Discussion Questions - Essay Example

Discussion Questions Table of Contents Question 2 4 Reference 6 Question Watch the Old Spice and the Axe commercials provided. Compare the positioning of these products. In doing so, discuss how each product is being positioned. Which is more effective and why? Support your position with examples from the assigned reading, lectures and at least one credible, high-quality source of outside research. The grooming market for men in US is more than $ 3.5 billion. It is divided into six segments. : Deodorants, fragrances, aftershaves and shaving products, hair care, cleansing products, and skin care products.

Old Spice is a dominant brand in the traditional category while Axe is a new and prominent brand in market now. There are many factors which influence the marketers who are positioning their products in the mens grooming market. Old Spice is a traditionally recognized brand which has its own group of loyal customers. But it was seen that Old Spice also wanted to explore the mens grooming market. So it introduced products in the deodorants and antiperspirant segment. Old Spice is a brand of Procter & Gamble.

They have spent about $ 100 million a year, with Wieden & Kennedy to produce advertisements, which mainly focuses on good smelling men. The advertisements are mainly humorous and each of the advertisements depicts that, healthy and fresh smelling men use Old Spice deodorants and they succeed in life. Old Spice deodorants are not targeted specifically to teenagers, but to men of all age group (Old Spice, 2010). In comparison to Old Spice, Axe is a new brand in the market from Unilever. But it has become one of the major players due to its extensive market positioning strategy.

The advertisement of Axe mainly focuses on the sex appeal. The marketer mainly targeted the teenage, students and mainly bachelors in their advertisements to attract female. The focus market was mainly urban and semi-urban. Axe does not customize their advertisements according to the countries. They focus on a global branding effort. Moreover, Unilever has a strong channel of distribution (Felix, 2008). Question 2 Consider the 80/20 principle. Aside from the consumption the 20 percent accounts for, what else about the 20 percent is important?

Support your position with examples from the assigned reading, lectures and at least one credible, high-quality source of outside research. Vilfredo Pareto introduced the 80/20 Rule to describe that a few of something can affect many. According to Pareto, 20 percent of the people in the world own 80 percent of the wealth. Another, person called Juran followed the same principle to describe that 20 percent of the defects cause 80 percent of the problems (Tracy, 2007, p. 112). The project managers also agree with this principal.

According to them 20 percent of the work (first 10 percent and last 10 percent) takes 80 percent of time. So it can be assumed that the 80/20 rule is applicable to many things (Frain, 1999, p. 288). So if Pareto’s principal is applied for interpreting the market of deodorants and antiperspirants, we can generally say that 20 percent of the loyal customers of any deodorant brand generate 80 percent of its revenue. But this fact may not be true because nowadays the market is flooded with substitutes and it is difficult to say that 20 percent loyal customers at all exists for a single brand.

The young generation has become switchers. They keep on trying new products. Though Axe is a new brand but it has captured the major share of the market. The target customers of Axe are teenagers, young men, especially bachelors. These people are generally not loyal towards a single brand. In case of Old Spice, Pareto’s principal is applicable because Old Spice is an old and popular brand. It is preferred by men from all age group. So here we can say that 20 percent of loyal Old Spice customers are and will generate 80 percent of its income irrespective of any new entrant in the market.

Reference Felix, A. (2008, September 23). “Axe Commercial.” [YouTube]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xseHoVJZavY. Frain, J. (1999). Introduction to Marketing. Connecticut: Cengage Learning EMEA. Old Spice. (2010, February 4). “Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.” [YouTube]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE. Tracy, B. (2007). Change Your Thinking Change Your Life, how to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.