Case Analysis Memo

Case Analysis Memo

Memo

To: Nora Perry

From: <Your name>

Date: December 3, 2019

Subject: Case Report – Cottle & Taylor

In this case, one of the factors that drove the demand for Cottle toothbrushes in India was encouraging people to improve their quality of life, especially oral hygiene. Demographic factors also contributed because India had at least 50% of the population who did not have access to effective oral hygiene strategies. Traditionally people relied on neem tree twigs, tobacco, charcoal and ash for oral hygiene. Economic factors also contributed because the growth was at an all-time high of 17%. Social factors in terms of habits and earning capacities of the targeted market were significant. For the organization to create the demand, people needed to have information that traditional strategies did not work. A common strategy was to develop campaigns to promote free dental checkups. Partnerships with IDA and oral hygiene professionals aimed at enhancing demand through awareness creation to enable Indians to change their attitudes and habits.

Cottle enjoyed first-mover advantage because they started from the beginning and worked their way up. The market took an oligopolistic market structure since Cottle is the market leader in India with 38% market share. Its competitors in India are Hinda Daltan with 21% of the market share and SarIndia with 11% market share. In the toothbrush market, Cottle had a 46% market share. Cottle started by creating awareness, targeting the market segment that used traditional oral hygiene strategies and then mobilizing resources and partners while growing the brand. The magic strategy that was proposed was to encourage customers to brush for the first time, increasing the frequency of people brushing and then using advertising to allow consumers move from low range to mid-range and finally to premium products.

The first strategy Cottle used to expand its market share. In India was consumer education. Because it targeted the 500 million people of low incomes, it did not sell the product directly or incur advertising costs. The strategy was to encourage oral hygiene first, then introduce the brand. Oral hygiene specialists from the Indian Dental Association were involved in outreach campaigns which created awareness. After awareness creation, the brand was then launched with a full range of oral care products. Customers were encouraged to change their toothbrush often for better hygiene after it was discovered that only 8.6% of 747 million Indians regularly changed their toothbrush.

The core target segment for Cottle was people living in rural Indian towns and villages who made at least 1.37 dollars per day and used traditional brushing methods. Statistics showed that 50% of Indians in rural areas did not concern themselves about oral hygiene like their urban counterparts. This targeted group was made up of at least 747 million people. This was an opportunity for the organization to fill a gap in the market. The secondary core market segments were middle-class people, who lived in semi-urban areas of India, made at least $10 dollars a day or more and used mid-range products. The third market segments were high-class Indians who lived in urban areas of Indian Cities, had higher disposable incomes of above 205 dollars a day.

Cottle decided to focus more on the rural folks who purchased oral products in smaller quantities and did regular tooth brushing. For one, this was an unexploited market segment that provided an opportunity for the company. Most of this target segment did not brush often and were more prone to oral diseases. The company embarked on awareness creation, brand awareness campaign and provision of the product at very affordable prices. Cottle should spend advertising dollars on promoting battery-operated toothbrushes because it suits the upper class and middle-class market segment. In addition, the advertisement will allow the company to sell more in its secondary target segments. This is because the company’s strategy was to use advertising to make regular brushers move from one product range to another. For example, middle-class folks could substitute mid-range products with battery operated products to enhance their brushing experience.