Cottle-Taylor Analysis

Question 1 Cottle-Taylor A conjunctions grocerying mix dodge is key to their victor. Thorough depth psychology is involve to assure that proceeds attributes, distribution system, colloquy dodge and pricing strategy argon all told in line with the conjunctions strategic goal. The following analysis is of Cottle-Taylors merchandising mix strategy in India. Product Attributes Cottle-Taylor has 3 product categories in order to reach their three market segments 1) Low-End Manual, 2) Mid-Range Manual, and 3) Battery-Operated. The manual tooth wash designs intromit a variety of colors all styles included rubber grips (HBR 6).In the Low-End category Cottle-Taylor produced 5 different products with varying characteristics ranging from soft bristles, to tensile necks for minimal gum irritation, to kid surface brushes. This category contains a basic toothbrush with no large innovation. The Mid-Range category has two products that have slightly more go on features such as multi -angled bristles and tongue cleaner. The Battery-Operated is the well-nigh advanced category in damage of innovation and product characteristics. It contains two electric toothbrush models with rotating bristles that perform 3,000 strokes a minute.Distribution strategy Cottle-Taylor has three distribution tactics in order to penetrate the large dot sell scene in India 1) 20 distributors that focus on the large retail outlets in urban cities, 2) 250 medium surface distributors serving wholesalers and retailers in semi urban aras, and 3) disgorge distributors who work with over 300,000 outlets in elfin villages across the country (HBR 7). In the retail outlets in urban cities Cottle-Taylor principally supplies their Mid-Range and Battery-Operated models to capitalize on taller-income Indians who shop at supermarkets.Cottle-Taylor uses seed distributors to supply the numerous comminuted villages with its basic line. They see no survey in building relationships because ther e are too many small stores and seed distributors speak the language. However, communicating key marketing points was hard and assuring their products were visible in the small cluttered stores was impossible. Communication system Cottle-Taylor had three key communication messages in India 1) Persuading consumers to brush for the first time, 2) Increasing incidences of brushing, and 3) Persuading consumers to get on to Mid-Range or PremiumProducts (HBR 8). They allocated 12% of sales on the advertising budget, which broke down into 9% for advertisements and 3% for promotions. The main target demographics are men and women ages 20-35 in country-bred and urban areas that currently brush or wear thint brush. It is important to build sentience and educate consumers on the benefits of tooth brushing and they did this by dint of the use of TV, radio, billboards and prints ads. Pricing Strategy Cottle-Taylor prices their toothbrushes in respect to their target segments.The low-end brushes range from . 22-. 35 cents, the medium-end ranges from . 52-. 98 cents and the eminent-end ranges from $1-11. In terms of unprompted success in India, Cottle-Taylors strategy is strongest in the area of communication. They success fully positioned and communicated to customers that they are an authority on oral carry on (HBR 5) and consumers hold their products in high regard. Partnering with IDA has given over their tell on great credibility and helped them bugger off an industry leader holding 47% of the oral grapple market share.As shown in give 5, Cottle-Taylor has experienced 53% exploitation in market share for toothbrushes from 2004-2009 and 47% growth in oral care market share. They ran successful campaigns where, among rural residentsthose uncovered to the campaigns were twice as likely to call for tooth brushing within a socio-economic class than those who had not been exposed (HBR 5). In fitting five years they have virtually dominated the oral care market and a key contributor to their success is their communication strategy.Their weakest strategy in the marketing mix is product attributes. It appears Cottle-Taylor has not fully understood their market segments when designing products for India. looking at at exhibit 8, it is clear the legal age of demand is for the Low-End Manual with 87% of sales. The to the lowest degree amount of demand is for the Battery-Operated brush with wholly . 5% of sales. With 80% of the world in India living under $2 a day, does it make sense to market a high-end expensive product in India?Exhibit 4 shows that a very small percentage of Indians have sufficient amounts of expendable income to spend on expensive toothbrushes. India has a very small concentration of high income and a very large minute of people living in poverty. The Battery-Operated brush is mainly marketed in urban areas however, in 2009 roughly 78% of Indians lived in rural towns and villages and 22% in urban settings (HBR 3). This is a very small percent of the population they are trying to capture with the high-end toothbrush. Overall, this is a very comprehensive marketing strategy.Cottle-Taylor has divide the market and created specific products for each market. As mentioned earlier, the high-end segment does not have significant demand, which insinuates the segments could have been analyzed more. With this said, Cottle-Taylor has done a good job at navigating the hard retail scene in India finished their distribution strategy. It is clear that Cottle-Taylor has successfully marketed their denounce through communications mediums because there is high brand awareness and favorable brand positioning.