Aqualisa Quartz
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Aqualisa Quartz
Marketing Strategy
Final Paper
Table Of Contents
Executive Summary
Situational Analysis
SWOT Analysis
Strategic Marketing Plan
Marketing Mix Strategy
Marketing Resources
Exhibit Index
Aqualisa Marketing Plan
Executive Summary
ÐŽ§What to do?ÐŽÐ Harry RawlinsonÐŽ¦s dilemma regarding the new innovative Aqualisa Quartz shower line should be considered an enormous opportunity instead of an enormous problem. This Harvard Business School case is an excellent example of the value that an effective marketing program could potentially bring to a company. Aqualisa has appeared to have done an excellent job performing market research and engineering a new product that should satisfy the needs of consumers in the U.K. The issue that the balance of this paper will address is the ÐŽ§disconnectÐŽÐ between the consumers and plumbers for finding the value in the new Aqualisa Quartz shower products. In my opinion, the new Quartz product line is experiencing a very slow adoption process probably mostly due to the stigma that has remained from other electronic showers that have failed. Consumers and plumbers do not have much faith in the current quality of existing shower products much less an electronic version. Aqualisa will need to convey the positive attributes of the new shower products and overcome the stigma associated with electronic showers from previous generations. A strong marketing effort should target establishing the Aqualisa Quartz shower products as a viable and quality alternative to the existing products available that is ultimately a good value proposition. The marketing effort should also leverage the strong brand recognition of AqualisaÐŽ¦s products while building the marketing plan for the new shower products.
This paper will select a marketing strategy that targets a particular market segment but I believe the strategy will need adjusted in the near future to capture a larger market share. The target market chosen in this paper is selected based on current circumstances with excess inventory and the urgency needed to gain sales momentum going forward.
Situational Analysis
The great news for Aqualisa is that the historical demand is sufficient in many market segments identified in exhibit #2 in the HBS case. Aqualisa just needs to determine which distribution channel to focus and select the brand level to compete (premium or standard). The exhibit reflects that AqualisaÐŽ¦s market share is 18% for the year 2000 based on units sold. The two market leaders have 30% and 22% respectively. The demand for new showers could increase above historical sales if the remaining 40% of the U.K. population could be converted to installing showers. The population that already has showers are not very happy customers due to the quality issues associated with the older models (water pressure and water temperature variations). AqualisaÐŽ¦s competitors have not launched a significantly new shower model in many years but are improving their product quality. Aqualisa needs the new Quartz model to continue differentiating themselves from their competitors. The feedback received thus far from field tests, trade shows and show room experiences have been positive. The ÐŽ§WowÐŽÐ factor explained in the case convinces me that consumers should be willing to pay a premium price for the new Aqualisa Quartz products.
The premium price that Aqualisa has established effectively limits the distribution channels to utilize. Participating with a retailer such as the B&Q would seem counter productive to the Aqualisa premium brand recognition. AqualisaÐŽ¦s price would be significantly higher than the competitor products or Aqualisa would need to reduce their price resulting in likely cannibalization of the Gainsborough brand sales. The easy installation benefit of the new Aqualisa Quartz shower would certainly be appealing to the ÐŽ§Do it yourselfersÐŽÐ. Perhaps the Aqualisa Quartz models can be re-styled and also distributed under the Gainsborough brand in the future.
The developers are not going to be directly targeted in this strategy. The developers market has much elasticity in their shower price expectations and is a relative small market compared to the plumber influenced market. Aqualisa is already successful in this market with the ÐŽ§ShowerMaxÐŽÐ brand. The developers are not interested in the extra features that premium brands offer with a higher price.
Targeting consumers directly is a viable option but extremely expensive. A large-scale consumer campaign would cost 3-4 million pounds over two years. I made the assumption that targeting the consumers would be mutually exclusive to any other strategic marketing budget. The consumers would become aware of the new Quartz shower product but would still be vulnerable to the plumbersÐŽ¦ influence that would actually make the purchase and perform the installation of the new Quartz shower.
The opinion leader and influencer that this paper is going to direct most marketing focus toward are the plumbers. In exhibit #4 in the HBS case, the plumbers are influencing the shower model decision in 73% of the selections (20%+28%+25%). The master plumbers are in short supply and could generate more revenue dollars if they could perform more installs per year. If the plumbers supported the new Aqualisa Quartz technology, the consumer would win as well by receiving more timely service, reduced installation costs and a better shower product.
The remaining sections of this paper will detail the strategy that will be proposed to market to the plumbers and provide information to substantiate the chosen marketing strategy. The strategy will be classified as an offensive strategy with the marketing resources being primarily directed to capturing more market share with the Aqualisa Quartz products.
SWOT