Cottle-Taylor Analysis

Question 1 Cottle-Taylor A follows marketing pleat scheme is key to their success. fundamental analysis is needed to assure that product attributes, dispersion strategy, communication strategy and pricing strategy be all in line with the companys strategic goal. The following analysis is of Cottle-Taylors marketing mix strategy in India. Product Attributes Cottle-Taylor has threesome product categories in rules of order to reach their three market segments 1) Low-End manual of arms, 2) Mid-Range Manual, and 3) Battery-Operated. The manual toothbrush designs include 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 flexible necks for minimal gum irritation, to nipper coat brushes. This category contains a basic toothbrush with no world-shaking innovation. The Mid-Range category has two products that confirm slightly more advanced featu res such as multi-angled bristles and tongue cleaner. The Battery-Operated is the most 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 move into the large dispersed retail scene in India 1) 20 distributors that centering on the large retail outlets in urban cities, 2) 250 medium sized distributors serving wholesalers and retailers in semi urban areas, and 3) cum distributors who work with e realwhere 300,000 outlets in modest villages across the country (HBR 7). In the retail outlets in urban cities Cottle-Taylor mainly supplies their Mid-Range and Battery-Operated models to capitalize on spiriteder-income Indians who shop at supermarkets.Cottle-Taylor uses seed distributors to supply the numerous small villages with its basic line. They see no grade in building relationship s because there are too many small stores and seed distributors speak the language. However, communicating key selling points was hard and secure their products were visible in the small cluttered stores was impossible. Communication Strategy 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 set ahead to Mid-Range or PremiumProducts (HBR 8). They allocated 12% of sales on the advertising budget, which broke level into 9% for advertisements and 3% for promotions. The main target demographics are men and women ages 20-35 in rural and urban areas that currently brush or dont brush. It is important to build awareness and educate consumers on the benefits of tooth brushing and they did this done 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 project from . 22-. 35 cents, the medium-end ranges from . 52-. 98 cents and the high-end ranges from $1-11. In terms of driving success in India, Cottle-Taylors strategy is strongest in the area of communication. They successfully positioned and communicated to customers that they are an billet on oral care (HBR 5) and consumers hold their products in high regard. Partnering with IDA has addicted their brand great credibility and helped them become an industry leader retentiveness 47% of the oral care market share.As shown in Exhibit 5, Cottle-Taylor has go through 53% harvest-tide in market share for toothbrushes from 2004-2009 and 47% growth in oral care market share. They ran successful campaigns where, among rural residentsthose open(a) to the campaigns were twice as likely to adopt tooth brushing within a year than those who had not been exposed (HBR 5). In just five age they fork out almost dominated the oral care market and a key contributor to their success is the ir communication strategy.Their weakest strategy in the marketing mix is product attributes. It appears Cottle-Taylor has not fully understood their market segments when scheming products for India. Looking at exhibit 8, it is clear the majority of demand is for the Low-End Manual with 87% of sales. The least amount of demand is for the Battery-Operated brush with only . 5% of sales. With 80% of the population 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 disposable income to spend on expensive toothbrushes. India has a very small concentration of high income and a very large issue 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 captu re with the high-end toothbrush. Overall, this is a very comprehensive marketing strategy.Cottle-Taylor has segmental 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 complex retail scene in India through their distribution strategy. It is clear that Cottle-Taylor has successfully marketed their brand through communications mediums because there is high brand awareness and favorable brand positioning.