SENSODYNE TOOTH GUARDIAN

Team 6

NIDESH M

ISHAAN P

SUSHANTH J

RAGHAVENDRA A

ANKIT P

VYAS V

INTRODUCTION

The world and the technology are moving at a rapid pace, so do we.

We get very busy with our work that we forget to take care of ourselves. Many people,

especially children eat junk food and helps germs in our mouth make acids that eat away a

tooth causing a cavity or decay. This can go up to the extent of tooth loss. So, monitoring our

teeth for germs is very important in the current scenario. But many people don’t have time to

go to a doctor for monitoring their teeth. Is there any alternative for this? After all, all

questions in this world must have an answer. Sensodyne exactly identified this need and

came up with “Sensodyne Tooth Guardian” which is an electric toothbrush for health

conscious people and the busy modern. It is an electric toothbrush that makes rapid,

automatic bristle motions, either back-and-forth oscillation or rotation-oscillation to clean

teeth. There are micro CCDs and LED light equipped on the tip of the brush. Images taken by

the CCD will be displayed on the side screen of the mirror simultaneously, so we can

examine the oral condition with ease when brushing our teeth.

Sensodyne is launching an electric toothbrush for the first time and we

need to be aware of the new markets and competitions. So, we have made the following

analyses and have planned to implement some strategies which will help us in our

breakthrough product innovation.

Brand image

The brand is still in the growth stage because the brand awareness and brand penetration is

relatively much lower than its major competitors. Currently, Colgate holds almost 60% of

the market share in the toothpaste industry, followed by Darlie in second, considering the

global market.

Industry analysis – Major players

Given below are the major toothbrush manufacturers in India.

Colgate – Palmolive Ltd. (47.3%)

Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (30%)

Dabur India Ltd. (7.2%)

Local rivals like Vicco, Patanjali, Promise, etc.

A SWOT analysis of Sensodyne is made which helps in accessing our entry into the market

Strengths :

Continuous innovation in low involvement but essential products, like toothbrush

Low operational costs help us in achieving the competitive advantage. Strategies are

implemented in line with different levels to ensure 100% efficiency

Focuses on providing a differentiated and health conscious product. Eg: Sensodyne

Toothpaste has no sugar in it thereby helping sugar patients

Sensodyne Toothpaste has been a leading brand and the dentists have been recommending it

for over 20 years now. This helps in improving the brand value of other products of

Sensodyne as well

Weaknesses

Certain shops do not have Sensodyne in stock

New innovations coming up in the market. Eg: Oral B came up with electric toothbrush

which claims to remove plaque, improve gum health and also that 9 out of 10 people won’t

go back to their ordinary manual brush

Unclear information given on the packaging. We are improving on this

Indian market is not as responsive to innovations in toothbrushes as global markets

Opportunities

Increasing purchasing power of people and health consciousness of people

Untapped market in India which satiates the needs of several people

Indian people are nowadays showing increased involvement in personal care products.

More innovations to differentiate from the competitors is an opportunity for Sensodyne to

enter the market

Threats

Innovation can be copied by the competitors. The second mover can always imitate the leader

and have opportunities to do better.

Regular introduction of new products by the competitors.

S.T.P ANALYSIS OF SENSODYNE TOOTH GUARDIAN

Market Segmentation: Market segmentation is a marketing strategy that involves dividing a

broad target market into subsets of consumers, businesses, or countries that have common

needs and priorities, and then designing and implementing strategies to target them. Market

segmentation strategies may be used to identify the target customers, and provide supporting

data for positioning to achieve a marketing plan objective. Businesses may develop product

differentiation strategies, or an undifferentiated approach, involving specific products

or product lines depending on the specific demand and attributes of the target segment.

Market segmentation is very important in selection for the product introduction and the right

selection for the segments is very important as the core revenue needs to be identified and the

base of the operations based on this selection.

1. Geographical: In this segmentation we will divide markets into different geographic units as

shown in above diagram. For examples we will segment our SENSODYNE TOOTH

GUARDIAN according to:

World region or country which includes country like North America, Western Europe, etc.

City or metro Size: New York, San Francisco

Population Density: Rural, suburban, Urban

Climate: Northern, Southern, Tropical

As our product is premium and targeted for customers who want complete care and have

interest in their daily care products, Countries in West like US, Canada will be our prime

target

2. Demographic: After segmenting our product geographically we will segment it in

demographic I.e. age, gender, family size, income, occupation, race and religion so we will

come to know what age group, sex, results differences in buying our Tooth Guardian.

When Demographic factors are considered income plays an important role, as the product is a

premium product and people do consider this factor when buying his product

3. Psychographic: Psychographic segmentation divides a market into different groups based on

social class, lifestyle, or personal characteristics. People in the same demographic

classification often have very different lifestyles and personalities. As we will come to know

where to place our product as it’s a premium product.

As earlier stated, the income divides the classes and their lifestyles, determine the selection of

this kind of product

4. Behavioural: it will help us to know the usage rate i.e. light, medium, heavy. We also come to

know about benefits sought as different segments desire different benefits from the same

products. We will come know loyalty status of our customer, about non-users, ex-users, first

time users.

Target market: A target market is a group of customers towards which a business has

decided to aim its marketing efforts and ultimately its merchandise. A well-defined target

market is the first element to a marketing strategy. The marketing mix variables of product,

place (distribution), promotion and price are the four elements of a marketing mix strategy

that determine the success of a product in the marketplace.

Our target audience will be of all age group and gender. As kids and adults follows the

market trend. And as it will be perfect for delicate gums, in this case old people and kids will

be our target customers. As kids have many problems during their childhood period, it will

help that age group to check their teeth on a regular basis and prevent them from going to

dentist and same applies in old age people and it’s very difficult for old age people to go for

regular check-ups for their teeth. So being at home they can check their teeth on a regular

basis which will be less costly rather than going to dentist.

Positioning: Positioning is a marketing activity and process of identifying a market problem

or opportunity, and developing a solution based on market research, segmentation and

supporting data. Positioning may refer the position a business has chosen to carry out their

marketing and business objectives. Positioning relates to strategy, in the specific or tactical

development phases of carrying out an objective to achieve a business' or organization's

goals, such as increasing sales volume, brand recognition, or reach in advertising.

Steps of positioning are as follows:

1) Understand our target market: we will use the Target Audience Profile (TAP) template to

gather and interpret this information. By which we will get data to position our

SENSODYNE TOOTH GUARDIAN, like what colour they prefer, how much they buy

product based on warranty. Likewise how many customers prefer high tech and advanced

technology.

2) Understand our competition: Before positioning our product we will understand our

competitors so that we will come to know the reality of competitors like Oral-B, So we will

conduct primary and secondary research to determine how your competitors are positioning

themselves, the strategies they’re using, and how successful they’ve been.

3) Map buying criteria against competitive positioning: After understanding our competitors we

will map buying criteria against competitive positioning like, what colour they prefer, how

much they buy product based on warranty. Likewise how many customers prefer high tech

and advanced technology from competitive positioning companies.

4) Assess your product’s strengths against the buying criteria: After all above three processes

we have to compare our products strengths against the buying criteria, and as we have high

tech systems in our brush, it will add competitive advantages.

5) Analyse the gaps: Last step of positioning of our product will be analyse the gaps that we

have against our competitors i.e. add value to our product and innovate what we have

introduced in the market according to the needs of the market and customers.

Product Strategies:

In industrial product development, a marketing strategy that is flexible and adaptive to

changing market circumstances stands a greater chance of being effective in the long-term.

Products and consumer perceptions are variable, so changes in strategy may be required to

better address customer needs, technological developments, new laws and regulations, and

the overall product life-cycle. By monitoring external conditions and shifting product

development accordingly, a company can better target its consumers and learn to react to

their needs. The major factors that can necessitate a change in product strategy include:

• Customer Preferences: Fluctuations in the cost of materials, new application requirements,

and changing brand awareness are just a few of things that can cause consumer needs to

change. So we will be Keeping close track of customer response to a product and taking their

demands into consideration is important for maintaining market share.

• Technological Advances: A new technological development can engender a change in a

product line, causing products to need modification in order to remain competitive or

rendering some products obsolete. For example, fibre optic cables have replaced older cables

in certain applications and many businesses have switched from main frame computers to

personal computers. Being aware of these advances can help a business stay ahead of the

curve.

• Laws and Regulations: The implementation of new governmental regulations can cause

certain products or manufacturing methods to be restricted, limiting their consumer appeal.

Conversely, new laws can also lend an advantage to certain business and deregulation can

sometimes benefit production standards. Product development strategies must shift according

to the legal landscape.

• Product Life-Cycles: To preserve the rate of growth in profit and sales, many industrial

companies decide to alter, discontinue, or replace older products with newer models or more

recent upgrades. These changes are usually made periodically, allowing existing products that

reach maturity or decline to be phased out or modified, thus retaining their appeal, and

according to demand of customers we will be producing different kinds of tooth brush with

more features to match the customer needs and will have variety of products for each

customer.

Pricing strategy

Penetration Pricing

The strategy in pricing should be the penetration pricing in the market of electronic toothbrush and the dental care expenditure of customer. To enter the market or to penetrate it the competitive price should not be considered, the product must enter with same pricing but should enter with a relatively high price with good promotional and marketing strategies that targets the appropriate customer and can generate revenue.

The early challenges would be perception of the customer about the price of the product, as the product features lot of dental care and has advanced technology, our product can be perceived as an expensive product. The value proposition may also be perceived wrong by the customer. While targeting the right customer having knowledge of these kind of product can help in spreading the word of mouth through the target audience.

At the initial stage i.e. introduction stage it may not generate that much revenue with this kind of pricing but promotion and after sale service of the product may lead to change of perception of the customer and product may reach its growth stage.

We aim for customer retention and long relationship with them as the toothbrush head is changed after every 3 months, so long relation with customer is required which would ultimately benefit the product and revenue only.

After reaching into the growth stage and reaching somewhat above the breakeven point of the product we can use price skimming strategy for sales.

Promotion Strategies and campaign

AIDA – Model

Attention- Grabbing attention of the customer with providing information over dental care

and dental diseases to the segmented market or the focus group, communicating through

various channels to ensure the information is transferred properly.

Interest- Create interest in the product, through providing information over the product and

customer service, after sales services for changing the heads, to the potential customer i.e.

requires dental care and conscious customer.

Desire- Calculates the desire of the people, responses and feedback over the communicated

information towards the customer from various channels for the targeted market and

customer. What they expect from this dental product and the technology deployment in a

simple commodity.

Action- launching the product to meet the expectations and desires of the potential

customer to maximise sales over the first introduction of the product in the market.

IMC- Communicating the brand over traditional and non-traditional channels of communication

Providing offers to the customers and customer services for longer period of time.

IMC can create a longer customer relation which can create profits for the longer period of

time.

Campaign

Social media promotion

Promoting on social media doesn’t take much of expenses as it is negligible. Creating pages on social media sites. Twitter handle and Instagram are very fascinating in terms of promoting any kind of product as people are very active on these sites and they are easily accessible also.

On social media we can easily find out people with similar interest over dental care, so out targeting will become easy and smooth. Gathering attention of these people will make out potential customer over the years as we can generate sales by targeting these people.

Free Dental Care Camp

Promoting our product through free dental care camps in major cities to spread awareness and build customers. Spreading information about the product with free dental care can create opportunity of sales and on the spot sales of the product. Making a hype of the camp around the city and with the social media, this is our first promotional campaign.

MARKETING STRATEGY FOR SENSODYNE TOOTH GUARDIAN

Toothguardian will be an essential product consumers cannot do without. For more established brands, selling our products will be relatively easy. However, if you wish to launch tooth guardian into the market or want to increase sales of a relatively new product, we must undertake some rigorous but strategic marketing. There are several techniques

and tools that can help us market effectively, but we have to be purposeful in our strategy and evaluate how the marketing initiatives will enhance the credibility for the brand and influence potential customers.

Product Differentiation The market has several similar competing products, and we have to brand yours in such a way that it stands out. Prominently displaying logo and name on the packaging to boost brand awareness and sales. Identify the specific qualities that clients are looking for in a product, such as the ability to whiten or strengthen teeth and protect against tooth decay. Emphasize the characteristics of the product and range of benefits that consumers will get from using it, always ensuring that the information that is provided is factual and backed up by research.

Collaborate with Dental Care Specialists Our Sensodyne tooth guardian is considered as a health care product that guards the teeth against bacteria and other harmful microorganisms. Having dentists recommend our product improves our brand recognition. Seek a dentist who will appear in a cable or TV broadcast ad recommending Tooth Guardian for optimum teeth protection. Printing attractive posters and fliers and leave them in dental clinics or offices is one of the ways to do that. Participating in community health promotion activities that raise awareness on proper dental care can also provide us an opportunity to market our brand.

Promotion and Advertising Depending on the budget, we can leverage several print and electronic media channels to market our product effectively. The ads, which should highlight the top features of your tooth guardian to attract maximum attention, can be placed with broadcast media such as radio and television that reach a wide audience. The local daily or national newspapers and health magazines also offer good opportunities to advertise toothguardian. Having a product website that is modern and easily navigable with links to social media helps you explain your product to readers, creating positive brand impressions.

Explore Retail Marketing Channels Retail outlets may be able to provide advertising opportunities for the product by allocating display space for the products and posters so shoppers readily see them. We may consider selling our toothguardian to retailers at discounted prices and leave the marketing work to them. We also can use trial offers in the form of limited-time coupon discounts for at select retail outlets to entice customers to sample the products.

Peer performances and strategies

In an effort to boost sales across all its product categories, HUL spent Rs1272.88 crore, 26.5% more than it did the previous year, on advertising in the fiscal year ended December 2006. It restructured its oral care portfolio, which includes brands such as Pepsodent and Close Up; the ‘Pepsodent germi-check’ range was relaunched as ‘Pepsodent Complete’, but none of this seems to have helped.

AC Nielsen data shows that HUL’s oral care business has been bleeding since 2003. The businesses compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2003-04 and 2006-07 was 4% (in volume terms) against an industry average of 8%. In 2006-07, while the Rs3052 crore (by sales) oral care industry grew 15.3% in value terms, HUL’s oral care business grew by 11%. The difference was even more stark in volume terms (total number of units sold) with the industry growing by 12%, and HUL, 6%. The company earned around Rs753.8 crore from the oral care sales during the period. For the fiscal year ending December 2006, the company reported a turnover of Rs12457.9 crore.

Meanwhile, HUL’s rivals, particularly Dabur India have registered impressive growth, albeit on a lower base, in the period. While Dabur India recorded an impressive growth of 24%, clocking Rs374.7 crore in revenues, Colgate-Palmolive’s oral care division grew 17% to report Rs1445.8 crore in revenues. Colgate markets brands such as Cibaca and Colgate, while Dabur’s brands include Babool and Dabur Last. The CAGR of the two companies between 2003-04 and 2006-07 was 9% and 32%, respectively. Colgate Palmolive did not respond to an e-mail query from Mint.

Analysts say Dabur’s growth can be attributed to its diversified product portfolio, whereas

HUL is limited to the premium segment only. “Dabur’s Babool, Meswak, and Red cater to all consumer segments whereas HUL has a limited presence. Besides, the value-for-money segment, which Dabur has a strong presence in, has been growing faster than the premium segment; HUL is primarily limited to this segment,” said Budhiraja.

Dabur, however, credits the success of its oral care brands to consistent investments in brands, product upgradation, repackaging and aggressive marketing communications. “Babool was an Rs30 crore brand in 2005 while today, it has grown to become a near Rs100 crore brand, while Meswak is an over Rs20 crore brand. Once the brands were acquired (from Balsara Hygiene Products), Dabur went about repositioning and repackaging them. Alongside, Dabur also invested in marketing the brands much more aggressively than before. For instance, we signed film star Vivek Oberoi to endorse Babool,” said V.S. Sitaram, executive director (consumer care Division), Dabur India.

We (Sensodyne) are learning the different models used by our competitors in both toothpaste and toothbrush segments and must do proper positioning and distribution.

Distribution Strategy

It’s the method you use to get your product or service through various distribution channels to the ultimate purchaser or end-user – in other words, how and where the consumer buys your product or service. It is vitally important activity that focuses on how to reach the target market.

Locating your business

Located in New york, we are buying new machineries for developing the new product to be sold predominantly in India and the US. India has been chosen because there is a huge demand and its an untapped market

Channels of distribution

This is available only with chemists and hypermarkets, unlike Colgate which has a robust distribution network which has availability in 45 lakh stores and 1000 towns all over India. We are planning to tap even the general stores so that we can widen our reach.

We are also planning to tie up with online retailing stores like flipkart, amazon and snapdeal to sell our products as ecommerce is the trend.

Logistics

Logistics is how you plan, implement and control the physical flow of raw materials, final products or services and related information from your business, or source of supply, to the final end-user (or consumer).

So we need to consider:

We will plan and schedule production according to demand and market analysis after doing consumer research.

By following hybrid strategy and order the raw materials from the suppliers according to the changing demand helps us achieve better procurement.

Financial Analysis

A financial analysis is made in an excel sheet and a snapshot of the same has been taken.

As we are venturing into an untapped market like India and launching a comparatively costlier product, we have planned to sell just 10,000 units according to the demand

This demand is expected to rise by 7% every year for the first 5 years.

The costs we incur are also assumed to grow by 5% with time due to the customisations that need to be offered.

Onetime costs like machinery cost are taken care and the incurring costs are segregated and noted accordingly

The costs like LED, UV light, CCD camera and other raw material costs are covered.

Being an established brand in the market, and following penetrative pricing strategy, we expect a Profit After tax of Rs.55, 36,740 in the first year which is expected to grow up to 83 lakhs at the end of 5th year

Primary data analysis

A questionnaire was circulated to the students of SIBM Bengaluru

and the following inferences can be made from the responses

Around 61% of the people brush once a day and about 36% people brush more than once a

day, showing positive trends. This shows the usage of toothbrush per user in a day.

People tend to change their toothbrush very often. Most of them change their brushes once in

2 months, the reason being they are not durable and the bristles comes off very easily on

contact with water.

The chart shows that about 42% people don’t visit a doctor to monitor their teeth, the reason

being it takes them extra effort, time and money from their routine.

The chart shows that, most of the people are interested in monitoring their teeth for germs

and cavities. 85% people have shown interest

More than three-fourths of the people are willing to pay extra for the additional features

Inferences based on the analysis

The usage of toothbrush in a day is more

People change their brush very often as they get destroyed by water very easily

Many people (85%) don’t have time to go to the doctor to monitor their teeth, but they do

want to, without going to the doctor

People are also willing to pay extra for the additional features in a toothbrush that satisfies

their needs

SOLUTION

“Sensodyne Tooth Guardian” solves the dual problem - durability and self monitoring device

DURABILITY:

You change the normal brushes every 15 to 20 days, but since Sensodyne

Tooth Guardian uses UV sterilisation technique, the handle can be retained, changing only

the heads once in 3 months. The heads cost around Rs 70 which proves beneficial in the long

run.

UV light is triggered automatically when Tooth Guardian charges on its

seat and sterilizes the brush. This prevents the contact with water making it clean and

durable.

SELF MONITORING

This is a highly differentiated product because it contains CCDs, LED

and electric charging in the same product. LED light is activated automatically and

illuminate the mouth when using micro CCD. Side screen on the mirror provide instant image

took by micro CCD. This technology allows us to monitor our teeth for germs and cavities as

and when required

Conclusion:

Sensodyne Tooth Guardian is a best fit for the people who care for their teeth and do not have

time to visit a dentist. People, who can afford to a premium, can consider our product.

According to the survey people have interest to have a product which monitors the teeth and

gums and give information on the teeth issues. This product is a durable which can be used

for a long period of time and can be considered as a onetime investment .A self-monitoring

device which can be durable is of a great demand and is expected to grow in the near future.

Bibliography

www.webmd.com/oralhealth

www.wikipedia.com/sensodyne

www.sensodyne.com

www.pharmanewsonline.com

www.smallbusiness.wa.gov.au

www.ranker.com

www.sa-sensodyne.blogspot.in

www.mbaskool.com/brandguide