Aqualisa Quartz 9
Problem: Aqualisa has invested 5.8 million to develop a breakthrough product, the Quartz shower that positions itself superiorly in terms of quality, technology, design and ease of installation. Since it is not selling well, Aqualisa is now looking for a marketing strategy to generate sales momentum for Aqualisa Quartz.
Possible alternatives: Targeting the correct market is crucial to solve the problem. With this in mind, there are 4 alternative marketing strategies.
The first option is to target the consumers directly. This is a high risk option. Firstly, it requires a high advertising budget (3-4 millions). Secondly, even though we can convince the consumers, they might still be influenced by the plumbers in making their decisions. Therefore, we put the option of targeting the consumers directly as a long term goal that will be achieved after the implementation of the second option.
The second option is to target the plumbers. Currently, they influence 73% of all shower purchases. The challenge here is that they are always skeptical about electronic showers and fear that unfamiliar products may cause unknown performance problems. Aqualisa needs to implement a marketing strategy that can make them believe in the Quartz's capabilities. The ease of installation feature should generate much enthusiasm in the plumbers because it can help them increase their productivity (half-a-day installation, instead of the usual two days and their apprentices could also do the job for them), which would translate into more installations and higher income for them.
The third option is to target the DIY group. The Quartz's easy installation benefit would certainly make it a hit among the DIYers. However, it might be detrimental to Quartz's image as a premium brand and once we are in the DIY sheds, it would be difficult to climb out.
The last option is to target the developers. Since developers work independently with plumbers to install whatever products they select, it
Possible alternatives: Targeting the correct market is crucial to solve the problem. With this in mind, there are 4 alternative marketing strategies.
The first option is to target the consumers directly. This is a high risk option. Firstly, it requires a high advertising budget (3-4 millions). Secondly, even though we can convince the consumers, they might still be influenced by the plumbers in making their decisions. Therefore, we put the option of targeting the consumers directly as a long term goal that will be achieved after the implementation of the second option.
The second option is to target the plumbers. Currently, they influence 73% of all shower purchases. The challenge here is that they are always skeptical about electronic showers and fear that unfamiliar products may cause unknown performance problems. Aqualisa needs to implement a marketing strategy that can make them believe in the Quartz's capabilities. The ease of installation feature should generate much enthusiasm in the plumbers because it can help them increase their productivity (half-a-day installation, instead of the usual two days and their apprentices could also do the job for them), which would translate into more installations and higher income for them.
The third option is to target the DIY group. The Quartz's easy installation benefit would certainly make it a hit among the DIYers. However, it might be detrimental to Quartz's image as a premium brand and once we are in the DIY sheds, it would be difficult to climb out.
The last option is to target the developers. Since developers work independently with plumbers to install whatever products they select, it