgate lacked. In order to counter this, the marketing team introduced timely and effective changes on the launch plan to help position the brand in Mexico. Price and promotion were important in Mexico just as in any other market. The marketing team launched an extensive promotion plan to help create adequate awareness on the product thereby building up demand for the Colgate Max Fresh. The team used a number of media coupled with appropriate celebrity endorsement to help the product appeal to the local consumers. Additionally, the marketing team changed the price of the product in China in order to enhance its competitiveness against the local competitors. The changes helped safeguard Colgate’s market share. Question 4 The best way of growing a product’s market share is to venture into new markets. Colgate is a global brand and can, therefore, position its product into new countries. However, doing this requires extreme caution coupled with extensive marketing researches and analyses in order to determine the nature of the market. In selecting a country in which to carry out the next launch, the marketing team must consider a number of factors key among which is the size of the market. The size of the market would help anticipate profitability. The population of a country coupled with the number of oral care products and brands in the same influences the size of the market. As such, the marketing team at Colgate must analyse some of the most populated countries and determine the nature of the market. Another equally important factor that influences the choice of a country is the market’s growth rate. Markets must always grow. A market that grows faster promises increased profitability to the companies that seek to operate there. Besides a large population, Burton must consider a number of other factors in prioritizing a country for the next launch of the product. Such other factors include demographic factors, taste and preferences and the purchasing power of the population. Demographic factors re the intricate factors of the population that influences the suitability of a product. Such factors as the population structure in a country influence the consumption of products. Tastes and preferences coupled with the competition in a particular market will influence the profitability of the products. Colgate boasts of both therapeutic and cosmetic benefits a feature that positions the product competitively in any market. Considering and analyzing competition helps position the product strategically. After analyzing the market size and the market’s growth rate, the marketing team must analyze the level of competition in the industry. This refers to the number of companies dealing in the manufacture and sale of similar products. Understanding the competition would help understand the market thereby informing the marketing strategies a new company can use in introducing its products into such a market. Competition influences such marketing elements as price, the product, promotion and place all of which are vital when formulating launch plan and influencing the profitability and longevity of the brand in the new market. Work cited Colgate Max Fresh: Global Brand Roll-Out Read More