Slendertone
Executive Summary
Kevin McDonnell, owner of BioMedical Research Ltd. (BMR) believed when he purchased the company that one of the product lines, Slendertone, could become a £100 million a year business by the year 2002. His strong belief in new product development as the “key to future growth,” led him in the journey to build a business based on this philosophy. Realizing that this ambitious goal would take more than product development and would also require a strong marketing plan, McDonnell placed faith in Brian O’Donohoe to build the marketing strategy that could cast Slendertone as a world-class brand. No doubt, BMR faced some challenges – identifying target markets, creating distribution channels, handling customer perception, as well as the norm, dealing with competitors and gaining market share.
Slendertone had the makings of a potential world-class brand, but without a clear marketing strategy, the brand could be overcome with lesser quality products from competitors offering lower prices, not to mention, negative consumer perception due from lack of knowledge of the product’s purpose and overall perception. The management of Slendertone would need to build upon its core objectives and create a strategic marketing objective that would permeate the entire product line in order to meet the goal of McDonnell. The company had much strength to build from as their stability was proven in that they had been in business for over 30 years. In their base country of Ireland, Slendertone products had been established as having higher quality and the products had since been introduced in over 40 countries. However bright the opportunities appeared, there were many threats facing Slendertone. The focus to shift from a product development strategy to a market-driven strategy would entail a budget that would enable new market penetration and enhanced advertising plans. However, Slendertone had recognized the need to continue the efforts in R&D and did not
Kevin McDonnell, owner of BioMedical Research Ltd. (BMR) believed when he purchased the company that one of the product lines, Slendertone, could become a £100 million a year business by the year 2002. His strong belief in new product development as the “key to future growth,” led him in the journey to build a business based on this philosophy. Realizing that this ambitious goal would take more than product development and would also require a strong marketing plan, McDonnell placed faith in Brian O’Donohoe to build the marketing strategy that could cast Slendertone as a world-class brand. No doubt, BMR faced some challenges – identifying target markets, creating distribution channels, handling customer perception, as well as the norm, dealing with competitors and gaining market share.
Slendertone had the makings of a potential world-class brand, but without a clear marketing strategy, the brand could be overcome with lesser quality products from competitors offering lower prices, not to mention, negative consumer perception due from lack of knowledge of the product’s purpose and overall perception. The management of Slendertone would need to build upon its core objectives and create a strategic marketing objective that would permeate the entire product line in order to meet the goal of McDonnell. The company had much strength to build from as their stability was proven in that they had been in business for over 30 years. In their base country of Ireland, Slendertone products had been established as having higher quality and the products had since been introduced in over 40 countries. However bright the opportunities appeared, there were many threats facing Slendertone. The focus to shift from a product development strategy to a market-driven strategy would entail a budget that would enable new market penetration and enhanced advertising plans. However, Slendertone had recognized the need to continue the efforts in R&D and did not