Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Prepared for
Bashir Hussain
Senior Lecturer
BBA Faculty
Prepared by
Ishan Debnath
(ID:1120608030)
(ID:1120739030)
(ID:1121048030)
Abdullah Al Masud
(ID:1120303030)
(ID:1120836030)
School of Business
North South University
November 20, 2011
Table of Contents
Background.................................................................................................................1
Segmentation Method..............................................................................................2
Analysis of Target Market for Scope Mouthwash...................................................4
Positioning of Scope................................................................................................5
Marketing Mix.........................................................................................................6
Product.................................................................................................................6
Price.....................................................................................................................8
Place.....................................................................................................................8
Promotion............................................................................................................9
Conclusion...............................................................................................................9
References:............................................................................................................10
Background
Proctor & Gamble Co. is one of the leading consumer goods manufacturers in the world. By
maintaining superior quality for the products since its inception in
1837, it has built very good market share and reputation in more than
140 countries in the world. Renowned and popular brands like
Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Scope, Pringles, Crest, Tide etc. are the products of this
company. As of July 1, 2011, the company's operations are categorized into two "Global
Business Units" with each Global Business Unit divided into "Business Segments" according to
the company's 2011 Annual Report. The segments are Beauty segment, Grooming segment,
Health Care segment, Snacks & Pet Care segment, Fabric Care & Home Care segment.
P&G has a dominant presence in Canada since its starting business in the country. One of the top
Brand of P&G in Canada is SCOPE mouthwash, which was introduced in 1967. It is a green
mint tasting mouthwash that provides bad breath protection. In 1970
Scope became the market leader in Canada and it held 32% share of
the Canadian market for 1990. There are some mighty competitors in
the market, such as Listerine, Cepacol, Listermint, Plax etc.
But
Original Logo
the major competitor for Scope was Plax, a brand by Pfizer Inc,
which was launched in Canada in 1988 on a platform quite different
from the traditional mouthwashes. The marketing plan of Scope
New Logo
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Segmentation Method
Market Segmentation is a cornerstone of building successful and known marketing plans. It has
been done by using different segmentation policy and variables like Geographic, Demographic,
Psychographic and Behavioral. From the case, it can be seen that the Canadian mouthwash
market can be segmented mainly by behavioral trends. The segmentation model of the Canadian
mouthwash market is outlined below:
Geographical
Demographical
Behavioral
Country
Age
Usage Pattern
Benefits Offered
Frequency of
Use
Loyalty Status
Geographic
The case is about mouthwash market in Canada. Though sales and usage of mouthwash depend a
little on country region, city or metro size, density or climate, these variables have not been used
during segmentation process.
Demographic
75% of the Canadian households use minimum one brand of mouthwash per week as mentioned
in the case. Though, it has not been mentioned about the usage of mouthwash by age, it can be
assumed that usage will vary among adults and non-adults. So, Adults and non-adults are the two
markets segments for Canadian mouthwash market
Behavioral
Usage pattern has been used as a segmentation variable in case of the subject market as some
people use mouthwash regularly on daily basis, some uses it weekly. So, the preferences and
choice set of the two groups vary. Those who use it regularly, grow a stronger brand preference
than the weekly users.
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In the Canadian mouthwash market, there are 4-5 dominant brands which offer different types of
benefits to the customer. Customers choose their brand after matching with his/her needs and
wants. Some wants combination of the benefits, for example, Scope offers great taste with
protection against bad breath whereas Listerine offers protection against bad breath and prevents
gingivitis and Plax offers removing of Plaque. The following table gives a view to the customer
Consumer Sought Benefits
Market Segments
Kills Germs
Good Taste
Removes Plaque
Kills Germs
Recommended by Dentists
Recommended by Doctors/Dentists
Removes Plaque
demands and subsequent product offerings satisfying those demands. These product offerings
leads to the market segments listed above. It can be seen from the table that the mouthwash
providing maintenance of basic oral hygiene satisfies the demand of 40% consumers who are
using mouthwash of any brands. So, different benefits sought by the consumer force the
manufacturers to develop products with different attributes which will in turn satisfy different
segments.
15
Heavy45
Medium
40
Light
said that in a market research it has been found that there are three types of users; Heavy Users
(once a day or more), Medium users (two to six times a week), Light Users (less than once a
week). The proportion of these three kinds of user is given in the figure 2.
By identifying loyalty status of the customers, segmentation can be done. Customers who have
low loyalty to any brand needs special attention whereas customers with high loyalty to any
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brand needs good retention strategy. Hence, marketing approach to the customers will be
different.
market. By providing superior protection and removal of plaque, Plax created a new market
segment for the mouthwash market with the idea of pre-brushing rinsing. This move from Pfizer,
the owner of Plax gave Scope a tough fight for retaining market share. At that time, Scope had to
think of product variants with differentiated marketing approach which will satisfy the demand
of the evolving mouthwash market.
Positioning of Scope
After targeting the desired and viable market segments, a company must decide on value
proposition which will differentiate the product and attracts the customer of the targeted market
segment. A products position is the way the product is defined by the consumers on the
attributes of the product. Effective positioning of any product can simplify the buying process
for the consumers. In the case, Listerine, the Warner-Lambert product was the first in the market
and it was positioned as a therapeutic germ-killing mouthwash that eliminated bad breath. To
have competitive advantage, Scope was positioned as a great tasting mouthwash that eliminates
bad breath. P&G developed the positioning statement as Scope fights bad breath. Dont let the
good taste fool you.
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The following figure demonstrate the positioning map for the mouthwash market of Canada and
it also demonstrate different brands operating in the market with different positioning strategy.
Good Taste
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In the positioning map, every circle with different colour represents a brand and the size of the
circles demonstrates the relative market share of the brands. From the figure-3 it can be seen that
there are six major brands in this market. It can also be noticed that, Scope and Listermint both
operate in the same market with common attributes; both offer effective bad breath protection
with good taste. Market share of Scope is almost three times of Listermint. On the other hand,
Listerine and Plax both offer plaque removal. Additionally Listerine offers effective germ killing
and bad breath protection and Plax offers 3 times more plaque removal ability with pre brushing.
In short the positioning of Scope was in the right areas at the beginning which brought the brand
the highest market share but with the advent of Plax with an extra attribute of removal of Plaque,
management of Scope had to consider repositioning of the brand or start a new brand.
Marketing Mix
Marketing mix is the set of controllable, tactical marketing tool that consist everything a
company can do to influence the demand for its product. The possible tools can be divided into
four groups of variables known as the 4 Ps: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. In the
following section, these variables will be discussed for P&Gs Scope Mouthwash.
Product
Product is the key element in the overall market offering. Marketing mix planning begins with
building and offering that brings value to target customers. Product can be
tangible or intangible; in this case it is a tangible product, Scope
mouthwash. It can be classified as a convenience products as it is bought
frequently with little planning and little shopping effort. The price of Scope
mouthwash was not very high and it was available in most of the retail stores
and drug stores. It was promoted mass level to reach widespread consumers.
Scope (Original
flavor)
Generally, the marketers design every product in three levels to add more
customer value to each level. The levels are called as Core Customer Value,
Actual Product and Augmented Product. These levels are discussed briefly
below:
Scope Outlast
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Style and design is another important ingredient of actual product. From the figures of the
product, it can be seen that for every different taste the bottle has a different color. From which,
consumer can get a feeling of the taste. Packaging is very important tool for marketers as it gives
them the last chance to attract; grabbing attention, describing the product and making the sales.
Packaging of the bottle was also very attractive as seen from the figures.
Augmented Product:
Scope offeres many tips related mouth health in its website. People who have query regarding
improving their mouth health and reducing bad breath, the answer is there. It fulfills the demand
of giving something extra with the product.
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Price is the only element in the marketing mix that produces revenue, all other incur cost. Price is
one of the most flexible marketing elements. There are many ways to set the price of a product
like value based pricing, cost based pricing, good value pricing, value-added pricing. Of these,
management of Scope mouthwash used the cost based pricing approach as it is the most
appropriate way to analyze the cost and then add a margin to ensure viable business operations.
In case of Scope, cost based pricing was used to determine the optimum price for the market
which can ensure good return. In this type of pricing, the cost for production of one unit is
determined and after that adding some markup or profit to the cost, the price is set. The pricing
strategy in this case was taken as market penetration strategy. As per the market research findings
given in the case, Scope was sold at $41 per unit on an average at that time. Though retail price
vary in different places of sales, both Listerine and Plax had the highest prices among other
brands in food stores, whereas Scope, Listerine and Listermint had the highest prices in drug
stores. From the retail price indices, it can be seen that price of scope is lower than all other
brand except Cepacol in both retail stores and drug stores.
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The supply chain management of scope had used two places to sell it, one is food stores and
other is drug stores. As it is a convenience product, people would like to buy it from the food
stores. On the other hand, it can act as a therapeutic product which can be found at any drug
stores. From the market research findings, it can be seen that 65% of the sales went through the
drug stores, whereas remaining 35% sales went through food stores.
Sales
Drug Store
35
65
Food Store
Promotion
Promotion is the last tool that helps a product to reach to the people. The main objective of
promotion is to build communication with the customers who want to know about the products.
Advertising, Sales Promotion, Personal Selling, Public Relations and Direct Marketing are the
main tools for promotion. For promotion purpose, management of Scope used advertising in all
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kinds of media and Sales promotion through coupons and discounts on the products. In the year
1990, Scope spent $1.7 million which is the highest among the mouthwash brands. Sales
promotion includes coupons for getting rebate in the price, sample mailing, bundled offer with
other products etc.
Conclusion
In the above sections, the marketing strategy of scope mouthwash has been portrayed and
analyzed. Segmentation of the market has been done by using the behavioral variable. Selection
of target market was appropriate as it made them the market leader for a long period of time.
Positioning of the brand has been done mainly on the basis of the weakness of the pioneer brand
Listerine. In the marketing mix, product has been well designed in three levels which had been
proved by consumer acceptance of the brand. Cost based pricing was used for setting the price
and market penetration was the pricing strategy. Drug store and food store were the main places
for selling of the mouthwash and for promotional purpose, advertisement and sales promotion
was used. In brief, the marketing strategy used for Scope was a winner and it made them the
leader of the market. But, as nothing is evanescent in the world, management of Scope had a
very tricky situation at that time deciding whether to introduce new brand or adding features to
this brand.
References:
Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Agnihotri, P.Y. & Haque, E.U. (2011), Principals of Marketing: A
South Asian Perspective, 13th Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi.
Proctor & Gamble from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proctor_%26_Gamble
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http://www.pg.com
http://www.pg.com/en_US/brands/all_brands.shtml
http://www.pg.com/en_CA/index.shtml
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