Week 7

This week, my team and I have spent a lot of time working on our portion of the marketing plan.  The product we are developing is something that I wish I had, which makes this a little easier.  


This week we discussed the case study about the Cleo soap.  

1. What are the major issues in the Cleo Case from the perspective of the product, and pricing?
1. Research: The results of the research had some impressive numbers seemingly confirming the conjecture that Cleo soap will be successful in Canada.  However, there were some shortcomings (see below).
2. Shelf Position: This soap ended up being pushed to the bottom of the rack, out of the prime view of customers meaning that they wont see it right away.  This was likely due to Colgate's stance with the retailers.  They were not bending over backwards to please the retailers and to keep them happy.  The pull strategy they were focusing on would not work alone unless people were going into the store looking for it out right.  Soap may not have that kind of influence on Canadians.  No deal unit cost, off invoice allowance or feature price was given to benefit retailers and sweeten the deal to move the product. (Dove provides all of these).
2. Are there issues with the market research?
1. Yes.  Both types of research conducted was done in Toronto.  This metropolitan city is very different than Quebec.  Furthermore, English is the predominant language in the province of Ontario (where Toronto is), and does not have the same strong French connections that Quebec has.  This seem to me like doing market research in NYC and selling in South Carolina!
3. What organizational issues come in to play in the case?  Who are the players and how do their positions in the company impact the market entry?
1. There are organizational issues with a lack of solid process for research and marketing strategy.  The key players are Bill Grahm (Boss) based in NY who is willing to listen.  Steve Boyd is trying to get ahead by working on this project as he is working his way up in the company. Ken Johnson is skeptical about this type of market segmentation and wants a universal soap strategy.   Stan House is enthusiastic about Cleo.
4. Did they make the right choice?  Why or Why not? 
1. They did not make the right choice because the soap tanked.  They should have done more research about where to market the soap.  Maybe research would have shown that Quebec is not the right place to launch and Toronto and NYC are the right place.  It was also poor insight to not play to the retailers needs and wants in order to get them to push the soap.  
5. Are companies today any better than Colgate 20 years ago or do they still make some of the same mistakes?
1. I'm sure they make many of the same mistakes now.  It seems like a combination of organizational issues (personality, leadership turnover, frequent process changes) will always plague businesses to some extent.