What are the main marketing challenges facing Olay Daily Facials (ODF) subsequent to the launch? Identify these issues, explain why you consider them to be a challenge or problem, prioritize the issues, and indicate which issue or issues you will be addressing in the marketing plan that you will subsequently propose.
The main challenge facing Olay Daily Facials is that the age of the people who like this product is on the high side. Younger users need to be brought on board to get used to using it, or the company risks having its customer base age into the grave, without replacement.
A second challenge is that Dove has a nearly identical product on the market and a marketing plan that seems to be parallel to Olay’s. This leaves Olay needing to differentiate their product from Dove and their marketing plan as well. There are also many other brands that offer very similar products, all with their own marketing plans.
Men may be an additional, perhaps unanticipated target market for this product as well. Europeans, according to personal observation, already have a predilection for wipes and other disposables for all sorts of cleansing, so they may be primed for this product already.
The issue to be addressed in this plan is the attraction of extra demographic groups, and if possible, subsidiarily differentiation of this product from the chief competitor’s and other competitors’.
How would you segment this market? Present an actionable segmentation scheme, providing significant characteristics of the different segments.
The market can be segmented most obviously according to the size of the household, and by age. The smaller households may occupy smaller residences and perhaps attracted by the convenience of packaging. The marketing plan could aim at expanding the attraction to larger households. This could be based on the greater ease of keeping bathrooms tidy and clean. The product could also be targeted at a wider range of ages. Older users clearly want to look younger. While younger users desire beauty too, perhaps youthful singles might appreciate the convenience of a highly portable cleansing regimen. They could carry single-use packets in anticipation of spending the night away from home, or when preparing for an evening out after work.
Which consumer segment (or segments) should ODF target? Provide a brief rationale for why this segment was selected, and why other segments were rejected.
The younger age groups should be targeted because it is clear that they have different and potentially readily definable needs from the older customer group. After all, they all need to remove makeup or street grime at some point. The mere fact of a larger household, on the other hand, may mean lots of kids, who don’t need this product.
What should be ODF’s positioning for the target segment(s)? Provide a clear rationale for all the main positioning decisions, summarizing the positioning with a positioning statement or using the positioning triangle.
The ODF should be positioned as a highly convenient and effective cleanser that allows young, highly mobile users to carry the same quality of facial care regimen with them wherever the evening takes them. The product is a facial cleansing cloth that can be used once and discarded, that combines makeup removal with a modest amount of exfoliation. The target market for this particular marketing plan is the population of users of facial cleansing below 45 years old. The competitive position is that in most of the tested attributes (lathering, the ODF did as well or better than the Dove brand, and that the brand has been helping women look better for decades, and on several continents, as opposed to Dove, which is historically a soap company, and only recently has entered the cosmetics market.
Present an advertising strategy for implementing ODF targeting and positioning. In this advertising plan, including details of the creative message (content, tone, emotions, etc.), as well as indicate what media would be appropriate for the campaign. Also, explain how the advertising campaign for ODF relates to the overall umbrella position of the Olay brand.
In this marketing plan, appropriate promotion is key. For example, the models used in Olay Daily Facial cleansing marketing materials should show women of all ages from late teens to senior citizens, depending on the channel for marketing. It should include people of all skin colors to cover all ethnic sub-populations and be useful in overseas marketing. It should even include men of various ages, to cover all possibilities. After all, men who work in dirty environments may want to get clean, and they are even less likely than women to have nice bathrooms on the job or in their dormitories. The cleansing cloths come in unscented, so they could be acceptable for men.
Print advertisements targeting the younger demographic should show people using the ODF while getting ready to go out after work, when staying over with a friend, camping out, traveling, and similar situations. TV advertisements should show similar settings and circumstances.
The most powerful channel may be via the internet. If movie stars or music celebrities are spotted using this product, for example, onset after filming or performances, this can be spread all over the web promptly providing valuable exposure. Giving free full-sized vanity pack samples to celebrities could accomplish this exposure. (Shrink-wrapped foil samples typically distributed by toiletries companies fail to promote the immense convenience of the vanity pack.)
Product placement in television/web series is a crucial promotional channel to pursue. As an example of an appropriate moment, The Big Bang Theory’s Amy Fowler hides an emergency overnight kit, which could have visibly featured the ODF. Likewise, in Sex in the City, where overnight stays and after-work socializing occur frequently, the ODF could appear.
What other marketing mix decisions would you recommend? First, provide an overall strategic rationale for these decisions: to grow the category, to help acquire new customers from competitors, or to reduce switching and improve the retention of the current customer. Then present your marketing mix decisions. Please structure your answer clearly under each marketing mix sub-heading.
In terms of other marketing decisions, for example, Price, Biore, and RoC possess a bit of an image of exotic luxury, but their price is comparable. Raising the price above Biore’s or RoC’s would position Olay’s cleansing cloths as a presumed luxury item. However, it would potentially shut out many loyal customers who associate Olay with department store quality at drugstore prices, based on personal observation. Price therefore should not increase.
The Product performs well, but there are areas where Dove performs better, according to customer feedback. Improvements can be implemented. Lathering amount and speed are two obvious examples.
Overly dramatic changes in Place (distribution), could scare off existing customers who expect to find Olay products conveniently in drugstores, based on personal observation. If possible, it should be displayed with soaps as well as next to moisturizers, to expand its reach.