Marketing
Kyocera Ceramic Knife
Introduction
In today’s global competition for superiority in product and services, marketing plays an important role in ensuring that the level of competitiveness is achieved by offering the best product quality and value for consumers. Among the new and promising products introduced in the market today is designed to revolutionize the way food is prepared in modern household kitchens, which is the ceramic knife specifically the one made by Kyocera. The discussion involves an analysis and evaluation of kitchen utensil to determine the effective marketing approach for the product. In addition, the discussion will also investigate the product’s background including the company that manufactures it. Furthermore, the discussion is also instrumental in defining the product strengths and weaknesses, which are variables that determines the best product marketing approach to apply. At the end of the analysis, a recommendation will be provided to improve the product’s market competitiveness.
About the Company and the Industry
The ceramics knife a revolutionary product in kitchen utensils that rivals the major knife brands in the market today. There are several advantages that a ceramic knife has over the conventional steel-made kitchen cutting tools. One of the renowned makers of the said product today is the Japan-based multinational company Kyocera. The company is an authority is ceramics manufacturing given the name Kyocera, which stands for Kyoto Ceramics. Apart from the ceramics business, the company is also engaged in electronics manufacturing and communications. Kazuo Inamori founded the company in 1959 in Kyoto, Japan as manufacturer of fine ceramics. After more than 50 years, Kyocera branched out to several manufacturing areas such electronics and communication (Kyocera, 2015). Currently, the company is led by CEO Goro Yamaguchi enabling the company to gain annual revenue of $12.54 billion as of May 2016 (Forbes, 2016).
The development of the company’s new products such as the ceramic knife allowed them to enter a new industry segment that promises opportunity for market growth. For instance, the kitchen cutlery and utensils industry in the United States alone is currently valued at $10 Billion as of 2015 (IBISworld, 2015). Kitchen and other industry experts revealed that the top brands in the ceramics knife segment preferred for both household and commercial use are Victorinox and Kyocera (Franke, 2011). This means that the Kyocera ceramic knife is still in competition with a Swiss cutlery maker and other industry competitors who are engage in metal knife manufacturing. In this sense, the Kyocera ceramic knife as a kitchen cutlery and utensil product is facing a tough market competition with other well-known brands and conventional, but similar products.
About the Product
The product is a ceramic knife, which belongs in the kitchen cutlery and utensils category. It is a knife made from zirconium oxide blade instead of the conventional stainless steel blade. The use of ceramic material in making the blade makes the product less prone to rust and incredibly sharp, which eliminates the need for sharpening for months and years. Furthermore, the hardness of the ceramic blade made almost impossible to turn dull even after prolonged and extensive use. Another important advantage the ceramic knife has over the conventional stainless steel knife is that ceramic variation is surprisingly lighter. In addition, the ceramic surface of the knife doesn’t leave hints of chemical compound when cutting food unlike the metal variation in which the metal ion molecules react to the food acids in contact. As a result, traces of metal taste affect the cut food, which in return ruins the food quality.
Analysis and Evaluation
In terms of analyzing and evaluating the product based on the four pillars of marketing namely, price, product, promotion, and place.
Product - The product for analysis and evaluation is the ceramic knife made by Kyocera. The brand currently offers the 55-inch Santoku knife set, which includes a 3-inch and the 7-inch Professional Knife Series, which comes in black blade.
Price – The ceramics knife from Kyocera is priced slightly above the conventional steel-made knives ranging from $25 to $80 on direct retail from the company’s online store (Kyocera, N.D.). However, the price will vary depending on distributor and other retail store’s markup. In comparison to other similar products, the price of Kyocera ceramic knife is still lower by 30% than the competing brands.
Promotion – In terms of promotional strategies, the company introduced a free shipping per a minimum order, which ads addition savings for customers who ordered the product online. Some variants of the ceramic knife were also put on sale in the online store for up to 50% discount. On the other hand, the product retailers and distributors are also offering promotions such as direct discounts and rebates on bulk orders. In addition, advertising promotion of the product is being conducted through exhibits and through retail and distributor showcase.
Place – Considering that ceramic knife is a new concept in kitchen cutlery that gained so much attention both at household and commercial level, which enabled the product to gain popularity from global consumers. In this sense, the product is now being marketed globally through distributors and retailers both in-store and online.
In terms of services, the company is offering its consumers with free sharpening of ceramic knife if deemed necessary, which is an added value for consumers.
There are several aspects of the product that influence consumer’s perception in terms of experience. For instance, ergonomic design and use of new material is among the positive characteristics of the product that consumers are satisfied about. Based on the testimonies of consumers through product reviews, the ceramic knife particularly the Kyocera brand is both efficient and an effective tool that lives up to customer expectations. In a product review conducted by Chefs and other food industry experts stated that; the ceramic knife is a revolutionary product that has a better cutting performance with balanced comfort when handling durability from rust (Consumer Reports, 2014). Furthermore, the product’s design was also attributed to one of its characteristics that include resistance to stains and other factors that affects the aesthetics of the product in general. Lastly, Kyocera’s offer for free sharpening of the knife adds value to the product, which is not always an option for most widely available similar products in the market.
In terms of the negative aspects of the product that influence the negative perception of consumers is the fact that the product is susceptible to breaking when not used properly. It is apparent that the ceramic knife was made harder than steel, but it doesn’t mean that the knife is not prone to breaking. This implies limitations in durability and lack of the product’s flexibility as a kitchen tool. Furthermore, too much pressure on handling ceramic or using them in hard materials such as chicken bones would lead to chipping or worst breaking the knife in half, which rarely happens in conventional steel knife. It is expected that kitchen utensils such as a knife will do the work just fine regardless of the manner of use. However, the ceramic knife cannot is outperformed by the conventional products when it comes to versatility. It doesn’t break easily on impact, but too much stress on the blade makes the knife vulnerable. Limited durability creates the negative perception about the overall value of the ceramic knives.
Recommendation for Product and Service Improvement
Kyocera’s ceramic knife product is a promising addition to the emerging new concepts in today’s modern kitchen environment. However, several issues in product and marketing initiatives need further improvement. For starters, the kitchen cutlery and utensils industry is still presenting growth opportunity for Kyocera given the gaining popularity of ceramic-based cutting tools. On the other hand, the limitations in product durability needs further improvement, which can begin by focusing on product research and development. It was also found that the consumers are not satisfied about the versatility of the product as a kitchen-cutting tool, which made the ceramic knife less preferred by other chefs. In this sense, improving the product’s marketability in the commercial segment of product users will enable the company to increase its market share. Another important strategy that the product should focus on improving is the marketing initiatives. There appears that Kyocera have not created a significantly large campaign to introduce the product to a larger market particularly the household segment. Lastly, the price point is still not favorable to the general consumers. However, the company does not need to cut the price outright as the cost of ceramic knife production is relatively high, therefore, adding discount options across all product variation will enabled the product to be more marketable to the general consuming public.
Conclusion
The ceramic knife by Kyocera is a promising innovation in the today’s modern kitchen cutlery and utensils. Its popularity can be a leverage to further penetrate the kitchen utensils industry. However, improvements in product and market strategy should be implemented in order to make ceramic knife more appealing to larger consumer population. Price point, product development, and increase marketing campaign should be part of the company’s initiatives.
References
Consumer Reports,. (2014). Top Kitchen knife Reviews | Best Kitchen knife – Consumer Reports.Consumerreports.org. Retrieved 1 August 2016, from http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/kitchen-knives.htm
Forbes,. (2016). #531 Kyocera. Forbes.com. Retrieved 1 August 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/companies/kyocera/
Franke, S. (2011). Do Ceramic Knives Make the Cut?. Good Housekeeping. Retrieved 1 August 2016, from http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/institute/reviews/a23022/ceramic-knife-review/
IBISWorld,. (2015). Hand Tool & Cutlery Manufacturing in the US Market Research | IBISWorld.Ibisworld.com. Retrieved 1 August 2016, from http://www.ibisworld.com/industry/default.aspx?indid=617
Kyocera,. (2015). KYOCERA | About | About the Kyocera Group | History | -1979. Global.kyocera.com. Retrieved 1 August 2016, from http://global.kyocera.com/company/summary/history/until1979.html
Kyocera,. Revolution series ceramic knives. kyoceraadvancedceramics.com. Retrieved 1 August 2016, from http://kyoceraadvancedceramics.com/ceramic-knives/revolution-series-ceramic-knives
