Case study questions:
Assess Listerine’s position in the Brazilian market.
What objectives do you propose for the brand?
What marketing metrics are we interested in this example that are related to
the Listerine case?
If you were hired as the Listerine brand manager in 2010, how would you
react after seeing the market share loss as shown in case Table 3? How did
Colgate manage to rapidly increase market share from 2009 to 2010?
If you were Listerine’s brand manager, which marketing metrics would you
emphasize as reflecting the brand’s objectives? What are the pros and cons of each
marketing metric proposed?
According to the case, what are the pros and cons of targeting each
marketing metric proposed in the decomposition of market share? As
Listerine’s brand manager around 2010, which marketing metrics did Art
emphasize as reflecting the brand’s objectives?
What was the role of the sub-brand Listerine Essencial and, later, the
Listerine Zero new product launch? How are the product launches related to
the targeted brand’s objectives?
If you were Listerine brand manager in 2012, how would you react after
seeing another market share loss as shown in case Table 3? Which metric
would you target to address the brand challenge at that time?
What was the importance of the “21-day challenge” campaign and new TV
campaigns? And what about the new larger SKUs and the promotional effort
to offer a 1.5 L bottle for the price of a 750 mL one? What metrics was the
brand trying to influence according to the proposed system of metrics?
What did the Listerine brand achieve by the end of 2014?
Assume that you were tasked with increasing the market share of Listerine while
retaining profitability. What system of metrics do you suggest for the brand? How
would you link the metrics with possible decision levers?
Brazil has a well-developed Dental care and Oral health care market. The region has
high propensity for the oral products and dental healthcare.Over the period of time, the
companies like Unilever, P&G and Johnson and Johnson has acquired the brazil in
market by offering different mouth wash products and oral care products. Among those
Listerine – The product of Johnson and Johnson establishes the top position in the
market in terms of market share, brand recognition and brand positioning. The
company offers high strong mint flavor alcoholic formula for the mouth wash, specially
catering the upper and upper middle target markets of the region.
ver the period of time, the company remain at the top of the consumer mind
and has been sold through the Drugstores generating bulk of sales,
however,with the arrival of Colgate in the market the company has started facing
low brand recognition and easy positioning in the mind of the customers.This
has been due to the strong flavor, high price and alcoholic components in the
Listerine products, which hindered the sales and reduced the market share in
Brazilian region.
Hence, in order to deal with the issue and to rebuild the brand positioning in the
market, the company introduced Listerine with mild formula under the brand
name essentials. This has been a smart move since it safeguards the brand
image and brand equity of the Listerine parent product and allowed the
customer to distinguish between the two brands hence adopting the new
product with clear positioning in the mind.Also, the company developed the new
SBU division for the Listerine product available in bigger volume.
Analyzing the particular trend and brand strategy of Colgate, Art pursued two
strategies to list Listerine on top in the market.The strategies were product
innovations and market awareness. In doing so, the company launched a mild
flavor of Listerine for the users that prefer non-alcoholic mouthwash, while
introduced cost effective product “essentials” in the market to compete with the
Colgate’s product line.
In addition to this, the company also launched the larger packs of Listerine that
not only increased its shelf visibility but also increased the usage index of the
product.Moreover, to create the product awareness in the market, the company
aggressively spent on the bellow the line (BTL) activities to generate eyeball
effect,while also supported the certain 21 days’ promotional campaigns to
generate trails.
All this helped the company in elevating its product listing in the market,along
with the increased market share, product penetration and brand awareness in
Brazilian market.
