Procter & Gamble Canada: Developing Scope Advertising Copy - Case Analysis
Problem
The case analysis a situation faced by P&G management about one of its brand called Scope. The team that is managing Scope are unsure if they should implement its new strategies as a countermeasure for its declining market share. Scope’s team has also been informed by the management that they might not receive additional investment for the marketing of their brand in the upcoming year. The major issue revolves around designing a questionnaire which can be used for a forthcoming focus group sessions that are inclined towards determining the recent consumer insights. This would help Scope to finalize its positioning of the brand, as well as, advertisement strategy as a whole (Hulland, 1998).
Analysis
The management of Scope is concerned that if they don’t take immediate measures related to their promotional strategies, it could result in further deterioration of situation at hand. This fact can not be denied that the brand of Scope is in critical need of innovative advertisement and would need to get rid of its current advertisement tactics. Furthermore, the Canadian Mouthwash market has witnessed a major change with products such as Colgate and Plax have been able to capture major market share within last three years. Plax has been able to grab approximately 10% of the market share slashing Scope’s market share. Similarly, the brands such as Listerine and Plax have remained extremely competitive and giving a hard time to Scope. All these changes have been forcing Scope to immediately change its approach and rethink its advertisement campaign, which have so far not been effective to increase the competitive position of the brand. Apparently, Scope has been specifically targeted by a new oral-care product ‘Colgate Total Mouthwash’ offered by Colgate-Palmolive. These competitors are using aggressive marketing techniques to promote their products. The market trends also shows that Scope have been impacted by the new substitutes, as well as, increase in competition. However , this impact has not been too high as it can be witnessed from the fact that its market share has marginally declined to 32.3% from 33% during 1988 and 1989. Similarly, Scope has spent a lot of its advertisement campaign and therefore, the advertisement budget can not afford to go up. However, Scope also needs to protect its market share, which could deteriorate if they remains idle in the face of growing challenges.
Alternatives
Recommendations
Scope’s focus group needs to find out elements related to the opinion of general people related with the benefits offered by their products, as well as, effectiveness of advertisement strategy and its impact on brand awareness and product positioning. They should be asking questions like why they prefer a particular Mouth Wash product over another product and what do they expect from a Mouth Wash product. Similarly, they should further probe that what is price these consumers would be willing to pay for a brand like Scope and what sort of advertisement appeal them more. This would help them craft an effective marketing strategy that could prop up Scope’s market share. Furthermore, it should also emphasize on its health-related benefits by authorizing itself from health bodies like Canadian Dental Association (CDA).
References
Hulland, J.; Mark, K. (1998), Procter and Gamble Canada: Developing Scope Advertising Copy Case. Ivey Publishing. Retrieved on March 3, 2016
