Marketing of Wonder Lotion by Medico - Case Study Example

A Case Study for Marketing Target Market According to Procter (2000) selecting a suitable market is something really important for the success of a product. Medico name is often considered too respectable and has a "medicinal" image given the long history of the company. Since such a high incident rate of skin cancer and skin damage exists in this region, there is an ever growing need (market) for sunscreen products. Based on our marketing it can focus on three specific markets: tourists, teenagers/young adults and parents with young children. These target markets will allow for market penetration and diffusion at a quick rate since they are the groups that have the highest need for our product and the greatest purchasing power. Positioning Wonder lotion can be positioned as the strategy that is used by Medico for their Wonder lotion is on specific "product Benefits strategy" as it promotes "Sun Protection" benefit as well as protection against insects, skin dryness and perspiration. Unique Selling Proposition The new variant Wonder lotion as the name suggests has its USP in the promise of doing something wonderful for the consumer’s skin, as it promotes "Sun Protection" benefit as well as insects, skin dryness and perspiration .Considering the importance the psyche attaches to sun protection, the lotion is bound to make waves in the local market, as we all know that tourists in Australia as well as locals are the most conscious people regarding in the increasing rate of skin cancer. Slogan Slogans are easy to remember. It helps the customers to easily remember the product (Wilmshurst p34). It provides an identity to the product which it is based on. Slogan is an important part in the marketing of the product. It is a short but successful technique of expressing an idea, which may be full of emotions and turn out to be psychological movers. The appeal of products can be reinforced by advertising slogans. (Brassington & Pettitt p199). Wonder lotion can revolve around the slogan that is: "Does wonders 4 you" As it has 4 benefits in one tube. Marketing Mix Product Wonder lotion considered as a new product. It is not just re launch of the existing products of medico. A new variant "Sunscreen" along with multitude of other benefits are added in the new lotion. Wonder lotion has the additional feature of protecting the skin from Sun rays as well as protection against insects, skin dryness and perspiration. These features of the lotion makes it different from the existing lotions in the Market. None of the previous medico products offered protection from the Sun but they offered features like "good for oily skin" etc. so this makes Wonder lotion a premium lotion from the rest. It is the first lotion of its kind. Previously, no soap offered this feature of protection from the sun as well as insects. It can be called "The Best" at the present time. Packaging It is suggest that, to be more communicative with the consumers, the packaging of wonder lotion should have usage instructions and a few words describing the sunscreen formula, so that the people using the product find it more interesting to be well aware of its significance. According to McDonald (2001) this strategy is known as informative marketing, which the medico team should adhere to capture more consumers. Apart from this it will be available in a 250ml bottle as well as 10 ml sachets. Labelling The label of wonder lotions identifies the product as well as the brand .it also describes several thing about the product for example it is made by Medico Australia , its net weight, consumer price, sales tax and its benefits. Branding Strategies: The branding strategy which Medico is following an active branding strategy (Baker p45), because medico has introduced an additional item with different variants in a given product category. However, it has used a different brand name. Product Life Cycle Wonder lotion has been termed as a “launch of a lotion with different variants" by Medico. Medico already has a strong position in the moisturizing lotion market. The launch of this variant "Sunscreen" will help Medico strengthen its position and enlarge its customer base. New innovations have always attracted experimenting consumers. In an industry of sunscreen and moisturizing lotions, the percentage of experimenting customers is the highest (McCarthy p23). Hence, to capture more consumers, and reduce customer churn to a zilch value, Medico has introduced a new technology, which will help increase sales and augment customer loyalty. Wonder lotion is at the introduction stage in the product life cycle having just been launched and presently trying to create awareness in the market. Price Wonder lotion is being positioned by Medico as a premium brand catering to the upper end as well as the lower of the market. Price mechanisms are very important in especially the launch of a product since for a new product, the effect of price will be very high. According to Blythe (2001) If priced very high customer might not buy the product because they have not experienced it and they might think of the perceived quality to be lower than the price. Wonder lotion’s target market is: tourism, teenagers/young adults and parents with young children. The reason for this target market is mainly awareness. Pricing Strategy For sunscreen Medico is using skimming pricing strategy. Though Medico consider this product as one of its premium brands but still the price of the product has only incremented to A standard bottle of 250 ml will cost the same as the current moisturiser, at $2.50 each (full capacity). Each sample sachet (10 ml) costs 50 cents, which cannot be considered as a premium price. Though they do believe that their product is going to do well in future but the reason for this pricing is introducing this concept at the sun screen level. Overall, however, it will be considered a value added product, which is providing an entire package to its consumer from skincare to sunscreen 24 hours a day at a price which is being offered at the industry level by firms offering the product of the same quality. The Relationship Between Price And Perceived Quality The relationship between price and perceived quality would be considered positive since the perceived quality of a sun block with the above mentioned benefits is considered as something rare but Medico did manage to catch a weakness here, since tourists and locals are very conscious of safety from the sun and insects they provided a multi-beneficial lotion at a price of a moisturizing lotion only came as an advantage to the initial lotion sales since the perceived quality of wonder lotion is very high. Place Distribution In large supermarkets and pharmacies like Safeway, Woolworth and chem. World. Wonder lotion would be given an extra rack, which will be just for this product. They will be kept on the front racks so as to attract the customers more and grab their attention. In the relatively smaller shops and the retailers, consumer attention will be caught through buntings and posters placed in a large number so that when the customer eyes the poster, the lotion as a quality product comes to his mind immediately and he purchases without any hesitation. The retailers will also be given some extra space for shelves for the lotion. Distribution Channel For wonder lotion the customers may be buying from the retail shops super markets departmental stores and pharmacies as Medico has a strong distribution channel that is why Wonder Lotion can be available every where. Number Of Channel Level Wonder lotion will be manufactured at Medico’s main factory. From there they have their own distributors who would take the lotion to various cites in Australia. These distributors then will pass these lotions to retailers and they will sell it to the end user. So price break-up also encompasses the respective profit each of these people in the selling chains make. Medico can give a 30% discount to every retailer who purchases their Wonder lotion, the discount way give way to a huge profit for the retailer. Promotion Marketing promotion can be defined as "persuasive communication designed to send marketing - related messages to a selected target audience". Sales promotions are the short term marketing tools (Randall p44). Promotion Budget Kind AUD Print ads 3 million Electronic media 2 million Discounts and gifts 7 million Retailer discount 9 million Promotion Mix Strategies Medico will have to use both the Push and Pull strategies. Push Strategy Medico can give an incentive of commission to its sales force and thus motivates its sales persons to push the product towards the customer's .The greater the push situation created, the greater will be the firms sales and greater would be the effort of sales people to communicate the product to final. consumer. Pull Strategy Medico can provide several sales promotion incentives like a free gift to its consumers who in turn may pull the product from the firm directly or through its sales people. This kind of strategy consumers use their buying power and influence on retailers to pull the product through the channel (Keller 205) Advertising Though Medico acquired a very in aggressive advertising approach towards the launch of the new variant in the sunscreen market, it is proposed that Medico should exercise aggressive advertising by: Advertising Objective Informative Advertising: Using electronic and print media to promote the basic technological aspect of the wonder lotion. Despite the fact that wonder lotion is treated as a sunscreen lotion in the market, but it differs from all others due the additional benefits. wonder lotion is there launch of a different variant; hence it should be publicized differently than all other Medico products. Target Audience Wonder lotion main target audience are the parents with children, tourists, young adults .This is mainly because in Australia the buying decision of connivance product are made by either the teenagers for themselves or by parents for the family. Advertising Media *Hoardings: Place hoardings of the product on the most busy signals and stop points in the city. Basically focus upon areas where Shopping malls are closely located. Emphasis on print media advertising to the fullest. Though Medico is focusing on the subject, but it is suggested that it should print informative ads in fashion magazines, which are demanded by women of all ages, mostly. It is also suggested that the following print plan for wonder lotion ads: Print Plan for Wonder Lotion ABC1, 2 and 3, can be used as their advertising channels. Up till now, the total cost for advertising for wonder lotion is AUD 2 million. Sales Promotion The main sales promotion tools which can be used by Medico are the following. Consumer Promotions Tools Point Of Purchases (POP) The best opportunity for Medico to capture the target market is to catch their attention at exhibitions, skincare shows and other events organized for tourists and families held at famous clubs and restaurants and various other organizations. Though, Medico has never practiced such exercises, but in order to broaden the customer base, and to create awareness about the launch a new variant, Medico should put up “Wonder Lotion Stalls", where the attendants, also serving as advisors inform the consumer's about the benefits and main core difference of Wonder Lotion from other moisturizing and sunscreen lotions. Free distribution of sample sachets of Wonder Lotion should be practiced to escalate promotional activities. Sample For a limited time frame, special schemes should be devised to offer free samples of Wonder Lotion with its co-branded products. Premium Get one- Wonder Lotion free, with 4 Large Medico’s moisturizing lotion. Such type of offers will help the consumer experience the product cost free. Price Pack To capture the customer awareness, Medico should sell Wonder Lotion’s 250ml bottle and sachets at a discounted price. According to Kapferer (1997) after capturing an acceptable amount of customer bonding in a certain time, revise the premium price, at which the product was launched. This strategy will give us enough benefit to penetrate into the targeted segments. Gifts It is generally observed that when a new product is launched, whose target market basically focuses on the female segment of the customer base, such promotions are practiced that will help cater to their emotional and sentimental values (Wilmshurst 1984). For such purposes, Gifts play the major role in capturing the market. Proposing Special schemes, like lucky draws, to give out gifts and coupons to the customers. Trade Promotion Tool Discount The manufacturer may offer a straight discount off the list price on each case purchased during a stated period of time. The offer encourages the dealers to buy in quantity or to carry a new item. Allowance Manufacturers may offer an allowance in return for the retailer's agreement to feature the manufacturer's products in some way. A discount allowance compensates them for using special displays. Personal Selling Medico should practice new means to reach its target market's acceptability level. For such purposes, the concept of Sales women distributing Wonder Lotion from door to door seems as an excellent idea. Belonging to the same gender as the target market gives them an immense amount of advantage, like they can well-understand the psychology of parents who want to save their children from the sun and insects. They can easily explain them the advantages and benefits of a product much effectively than salesmen. Work cited Baker, M. Marketing Management and Strategy. Macmillan Business, 2000 p45 Blythe, J. Essentials of Marketing. Prentice Hall 2001 Brassington, F and Pettitt, S. Principles of Marketing. Prentice Hall, Harlow, 2000 p199 Kapferer, J. Strategic Brand Management. Kogan Page, 1997 Keller, K. Strategic Brand Management, Building, measuring and managing brand equity. Kogan Page, 1997 p205 McCarthy, J. Basic Marketing: a managerial approach. Homewood, IL, 1975 p23 McDonald, M. Marketing Plans. How to prepare them, how to use them. Butterworth Heinenamm, 2001 Proctor, T. Essentials of Marketing Research. UK: Financial Times-Prentice Hall, 2000 Randall, G. Principles of Marketing. Thomson Learning 2001 p44 Wilmshurst John. The Fundamentals and Practice of Marketing. Butterworth-Heinemann, 1984 p34 Read More