Analysis of Marketing Strategies of Colgate Palmolive: Course Instructor Strategic Marketing Management

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Analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Colgate Palmolive

Submitted to:

Mr. Syed Munir Ahmed


Course Instructor Strategic Marketing Management

Submitted By

Salman Ahmed Khan 0828152


Irfan Sheikh 0828114(confirm it)
Faisal Amin 0828141
Sehrish Zafar 0828153
Wasif Ghaffar 0828157
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is indeed an honor for us to prepare this Report on “Analysis of marketing strategies of


Colgate Palmolive” which was assigned to us by Mr. Munir Ahmed, our course instructor, who
gave us treasured insight on the subject of Strategic Marketing. His untiring support and
influencing attitude of bearing with us has surely been a driving force for us.

We would especially like to express our acknowledgement to Mr. Maqsood Ahmed (Brand
Manager- Colgate Palmolive) for providing us company fact and helped us in the development of
this report. This report has greatly helped us to evaluate the professional aspects of the
different strategies like promotion strategies, pricing strategies etc which are discussed in detail
in this report.
Table of Contents
Company Overview 5
Over View of Toothpaste Industry 7
Distribution Trend 7
Marketing Objective & Stratagies………………………………………………………………8
Target Market……………………………………………………………………………………9
Colgate Target Market…………………………………………………………………………10
Positioning of Brands .…………………………………………………………………………..12
Pricing Strategy………………………………………………………………………………….16
Distribution Strategy……………………………………………………………………………17
Challenges in the Way of Promotion…………………………………………………………..18
Collgate Moves to Face Challenges…………………………………………………………….21
Promotional Stratagies of Colgate ……………………………………………………………..25
Product wise Promotion……………………………………………………………………….27
Advertisment…………………………………………………………………………………….28
Sales promotion………………………………………………………………………………….30
Advertising budget…………………………………………………………………………….31
Competitive Analysis……………………………………………………………………………32
Average Market Share………………………………………………………………………….33
Recommendations……………………………………………………………………………….34
COLGATE PALMOLIVE (PAKISTAN) LIMITED

Company Overview:
Colgate Palmolive (Pakistan) Limited is part of the Lakson Group of Companies which
deal in consumer package goods, such as dental, personal, surface and fabric care
products. Colgate Palmolive (CP) is a franchise of Colgate Palmolive Co. Incorporated
(USA). During the first half of FY11 the company witnessed a 17.01% increase in gross
turnover from Rs 7,140 million in HY10 to Rs 8,355 million in HY11, owing to the higher
products distribution base.

Colgate-Palmolive (Pakistan) Limited core business is in the manufacturing and


marketing of soaps, detergents, toothpaste and personal hygiene products.

Colgate-Palmolive is one of the three major players in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods
(FMCG) business in Pakistan. The nature of the products offered by the company, both
locally and globally, fall into four categories: Oral Care, Personal Care, Surface Care and
Fabric Care. The company’s principal strength in Pakistan, however, lies in Oral Care,
Fabric Care and Surface Care. Major successes at Colgate-Palmolive are attributed to the
identification and satisfaction of consumer needs in various income groups. The
company aims to serve different consumer segments with equal importance by
maintaining consistent levels of quality and price. It does so by adopting a customer-
oriented approach that requires tremendous effort in identifying consumer needs and
coming up with effective and profitable solutions.

The company continues to invest in serving the lower end of the rural market. Low cost
but quality products and methods of distribution are being designed to reach such
consumers. For example, investment has been made in a number of rural promotion
vans to create awareness and get lower end penetration. In this way, the company is
not only providing consumers with value-added products but is also reaching out to
those residing in the remote areas of Pakistan.
CATEGORIES:

Oral Care (under the Brand name of Colgate):


Tooth pastes, Tooth brushes, mouthwash and dental floss

Personal Care:
Deodorants, Bar soap (Palmolive), Body wash, Hair care, Liquid hand soap, Toiletries for
Men and Shaving Cream etc.

Surface Care:
Dishwashing Liquid (Ajax, Max), Bleach and Household Cleaners.

Fabric Care:
Laundry detergents and Fabric Softener

Our Product: Colgate Toothpaste

CP does not categorizes its different types of dental creams (gel, cream etc) and treat
them under one brand name “Colgate”. Therefore we studied “Colgate” as a whole.
OVERVIEW OF TOOTHPASTE INDUSTRY
DISTRIBUTION TREND
Entities involved in the Distribution Process

Sales Manager

Distribution Agencies Distribution Agencies Personal Sales Representatives

Sales Representatives Sales Representatives Institutions

Basically Sales Managers at CP are responsible for the overall management and control
of the distribution & redistribution process. Sales Managers are responsible for selecting
and maintaining relationships with the Distribution agencies. They are also responsible
for handling their own Sales Task Force that caters to the direct accounts & other
institutions.
Distribution Flow:

Kotri

Warehouses
Personal Sales Force

Distributors
Institutions

Wholesalers

Retailers

End users
MARKETING OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES

Marketing Objectives:
The Marketing Objective for the Year 2011 are to:
 Increase the Market Share to 15%
 Maintain the Profit Margin of 6%

Marketing Strategies:
The Marketing Strategies for achieving the above goals are:

 Market Development / Acquiring New Customers:


The aim of this strategy is to concentrate efforts towards increasing the number of users
by converting consumers, from using traditional means of mouth cleansing, to using
toothpaste, through Mass Media and Rural Penetration.

 Market Maintenance /Retaining the Existing Customers:


This strategy will be geared towards building long-term relationships with customers.
The strategy also includes meeting the competition so as to retain the existing
customers.
Target Market
The table below shows the current target market as a percentage of total industry sales
in the six major zones of Pakistan. The derivation of the final current target market in
rupee terms is explained in the following page.

Current Target Market (As a Percentage of Total Industry Sales)

Total Annual Toothpaste Consumption (Tonus) 3800 Tones


Sales in 6 Major Zones in Pakistan 70%
Current Target Market: 6 Zones (Tones) 2660 Tones
Average Price/ Kg / Year Rupees 310/ Kg/ Year
Current Target Market (Rupees) Rupees 825 Million

Derivation of Target Market


Derivation of the Target Market For Toothpaste Industry
Population in 6 major Urban Cities: 30% of 140 Million 42 Million
People with Income Level of Rupees 5000/ Month or x 80%
Above
Urban Target Population 34 Million
Dispersion in Surrounding Rural Areas: 12% 4 Million
Current Target Market (Population) 38 Million
Current Average Consumption of Toothpaste/ Person/ 70 grams
Year

Total Current Target Market Consumption (Tonnes) 2660 Tones


Average Price/ Kg / Year Rupees 310/ Kg/ Year
Current Total Target Market (Rupees) Rupees 825 Million

Colgate’s Target Market


A target market is the relevant market or the portion that firm is most interested in
serving. The process of target market selection results from the review of market
opportunities. It is the task of identifying distinct groupings of consumers who have
unique wants and needs. This can result in a decision to approach each market segment
with a unique marketing offer. Colgate in Pakistan defines its target market as not only
the complete toothpaste market but also the market for other oral care products. Thus
roughly the entire Pakistani population. They believe that every individual living in
Pakistan uses some means of oral care. Hence there is no sense in dividing the Pakistani
population between toothpaste and non-toothpaste users. Colgate’s target market
hence constitutes of all individuals using any form of oral care product, living in Pakistan
and earning a substantial income. Their aim is to make Colgate available, affordable and
desirable to all.

However, for communication purposes the target market is defined differently. This is
done in order to ensure that the advertisement is direct, specific and tailor made to suit
the viewers and achieve their purpose. The target market definition used for
advertisement purpose thus is an educated housewife who is concerned about her
family and wants to give her family the best within her means and knowledge. She is
responsible for their well being and is playing the role where her actions may result in
being harm-full or helpful. Hence the current target market for the Colgate toothpaste
as a percentage of the total industry as can be seen in the above grid is Rs. 825 million.
It is constitutes all individuals earning an income of Rs.5000/- and above, which are 38
million people. That is 30% of the 140 million urban population of Pakistan and 12% of
the rural population.

The target market of Colgate Toothpaste is:


“All Individuals using any form of oral care product living in Pakistan and earning a
substantial income.”

Major Zones - Segmentation of Target Market

Segmentation is essentially the accommodation of different consumer groupings in a


marketing plan or strategy. Market segmentation is both the process of defining the
characteristics of various segments in the marketplace and the allocation of marketing
resources among segments. By defining market segments in terms of buyers’ ideal
combinations of determinant attributes, Colgate’s brand manager isolates the key
choice criteria used in different segments in order to design market offerings. He also
does so as to determine the potential sales opportunities of a particular segment and
the best way to target the members of the segment. The 6 Major Zones and their sub-
divisions by means of which Colgate’s market is segmented in Pakistan are as follows.
 Karachi
 Karachi-I
 Karachi-II
 Sindh
 Upper Sindh (Sukkhar)
 Lower Sindh (Hyderabad)
 Central Punjab
 Central Punjab I (Lahore)
 Central Punjab II (Faisalabad)
 Lower Punjab (Multan)
 Upper Punjab (Islamabad)
 NWFP

The zones and their sub-divisions vary in potential. The following table depicts the
distribution of the target market sales in the major zones, based on the
population size.

POSITIONING OF BRANDS
Positioning of Major Brands (Including Tooth Powder)
Brands Positioning
Close-up Fresh Breath, Social Acceptance; Teenagers
Colgate Cavity Prevention, Strong Teeth; Family
Macleans Cavity Prevention, Strong Teeth
Sparkle Cavity Prevention, Strong Teeth
Medicam Medication, Alchemy
Pepsodent Cavity Prevention, Low Price, Jermy check formula
English Low Price
Forhans Gum Care
Dentonic Leading Tooth Powder, Best Quality Formula

A
products position is the place that it occupies relative to competitors in a
given market as perceived by the relevant group of consumers that is by the
target market segment.

Objective:
All brand extensions of Colgate have been positioned as cavity prevention toothpaste
for the whole family that strengthens the teeth and keeps them healthy. Colgate is
aiming to use positioning in order to create an image of a premium product of high
quality. The objective is to use positioning in order to achieve this image in the mind of
the consumer on the basis of the benefits provided by the product.
Strategy:
Further, the positioning is emphasizing on the main benefit of the product i.e. cavity
prevention. Therefore, the basis of positioning is strong teeth and cavity prevention
through which we will be achieving an image of high quality. The positioning strategy is
to create an association of Colgate Toothpaste with cavity prevention and emphasizing
cavity prevention and strong teeth in the promotional campaigns will do this.

Slogan
“Mera Colgate”

BCG Matrix

HIGH LOW

Stars Question Marks

HIGH ? ? ?
 Colgate herbal -Colgate Total
 Colgate whitening Fresh Stripe
-Colgate Fresh
Energy Gel
Market Growth Rate

Cash Cows Dogs

LOW

 COLGATE CDC

High
Low

Colgate toothpaste features as a Star for CPL since it has a high growth rate and a high
Relative Market Share
market share. It has market growth rate of 25% and a relative market share of 0.74

(Colgate 11.5/ Sparkle 15.5). This shows that the brand has tremendous potential in

terms of profitability and image for the company.

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

Colgate
Toothpaste

Sales
Introduction Growth Maturity Decline

Time

PRICING STRATEGY

Objective

The pricing policy aims to generate trial of the product. Increasing the number of users
of the product will do this. Additionally the pricing objective is to meet competition to
make sure that in the premium product segment Colgate’s prices are at par with those
of its competitors so that relatively high prices do not reduce market share. The aim is
to give good value for money through good, competitive prices which result in
consumer satisfaction.
Strategies
Primarily two pricing strategies are used in order to achieve the overall marketing
objectives and the pricing objectives:

 Penetration pricing. This pricing is done in a way so as to attract consumers to buy


the product that will enable the company to penetrate into the market and gain
market share. One way to do this is by lowering the pick-up price of the product,
which make it more easily reachable for the consumer. Introducing smaller pack
sizes with less weight can lower pick-up price. Especially in case of variants such as
fresh stripe & energy gel where Colgate need to establish market for them.

 Parity pricing. In order to meet competition it is essential that prices should be


competitive as compared to other brands of similar quality. Colgate offers
competitive prices to consumers in the relevant quality segment.

Pricing Method
The basic method for pricing the product is cost-plus method or strategy where a fixed
percentage is added to the cost in order to determine the price at which the product will
leave the company i.e. the x-factory price.

Distribution and Sales Objective


The Distribution and Sales Objective for the year 2011 is to increase the number of
channel members served, by 25% in each zone (for example, in Karachi, from 9000 to
11250 outlets). The aim is to increase the width (number of outlets served), rather than
to increase the sales volume of existing clients.

Another major target is to derive maximum benefit from key account holders like hyper
markets through making better relation and use them as “implicit distributors” from
where retailers can come and buy Colgate products & company saves its distribution
cost. But this strategy is workable in the places where we have such hyper-marts in
small cities & rural areas Colgate has set the target of widening its customer base.

Distribution Strategy
The Distribution Strategy for Colgate is:
 Account Maintenance (of all Accounts - Super Key, Key and Small Accounts)
 Account Development (of Small Accounts)
The focus is to increase the number of small retail accounts that give CP 25% of their
total business in volume. The reason for this is that these retail outlets have the
most potential for growth and will help Colgate-Palmolive in its aim of low-end
penetration. On the other hand, Super Key and Key Accounts are already
generating optimum business for the company.

Resources Available
 Sales and Distribution Budget for the year 2011 - 2.5% of Sales
 An Effective Marketing Team
 A Network of 320 Distributors all over Pakistan
 300 Vehicles of Lakson Group
 17 Warehouses of the Lakson Group

CHALLENGES IN THE WAY OF PROMOTIONS


Colgate is facing multiple challenges in its competition with different brands according
to its nature of different variants. If we have a look on chart crafted below we can see
that Colgate has cut-throat competition in case of every variant.

Colgate’s variant Commonality in brand Competitor


Promise
Colgate CDC/ Total fresh Cavity protection/Contains Macleans,Signal,Pepsodent
stripe calcium/strong teeth
Colgate whitening Whitening of teethes, Mr.White and different
removal of specks medicated tooth pastes
Colgate fresh energy gel Teen age fresh breaths Close up
Colgate herbal/herbal Gum care and natural Forhans,
white ingredients

In order to establish their brands Colgate is moving on each front variant to variant and
communicating its brand promise with quality. Colgate has adopted a multi-dimensional
promotional style to make its variant “”stand out in the crowd” and counter the
competitors moves.

Realistically speaking if we talk about ATL completion Colgate has strongest presence
over there as compare to its competitors although Close up and occasional airing of
Medicam, Macleans etc happen but mainly close up is the follower in this regard.

As far as BTL activities are concern almost all the competitors are there, in fact Medicam
has renovated many “roundabouts in Karachi” by the name of “Medicam chorangis”,
promotional materials are also used by them like posters on shops
etc.Recently,medicam roundabouts have been inaugurated in more areas too like
Gulshan-a-iqbal, Bahadarabad and SITE etc.
Medicam round-about

Also close-up with the power of unilever kind of brand name has locked horns with
Colgate in promotional war, they just signed youth icon Aisam-ul-haq as their brand
ambassador and ran a campaign with big bang to create hype among teen agers. Their
campaign was about different prizes like “dinner with Aisam” and “a chance to go watch
Wimbledon with Aisam ” as bumper prize.

This campaign has put a lot of pressure on Colgate fresh energy gel team to counter
close up move and win a war of “fresh breath symbol” in youth who wants to attract
others by their fresh breaths.
Close Up “Dinner with Aisam and chance to go and watch
Wimbledon”

Close-UP’s Social Networking buzz---Targeting Youth!!!


Colgate’s Moves to face such challenges

Despite of all the hurdles Colgate has established a strong brand image by it versatile
and multi dimensional activities in order to cater different segments of markets. Colgate
has been educating its consumers unlike others who only “believe in fun” and has been
reflecting caring attitude towards society by spreading awareness regarding dental
health, supporting children’s creativity, artistic abilities, education and athletic skills.

By doing all this Colgate has gained strong image in its consumer as caring brand.
Colgate has become the icon of “dental health awareness” among masses and children
love to use it as they feel it as their friend.

This all is the result of huge, effective, multi-dimensional promotional & marketing
activities spreading from TVCs till on-the-ground activities in schools, presence on
digital/social networking spots & interactive promotional tools.

Here are glimpses and brief of few of their activities which reflect their efforts to
strengthen their brand image in consumer’s minds & hearts.

My Bright Smile contest:


Every year Colgate-Palmolive develops and discovers the artistic talents of children all
over the world by calling these future artists at a platform called-My Bright Smile Global
Art Contest. This year Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd. hosted My Bright Smile Global Art
Contest for the 8th consecutive time and received a tremendous response from all over
Pakistan. Students participated and created artwork rendering their thoughts and ideas
about the theme ‘My Bright Smile’. Their artwork ranged from art models to water color
paintings and crayon drawings.

Colgate picture Pakistan contest:

From January-February 2004, another innovative and skill building event that was
organized by CPPL was the Colgate Picture Pakistan Model Building Contest for schools.
This contest was first of its kind in Pakistan. To participate, school children between 6-13
years of age were asked to build 3D models from Colgate packs that would represent
the culture of Pakistan. It was a team based challenge and the contest received an over
whelming response from hundreds of schools in 23 cities of Pakistan. Children from
across the country submitted brilliant models by capturing the beauty of Pakistan's
culture.
Colgate Scholarship Programme:

Colgate has marvellous scholarship program where school children have to answer few
questions about dental health tips and they can win up to 20000 rupees scholarships.
Making dental health education fun to learn for children—

Dr. Rabbit!

Dr. Rabbit is the cartoon character which entertains and educates children regarding
their dental health. Dr. Rabbit has been portrayed as children friend and it is famous
among them. It also offers day chart and lot of online games to them. It is great strategy
on their part to make Colgate children first choice.

Socially Responsible COLGATE!!!


Every year Colgate marks Dental Health weeks & month. In last year only Under this
initiative, dental health checkups were offered in different schools and dental colleges
of Karachi and Lahore, where teams of qualified dentists provided free dental health
consultation to school children and the general public. Educational literature related to
oral health care was also distributed to improve oral hygiene status amongst adults and
children.

Colgate also helping society in cooperation with Hassanali Karabhai Foundation &
Medical Trust and constructed 32-bed hospital in Swabi & Lakson medical centre in
Mardan.

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES OF COLGATE

Colgate has developed a powerful Branding Strategy which has significantly helped the
Brand in acquiring substantial amount of share in the oral care market of Pakistan. In
order to strengthen its' Brand Identity, Colgate is still restructuring its Branding Strategy.
Its strategy was strong enough to position the company as a major brand in the oral care
market of Pakistan.

The Brand Colgate emerged as a market leader as it bagged considerable amount of


marketshare in all the segments of oral care market like toothpaste segment, tooth
powder segmentand toothbrush segment.The following companies are the major
competitors of Colgate-Palmolive (Pakistan) Limited

 Unilever Pakistan
 P & G Pakistan
 Reckit and Benkiser
 Zulfiqar Industries Limited
 GSK
 Medicam Group of Industries

ADVERTISEMENT
Colgate primarily used advertisements as its main promotion strategies. Its different
products which are designed for different segments are targeted to the audience by
highlighting its features. Its common tagline for all products is;

“No. 1 brand recommended by dentist”

SALES PROMOTION

As such no promotion is done at retail level except the recommendation by the


shopkeeper. But for rural market COLGATE uses VAN (van is a mobile promotion station
having facilities for screen show, slide show and mike publicity.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

PR campaigns were undertaken extensively during the launch of the brand in leading
newspapers and magazines, though they were focused more directly on enhancing the
image of the parent company in the eyes of stakeholders like shareholders potential
investors, etc. that in consumers.

SALES FORCE

Sales force consists of the company’s distributors (who are instrumental) ensuring that
the products are stocked by the retailers, which is made easier by the range of product
offerings supplied by the same distributor of Colgate Palmolive.

CHANNEL

The products are sold in retail outlets like Karana stores, supermarkets, medical shops,
co-operative stores etc. It is distributed through the supply chain of company distributor
to Wholesaler to retailer to final consumers.

OTHER CONSUMER PROMOTIONAL STRATEG Y

 Colgate's Bright Smiles, Bright Futures Scholarship Offer

After learning fie Oral Care Tips and answering the questions one can get an
opportunity to earn a scholarship of Rs. 10,000/-

 Mega Value Offer for 'All Around Decay Protection'.

If one buys 200g + 100g tubes of Colgate Dental Cream in a Value Pack for Rs.
86/- one can get a Colgate Extra Clean Toothbrush worth Rs 25 free.

 Colgate Maxfresh Gel


Get a toothbrush free with 150g plus a 80g tube

Product wise Promotion

COLGATE DENTAL CREAM

Tagline: ‘Get maximum all round protection´


Targets the households and advertise primarily through television add where a child and
her Dolly is used to show that Colgate fight germs stuck in the middle of teeth.

COLGATE ACTIVE SALT

Tagline: ‘Fights germs for healthy gums and teeth´


Targets young people where pains in gums are a common problem. The commercial
reflects the need to use salt toothpaste for healthy gums.

COLGATE MAXFRESH

Tag Line: ‘Not just fresh Max fresh´


The add targets the audience who are conscious of their looks and therefore fresh smell
is required to go with their personality.

COLATE TOTAL

Tagline: The most advanced toothpaste for your superior oral teeth´.
It targets the common man conscious of his teeth and therefore requires 12 hours of
protection. It even indirectly highlights the need to brush twice. It shows that the
toothpaste fights 12 problems for 12 hours.

COLGATE HERBAL WHITE

It essentially targets at traditional consumers who seek natural ingredients in their


toothpaste (such as in semi-urban and rural towns).

COLAGTE SENSITIVE ORAL

Tagline: ‘Fast relief from the pain of sensitive tooth´


The advertisement is targeted more for people who have sensitive teeth be children or
adult.
ADVERTISING

Objective
Advertising is a major marketing tool and means of promoting the brand. The main
objective of advertising is:

To increase market share to 15% by building brand image.

Strategy
Currently Colgate has 24% share of voice in the total advertising of toothpaste. It carries
out heavy advertisement to be able to meet competition and thus increase market
share to 15%. The advertising strategy is to ensure that the advertising efforts do not fall
below those of competitors, which could be harmful for the brands market share.

THE TARGET AUDIENCE

Demographics: Housewives between the age group of 18-45 years, belonging to an


income group of Rs.18,000 and above.

Psychographics: Housewives who care for their family and want the best for them. Oral
hygiene plays a very important role as part of the total hygiene of these health
conscious women.

MEDIA
Television
In order to build the credibility of Colgate’s cavity protection feature a quarterly TV
program will be launched on major entertainment channels. This program will be
entitled “Danton Ki Nigahdasht Colgate Kay Saath”. In every episode a renowned dentist
will be invited and the consumers will get the opportunity to clarify their oral hygiene
problems by writing to our “P O Box number”. The consumers will also be encouraged to
participate in the “Colgate Smile of the Week” contest by mailing to us their smiling
photographs. The dentist will choose the best smile at the end of every episode and the
winner will receive a gift hamper from Colgate Palmolive.
In order to make this program interesting the dentist will request two of his favorite
Pakistani pop songs. The duration of this program will be half an hour starting from 7.30
p.m. to 8 p.m. every Monday. Awareness of this program will be created through a print
ad. This would be around one – eighth of a page of the “Images” section of Dawn. This
ad will be shown on the last Sunday before the first episode.

Radio
Soon after the twelve episodes of “Danton Ki Nigahdasht Colgate Kay Saath” are over
we would start a program by the name of “Colgate Hour” and it would be for the same
purpose. It will be aired on FM 105 every Friday from 3:30 p.m. till 4:30 p.m., for one
month. Renowned dentists would be invited to inform the consumers about the various
aspects of oral hygiene. Every episode would discuss a single aspect, for example-
Cavities formation and prevention, gum diseases, proper ways of brushing, etc. At the
end of the program, the dentist would request his favorite song. This will be a part of
Colgate’s social responsibility effort and would emphasize the importance of oral
hygiene as an important part of the total health of a person.

SALES PROMOTION
Objective
 To generate trial and repurchase by education consumers. Since there is a large
portion of the population, which is still not using toothpaste as a means of oral
hygiene, Colgate’s brand manager wishes to induce trial through consumer
promotions, which will also help in increasing market share. It is also very important
to encourage repurchase through promotions in order to meet competition.

 To build market share. Through promotions activities the aim is to create a market
presence relative to other brands of toothpaste. Through promotional Colgate will
be able to supplement other marketing efforts in order to increase market share
from 21% to 30%

 To build brand image and positioning. Advertising is to be used to enhance the


image of the brand and also to create a specific image in the mind of the consumer
i.e. positioning. Similarly sales promotion will be carried out in a way so as to further
the quality perception of the product.

Strategy
Sales promotion strategy includes the following

 Consumption building exercises. These activities involve encouraging use of the


product. Specifically for this purpose Colgate has a school program where
representatives go to schools and tell children about the importance of brushing
teeth. They do so through their famous Dr. Rabbit World Tour, where they teach the
children about oral hygiene, inform about the benefits of using Colgate and
geography.
 Town storming activities. These involve going into small towns where CP at present
does not have much of a presence. They do so through a network of vans which
carry load full of toothpaste in small sizes and sells them directly to retailers.

 Point of Purchase displays. This is the use of different kinds of attractive displays at
large retail outlets to attract consumers and to stimulate furthers sales of the
product.

Derivation of Advertising Budget

We recommend that the advertising budget should be based on the following actual
sales and assumptions about the projected increase in the same. The advertising budget
for the year was set according to the following:
 Total Colgate- Palmolive sales revenue in the past year (2009-10) – Rs. 14,584 million
 Projected increase in sales – 10%
 Advertising budget – 10% of sales
 Share of Colgate in total company sales – 21%

Therefore the budget has been set as:

Total company sales: Rs. 14,584 million x 110% = Rs.16042.4 million


Colgate share: Rs.16042.4 million x 21% = Rs. 3368.904 million
Advertising budget: Rs. Rs. 3368.904 million x 10% = Rs.336.8904 million
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

The product forms competing in the market include Toothpaste (both foreign and local),
Toothpowder, Gel and other Traditional forms like charcoal and salt mixtures.

Direct Competitors

Direct Competitors are firms likely to gain or lose a substantial share of customers from
each other over time because they serve the same customers and offer similar benefits.

 Close-up
 Macleans
 Sparkle
 Pepsodent
 Signal
 Aqua Fresh
 Medicam
 Forhans
 Sensodyne
 Touchme Natural
 Dentonic

Indirect Competitors
 Manjan
 Meswak
 Dandasa
 Charcoal and Salt Mixture
Medicam is the market leader with a market share of 25% due to its usage in masses.
Colgate commands the second largest share in the market that is 21%. English & Sparkle
respectively dominate as third & fourth positions. Other brands occupy an insignificant
market share presently but may grow to threaten the market leaders and followers. We
should also consider that English toothpaste kind brands are used by lower class.
RECOMMENDATIONS

We have made the following recommendations based on the analyses of the four
elements of the marketing mix. We suggest the following marketing strategies that can
be implemented.

Marketing Strategies

 Market Development / Acquiring New Customers:


The aim of this strategy will be to concentrate efforts towards increasing the number of
users by converting consumers, from using traditional means of mouth cleansing, to
using toothpaste, through Mass Media and Rural Penetration.
 Market Maintenance /Retaining the Existing Customers:
This strategy will be geared towards building long-term relationships with
customers. The strategy would also include meeting the competition so as to retain
the existing customers.
Need of massive re-launch of “Colgate Fresh Energy Gel” :
Colgate should re-launch it fresh energy gel with a huge bang in the market & should
target youth in order to counter close up moves. Colgate CDC variant is primarily
targeting children so there is youth segment which is un-addressed yet by them.
Opt for “Content integrated” advertising:
Character of Dr. Rabbit can be presented in specific animated film (i.e safe guard or
tetra pack ones) or in order to market fresh energy gel Colgate can come up with
content integrated drama or short film (love saga, friends story) to inspire youth.
Content integration is strong tool to strengthen brand image in target market minds
as, we have seen in Cornetto canteen kahani or Umer dadi’s drama of surf excel.
Inspire rural market by Colgate herbal natural ingredients:
Colgate can penetrate in rural market by making them understand the natural and
sense of purity in their herbal variant. Rural mindset has strong inclination towards
such products it is just about how successfully one communicate the message.

Enhance presence on Social media and be more interactive:


Urban youth and children are rapidly moving over social media and internet,
especially educated ones Colgate needs to there on social networking sites with
interactive pages carrying activities for target market.

Come up with low-price product

Colgate should a low-priced product in its portfolio to expand market share and
cater price-sensitive market as consumers of that segment would surely love to buy
such brands product if found in their range.

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