Kingsford Case

Date: Kingsford Value Proposition | For (customer), (company) offers its (product), which unlike the (competition) provides the owner with (benefit). | 5Cs | 4 P’s | Customer * Barbeque Grill owners – * 80% of owners were young, from large and high income families * > 50% of the owners were MED-HI users * 60% of the owners were men * Popular grilling events – July 4th, Labor Day, Tailgating | Product * Kingsford Charcoal – for grilling * Invented by Henry Ford * KC manufactured from the following in a 2 part process: * Wood * Minerals * Limestone * Starch * Borax * Sodium Nitrate * Sawdust * Blue Bag Charcoal – Regular * Sold in 10lbs, 20 lbs, 48 lbs (Club) * Red Bag Charcoal – treated with lighter fluid, instant * Sold in 8lbs, 15 lbs, 30 lbs (Club) * | Climate * P&G tried to acquire Clorox in 1957. Gov. objected to prevent a Monopoly. * 1980’s charcoal category was growing * # of barbeque events: * 1987: 1.4 B * 1995: 2.7 B * 2000: 3 B * | Price * Varied based on the type of the product and size. * Regular 10 lbs – $4.25 * Regular 20 bs - $6.78 * Instant 8 lbs - $5.2 * Instant 15 lbs - $8.07 * Competitor Pricing * Royal Oak – between KC and private * Private labeled brands – 25% - 30% lower than KC | Company * Clorox Co.op – founded in 1913 * Started with Bleach as the product. Became a leading provider of bleach in US * Kingsford Charcoal – Sub business * Co.op office Oakland, CA * 1967 – Clorox was listed on NYSE * Clorox then adopted an aggressive growth strategy driven by acquisition and internal R&D * 2000 – Clorox had > 50 products and marketed the products worldwide. * Each product was managed by a brand team comprising of a brand manager and assistant brand managers * BM team responsible for: setting business strategy, understanding customer needs & apply that learning, developing