Business Finance

Description:

Harry Rawlinson is managing director of Aqualisa, a major U.K. manufacturer of showers. He has just launched the most significant shower innovation in recent history: the Quartz shower. The shower provides significant improvements in terms of quality, cost, and ease of installation. In product testing, the Quartz shower received rave reviews from both consumers and plumbers alike. However, early sales of the Quartz have been disappointing. Rawlinson is now faced with some key decisions about whether to change his channel strategy, promotional strategy, and the overall positioning of the product in the context of his existing product line.

Learning Objective:

Designed to illustrate the challenges associated with bringing a new product to market. Allows for a rich discussion of customer behavior (including end consumers and installers). In addition, allows for a in-depth discussion of the positioning of a new product within the context of an existing product line and the use of multiple brands to manage products across their lifecycle.

Subjects Covered:

Consumer behavior, Consumer marketing, Distribution channels, Market entry, Market positioning, Marketing strategy, Product development, Product introduction, Product positioning.

1. what is the quartz value proposition to plumbers? customers?

2. why is the quartz shower not selling?

3. aqualisa spent 3 years and 5.8m developing the quartz. was the product worth the investment? is quartz a niche product or a mainstream product?

4. aqualisa currently has 3 brands: aqualisa, gainsborough, and showermax. what is the rationale behind this multiple brand strategy? does it make sense?

5. what should rawlinson do to geneerate sales momentum for the quartz product? should he change his marketing strategy to target consumers directly, target the diy market, or target developers? should he lower the price of the quartz? or, should he do something diferent altogether?

Preparation Questions:

1. What is the Quartz value proposition to plumbers? To Consumers?

To plumbers:

a. Very easy to install - 'push-fit-connect-you're done'

b. More profitable ?

i. ? day work (25% of previous time), apprentices can do work also ? opportunity to install more and capture some of historical 6-mo. wait list

ii. on average, plumbers do 40 to 50 a year (generally 2-day job), but generally without reducing profit, will be able to do many more

To consumers:

c. Efficient and reliable water pressure