Crest was developed in 1955 by Procter & Gamble Company in America. It is one of the pioneer fluoride toothpaste brands proven to fight cavities clinically. It has been one of the most trusted brands in dental hygiene with an endorsement from the American Dental Association in early 1960. The Crest Brand currently has ventured into the global market with its dental hygiene products such as toothbrushes, dental floss, mouthwash and teeth whitening products.
In developing the market analysis of Crest as a brand one has to consider the following elements: competition, buyer behavior, branding, Social Media, product differentiation, packaging and packaging Strategy. These elements are integral in understanding how best Crest Toothpaste has managed to retain, create and venture into new markets (Chesbrough, 2006).
Competition as a market analysis element dwells on competitor price analysis. The Crest Toothpaste brand finds itself in a fairly saturated dental hygiene market that has over ten leading global brands. The chief competitor that this firm faces is Colgate, a product by Colgate-Palmolive Company which has approximately 44.4% market share in the Dental Hygiene Products as compared to the 38.7% held by Crest. The two brands pricewise are very similar where Crest toothpaste being $0.64 per ounces into millimeters (oz) as compared to Colgate $0.64 per (ounces into millimeters) (Phillips, 2010).
The buyer behavior as per the Crest brand is mainly hinges on the quality and the issues it addresses. The Crest brand products meet seven dental issues that many dentists identify as vital for proper dental health. These are gingivitis, sensitivity, whitening, tar, cavities, plaque and breath freshening. Many ardent Crest buyers hail it as having a clean flavor that is devoid of aftertastes and odd tinges of other flavors. The Crest brand as the next element of the market analysis identifies the longevity and the identification of this brand in the global market. The Crest brand has the advantage of being one of the first ever to venture into dental hygiene industry. It still retains its logo and core selling point of “fighting cavities”.
The Crest brand capitalizes on the social media platforms to reach its target market globally. It has established facebook pages and twitter handles to interact with its clientele. The social media platforms are valuable in that they allow Crest to capture the feedback and response of their global clientele. The Crest facebook page currently has over 465,000 likes while on its twitter handle it has a massive 26,000 plus following. The product differentiation as a tool of market analysis for Crest identifies the different products that have been tailor-made to suit the needs of their market segments. Crest initially ventured into the dental hygiene market by selling products that only focused on gum diseases. However, over the decades it has developed its various products to incorporate the herbal element, fresh breath, teeth whitening formulas and teeth sensitivity. These products have been crucial in catapulting the fortunes of this company by great margins (Jagpal, 2008).
The packaging and packaging strategies employed by Crest incorporate customer satisfaction, product visibility and innovation. The Crest products are packaged in an attractive manner that facilitates purchasing decisions by many customers. The packaging strategy employed by Crest promotes the product in terms of its qualities, ingredients and end benefits of the Crest products. The products are packaged in different volumes in order to meet the variety in consumer needs and purchasing power. The Crest product packaging further ensures that the Crest logo is attractively emblazoned in the packaging to ensure that the company products are easily identifiable (Chesbrough, 2006).
References
Chesbrough, H. W. (2006). Open business models: How to thrive in the new innovation landscape. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press.
Jagpal, S., & Jagpal, S. (2008). Fusion for profit: How marketing and finance can work together to create value. New York: Oxford University Press.
Phillips, E. (2010). Kiss your dentist goodbye: A do-it-yourself mouth care system for healthy, clean gums and teeth. Austin, TX: Greenleaf.
