Sealed Air Harvard case Marketing
1. Describe the corporate culture at Sealed Air. What is its business model? How do they make money?
Since its start Sealed Air’s goal has been a position as a market leader and as a constant technology developer. Doing things first was always the main idea. This strong idea of being market leader was also inspired by greater and sustainable profits which have always been assured for the market leader. Continuing analysis of customer needs was based on this corporate behavior which always took place just after the production initiation. Even in terms of attention paid to customer desires ,Sealed Air was one of the first. Customer oriented approach was an important matter also because educating the customer about advantages of the product and trying to decrease manufacturing costs of products have come up as a result. Close relationship with the customer created loyalty .The distributers were the important part of this approach too and good relationships with them over the years ,the company was able to generate profits with 50% to 110% margins. These results show that attempts of creating strong brand awareness and educated customers have been successful so company could sell its products in a market where was other close ,slightly differentiated and same purpose products were sold.
2. Is GAFCEL a threat to Sealed Air?
If we look at the products of GAFCEL we can see its products are not present in Sealed Air’s product range so there seems to be no directs competition. Also the market for uncoated products is as small as 15% of total bubble packaging market. . That might have been due to Sealed Air’s long-lasting efforts of market education and the existing packaging mentality and emphasis on quality. Instead of being seen as additional cost or “expendable commodities”, packaging supplies were perceived as a productive, cost-saving resource.
3. If you were Barrett Houser, would you recommend that Sealed Air introduce an uncoated bubble? If so, how
Since its start Sealed Air’s goal has been a position as a market leader and as a constant technology developer. Doing things first was always the main idea. This strong idea of being market leader was also inspired by greater and sustainable profits which have always been assured for the market leader. Continuing analysis of customer needs was based on this corporate behavior which always took place just after the production initiation. Even in terms of attention paid to customer desires ,Sealed Air was one of the first. Customer oriented approach was an important matter also because educating the customer about advantages of the product and trying to decrease manufacturing costs of products have come up as a result. Close relationship with the customer created loyalty .The distributers were the important part of this approach too and good relationships with them over the years ,the company was able to generate profits with 50% to 110% margins. These results show that attempts of creating strong brand awareness and educated customers have been successful so company could sell its products in a market where was other close ,slightly differentiated and same purpose products were sold.
2. Is GAFCEL a threat to Sealed Air?
If we look at the products of GAFCEL we can see its products are not present in Sealed Air’s product range so there seems to be no directs competition. Also the market for uncoated products is as small as 15% of total bubble packaging market. . That might have been due to Sealed Air’s long-lasting efforts of market education and the existing packaging mentality and emphasis on quality. Instead of being seen as additional cost or “expendable commodities”, packaging supplies were perceived as a productive, cost-saving resource.
3. If you were Barrett Houser, would you recommend that Sealed Air introduce an uncoated bubble? If so, how