DENTONIC TOOTHPOWDER Marketing Management Report
SUBMITTED TO: SHAHNAZ MEGHANI DATE: 29-NOVEMBER-2010 SUBMITTED BY: ALVEENA ABDUL RAZZAK (8642) UMME ABIHA (9218) ALI AHMED SIDDIQUI (12168) NARESH KUMAR (10571) ZOHAIB KHAN (8601)
Table of Contents Company Mission Statement...............................................................................................5 Company Background.........................................................................................................5 Introduction to Dentonic Powder.........................................................................................6 S.W.O.T Analysis................................................................................................................7 Boston Matrix......................................................................................................................8 Ansoff Matrix......................................................................................................................9 Market Development...................................................................................................9 Diversification..............................................................................................................9 Market Penetration:......................................................................................................9 Market Development:..................................................................................................9 Product Development:.................................................................................................9 Diversification:............................................................................................................9 Product Mix.......................................................................................................................10 Micro Environment............................................................................................................12 The Company.............................................................................................................12 Suppliers....................................................................................................................12 Marketing Intermediaries...........................................................................................12 Customers..................................................................................................................12 Competitors................................................................................................................12 Publics........................................................................................................................13 Macro Environment...........................................................................................................14 Demographic Forces .................................................................................................14 Economic Forces........................................................................................................14 Natural Forces............................................................................................................14 Technological Forces.................................................................................................14 Political Forces...........................................................................................................14 Cultural Forces...........................................................................................................15 Market Segmentation.........................................................................................................16 The Segmentation Chart............................................................................................16 Psychographic Segmentation.....................................................................................16 Behavioral Segmentation...........................................................................................16 Target Marketing...............................................................................................................17 The Marketing Mix............................................................................................................18 Product ......................................................................................................................18 Price...........................................................................................................................18 Place...........................................................................................................................19 Promotion...................................................................................................................19 Research.............................................................................................................................21 Hypothesis:................................................................................................................21 Description and Results.............................................................................................21
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Conclusion.................................................................................................................21 Questionnaire.....................................................................................................................24 Product Life-Cycle Strategies............................................................................................25 The Product Life-Cycle (PLC)...................................................................................25 Product Development Stage.......................................................................................25 Introduction Stage......................................................................................................25 Growth Stage.............................................................................................................26 Maturity Stage............................................................................................................26 Decline Stage.............................................................................................................26 The Past, the Present and the Future of Dentonic Toothpowder.......................................27 Customer Relationship Management.................................................................................28 Customer Perceived Value.........................................................................................28 Customer Satisfaction................................................................................................28 New Product Development................................................................................................29 Dentonic Plus Toothpowder..........................................................................................29 Idea Generation .........................................................................................................29 Idea Screening............................................................................................................29 Concept Development and Testing............................................................................29 Marketing strategy.....................................................................................................29 Business Analysis .....................................................................................................30 Test marketing ..........................................................................................................30 Commercialization ....................................................................................................30 Recommendations..............................................................................................................31
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Company Mission Statement To provide good dental hygiene to all segments of the society at an affordable price.
Company Background The Dentonic story, quoted by Mr. Saghir Alvi, director of Ala chemicals: ‘My father at the age of 25 was suffering from a severe dental disease of plague accumulation, gingivitis. He had tried all remedies available, went to some qualified dentists, but to no avail. He was left with sleepless nights due to severe pain and bloody gums. It was then that he encountered a dentist, while working at a sugar mill, who gave him a powder to be used for dental care and protection. With usage of the powder 5-8 times, there seemed to have a significant difference made. The disease was later with constant consumption completely cured. The dentist gave my father the formula on insistence by him. This was back in 1958, in Bangladesh that it occurred to my father to market the powder that so efficiently not only cured his gums, but is good for daily usage as well. ‘ The company came into existence on the 26th September 1963, initiated by Syed Amiruddin Alvi. The start-up capital was a mere Rs 6000. In the beginning, Dentonic Toothpowder was barely bought by the people. There existed some toothpowders at the time, for example, Dentogene by the Dentogene laboratory, and Tibet by Kohinoor, but neither was much appreciated by the consumers of dental hygiene products. Dentonic, much like its competitors (toothpowders) was not a success in its initial introduction stage. People were not accustomed to use toothpowder. They believed it to be just like “choona” even though, choona essentially consisted of coal and acidic salt while Dentonic’s base is calcium carbonate and essential oils. Dentonic was one of the pioneers, which in the time, took up the concept of sachets. In 1961, 5-10 paisa sachets for potential customers to try it out, and realize its worth. And they did.
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Introduction to Dentonic Powder Oral hygiene seeking measures vary across the world owing to socioeconomic, traditional and religious backgrounds. Although toothpaste-toothbrush method is the most common hygiene regime, miswaks are also used due to their low cost. Toothpowders are essentially toothpastes without a liquid humectants system. Dentonic is the most widely used toothpowder by a fairly large section of the population in Pakistan. Its main ingredients are calcium carbonate, essential oils and sodium saccharin. It is one of the safest products to be used for oral hygiene and contains an optimal level of supra-gingival plague control. A research conducted in November 2003 by reknowned dentists of Pakistan belonging to prestigious dental hygiene institutions like Hamdard Dental College and Altamash Institute of dental medicine, reported that dentonic is still infact the largest selling oral health product in Pakistan. The preliminary findings of the study were positive for Dentonic Toothpowder. It showed a significant reduction in plague accumulation and gingivitis. Dentonic Toothpowder is currently selling in 2500 utility stores and 15000 shops of varying sizes. It produces more than 35 tonnes of powder a week! Dentonic is ISO 9000 Ceritified and has also been approved by the Dental Association of Pakistan.
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S.W.O.T Analysis
Opportunities
Strengths • • • • • • • •
•
Consumer loyalty Only Pakistani company to use “Trychozan” of dental quality Exports to Sirlanka, Bangladesh (Franchise), India (Calcutta), U.A.E and Saudi Arabia Latest Technology High Quality Strong consumer recall Market monopoly in tooth powder Good management and loyal staff
• • •
Weaknesses • • • • •
Exports e.g. Japan, Malaysia and U.S.A Getting recognition by different Dental associations in Pakistan Can target higher class and current generation by product development and promotion Smokers (removal of stains)
Threats •
Started investing in research very late Working on very low margins Lack of advertising and promotion Lack of awareness in the current generation Don’t have flavors or colors
• • •
•
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Competitors: low cost toothpastes and Lukmani Mangin Considered an obsolete solution to dental care Lack of awareness today The loyal consumers of the product are growing old and the rate of new consumers growing in not enough Misconceptions
Boston Matrix
Star
Problem child (?) • •
Dentonic Plus
Dentonic Toothpaste Dentonic Ultrawhiteing Gel
Market growth rate
High
•
Cash Cow •
Dentonic Toothpowder
Dentonic Sensitive Teeth
Low
•
Dog
High
Low Relative market share
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Ansoff Matrix Existing Products
Existing Markets
Market Penetration •
New Markets
Increase distribution
New Products
Product Development • •
Market Development •
Export markets
Dentonic Plus New packaging
Diversification •
Toothpastes
Market Penetration: Dentonic Toothpowder has a huge distribution network consisting of 10 vans to distribute in Karachi. They distribute to CSD’s, departmental stores, utility stores, etc. Outside Karachi, they have 250 distributors, covering 15000 shops every month.
Market Development: Ala Chemicals started exporting its products to different countries such as U.A.E, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka. Dentonic also gave a franchise in Bangladesh, from where the toothpowder is sent to Calcutta, India.
Product Development: Ala Chemicals developed a new toothpowder, Dentonic Plus which generates foam when applied, unlike their regular toothpowder. This is to make the toothpowder feel more like toothpaste. Besides the new product, Ala Chemicals also changed Dentonic Toothpowder’s packaging and introduced a press-to-open lid cover, which is more convenient for consumers. Dentonic also has different packaging for export products.
Diversification: Apart from the toothpowder business, Ala Chemicals launched its toothpaste 5 years back. Now they have a whole range of toothpastes, which includes the regular toothpaste, Dentonic for sensitive teeth and Dentonic Ultrawhitening Gel (mainly for export).
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Product Mix
Product Mix Length
Product Mix Width
Toothpaste
Product Mix Depth
Dentonic
Dentonic Toothpaste
Mint
Dentonic Plus
Dentonic Ultrawhitening Gel
Lemon Mint
Toothpowder
Dentonic Sensitive Teeth
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Refreshing Cinnamon Refreshing Peppermint
the figure. The product mix length in toothpowder is Dentonic and Dentonic Plus, whereas in Toothpaste we have Dentonic Toothpaste, Dentonic Ultrawhitening Gel and Dentonic Sensitive teeth. The product mix Depth is only seen in one product which is Dentonic Ultrawhitening Gel as it is available in different flavors. There can be debate whether Dentonic Plus is depth of Dentonic Regular, but as it is a completely new product, developed after extensive research, it has different features from the regular toothpowder; hence we consider it a length rather than a depth.
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Micro Environment The Company Dentonic’s owners work in a very coordinated way. Currently two brothers are running the company with their father as the chairperson. Mr. Saghir Alvi handles the marketing and sales while Mr. Zaheer Alvi handles the production. Managers are hired for departments such as finance and human resource etc who are supervised by the owners.
Suppliers Ala Chemicals has to deal with many different suppliers. They acquire their raw materials from Standard Chemicals ltd, packing labels are supplied by Tariq Process and Cartons are purchased from Islamia Packages. Essential oils and flavors are imported from England and China.
Marketing Intermediaries Ala Chemicals have a fleet of distribution vehicles within Karachi. Apart from that they have 250 distributors within Pakistan to sell their product. They have also hired 20 people to work with the distributors and go shop to shop in looking for new opportunities or to inform if stocks are running out. Ala Chemicals sells either directly to retailer or through wholesalers, but when we asked them which way they prefer more, they answered, selling directly to retailers as that way they can get better market feedback and can keep better quality controls, by supplying fresh stock.
Customers Dentonic Toothpowder is a personal consumption product and is sold to households. Dentonic is basically used by the lower income class people. The consumers in Pakistan are very loyal and do not like changes. This is one of the reasons why Dentonic’s packaging and appearance has been the same over so many years. On the contrary, Dentonic’s packing is totally different abroad, and the powder is packed in a different designed bottle which is suitable to and accepted by those consumers.
Competitors Ala Chemicals has a toothpowder monopoly in Pakistan. Many companies tried launching toothpowder, but failed. For example, Colgate launched a toothpowder by the name of Trident, Khass powder was launched by Medicam group in 1989 and even Unilever almost launched a toothpowder under the banner of Pepsodent which they later launched in India as they could not compete with the low margins of Dentonic. Dentonic’s international competitor in the U.A.E is Ukril. Apart from toothpowders, the biggest competition that Dentonic is facing today is from the low priced toothpastes for example, English Toothpaste which is only for Rs.12. Another major competition faced by Dentonic is from Lukmani Mangin, which is created out of salt, coal, ashes and acidic salt. It costs Rs.2.5 and lasts for two months. A
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research conducted in Korangi, Karachi by Ala Chemicals showed that people consume Dentonic twince a week and rest of the week they use Lukmani Mangin.
Publics Ala Chemicals works a lot with Dental associations and consult dentists, as they are an importance to the toothpowder. Ala Chemicals invites dental universities to bring their students to visit the factory and see the level of quality and learn about the product, so that they could recommend it when they start their practice. Ala Chemicals is the only Pakistani Company approved by Pakistan Dental Association.
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Macro Environment Demographic Forces Dentonic caters to all segments whether it is of age, gender or race. The problem it faces is that as due to increasing diversity and a better-educated population, Dentonic Toothpowder is loosing its sales in the younger generation. Today, we look forward to an easy way of brushing and unless we feel foam inside our mouth we are not satisfied with the cleanliness of our teeth. Dentonic now caters to the new generation as well now that it has introduced a new Dentonic Plus Toothpowder that includes foaming agent and also a flip top cap which makes it easier to use.
Economic Forces The regular Dentonic Toothpowder does not target any specific income group but due to its low price 90% of its users are those who earn less than Rs.7000 per month.
Natural Forces As Dentonic Toothpowder is 98% limestone, there are as such no natural factors that affect its production. But the water used in its production was once found to be unhygienic which made them install their own water distillation plant.
Technological Forces Technological changes have affected Dentonic’s sales over a period of time. The increase in sales of new toothpaste has hurt the sales of Dentonic Toothpowder. To keep themselves in the future market, Ala Chemicals has introduced Dentonic toothpaste as well which is doing well in the international markets. They have also installed a computerized machine to check every batch of toothpaste before its delivery. This machine ‘ROTOVISCO’, checks the quality of toothpaste and its viscosity. If the readings deviate 2%-3%, the whole 200kg batch is destroyed.
Political Forces As such Dentonic is not really affected by government agencies and pressure groups, but Dentonic is approved by Pakistan Dental Association (PDA) and is also ISO 90012000 certified. These certifications are helpful in the international market.
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Ala Chemicals does not have any labor union, so is does not face problems concerning labor strikes etc. The only thing that affects the production level are political strikes.
Cultural Forces Some people have status issues so majority of the people do not use Dentonic as they regard it as an old formula. Most users are old age people who are using Dentonic for more than 15years and they are loyal towards this product. Some people’s perception is that Dentonic toothpowder is for smokers, thus they do not use it.
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Market Segmentation The Segmentation Chart Geographic World region or country Demographic Age Family size Income Psychographic Social class Behavioral Benefits User Status Loyalty status Readiness stage
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia 3+ 2+ Under Rs 7,000 Upper lowers, working class, middle class Economy, quality, convenience Nonuser, regular user None, strong Unaware, aware
Psychographic Segmentation Dentonic Toothpowder is targeted to people constituting the working class, middle class and upper lower class. It is however, not targeted to the lower lowers because although, they come in the income category of under Rs 7,000, even the smallest pack of Dentonic Toothpowder costing Rs 18 is mostly out of their budget. The lower lowers therefore, prefer using Luqmani Manjan, which costs them Rs 2.5 per pack. This also makes Luqmani Manjan a competitor to Dentonic Toothpowder, as mentioned earlier.
Behavioral Segmentation Behavioral segmentation, as the name suggests, divides buyers on the basis of their behavior, knowledge or response to a product. Dentonic Toothpowder is a product that offers high quality and convenience at a reasonable price. However, each segment of the market (the upper lowers, working class and middle class) seeks for varied benefits. While the upper lowers look for the economy of Dentonic Toothpowder, the working class looks for both its economy and quality and finally, the middle class looks for the quality, convenience and economy of the product. Due to these varied interests, Ala Chemicals subdivides its market for Dentonic Toothpowder on the basis of economy, quality and convenience. After a recent survey conducted by Ala Chemicals in the city of Karachi, it was seen that either the subjects were using Dentonic Toothpowder for over 10-15 years on a regular
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basis, or that they were not using the product at all. These results further classified the population on the basis of loyalty; strong and none. There are only two stages of readiness; aware and unaware. This is largely depended on the fact that Dentonic Toothpowder has not been promoted or advertised in a while. Therefore, only those people who saw Dentonic Toothpowder’s early adverts are aware of the product and the more recent generation has not even heard of the product unless their family uses it. It should also be noted that even those people who are aware of the product are not exactly consuming it. An example of this is the group of people who switched from toothpowders to toothpaste.
Target Marketing Dentonic Toothpowder is an undifferentiated (mass) marketed product therefore, it caters to the entire market with the same offer; providing good dental health to all segments of the society at an affordable price (mission statement). Mass marketing is also suitable for Dentonic Toothpowder since it is a high quality standardized product. In fact, Ala Chemicals has state-of-the-art technology installed to perform checks on each batch of toothpowder produced to maintain standardization. However, it should be noted that although Dentonic Toothpowder is a mass marketed product, recent developments may lead to it becoming a differentiated marketed product. The newer generation as it is, prefers toothpaste over toothpowder however, Dentonic Plus Toothpowder on the other hand, with the foaming agent has actually started to become popular among children. This may turn Dentonic Toothpowder into a product that is consumed by those people who are reluctant to change therefore, eventually making Dentonic Toothpowder a differentiated marketed product.
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The Marketing Mix Factors that influence dentonic’s ability to sell in the market are know as the marketing mix of dentonic and these broad marketing mix are mainly grouped into the famous 4 P’s which include Product, Price, Promotion and Place.
Product The Dentonic Toothpowder that the company Ala Chemicals is offering to the lower incomes masses of Pakistan and for export purposes is its product. Dentonic as a product can be described as toothpaste without a liquid humectants system and is widely used as an oral hygiene tool by a fairly large section of the population in Pakistan. Dentonic’s main ingredients are calcium carbonate (98.5%), essential oils (1%) and sodium saccharin (0.5%) and all these ingredients are 100% food grade. Essential oils are volatile aromatic oils that are synthetic or are derived from plants by distillation, expression or extraction. It has been found that dentifrices formulated with fixed combination of essential oils possess anti-plaque and anti-gingivitis properties. Furthermore, dentifrice abrasivity should be sufficiently high to give effective cleaning. Calcium carbonate imparts this ability in Dentonic and sodium saccharin is used as a sweetening agent. Dentonic does not have the filler and carrier components like glycerine and water that are found in toothpastes. Tooth powders are very famous in the developing world as an oral health product and one Indian company claims that it provides tooth powder worth 5 billion Indian rupees per annum. Furthermore, defining Dentonic as a product includes the three different varieties of Dentonic toothpowder that are available in the market. These three varieties include the 45 gram, the 90 gram and 130 gram family packs of Dentonic available in the market. Talking about the quality of Dentonic as a product, Dentonic is made up of 100% food grade calcium carbonate and Ala chemicals uses tryclozan which is an anti-bacterial agent which cost rupees 5000 per KG. Other companies use tryclozan which cost rupees 1500 per KG which is usually recommended for manufacturing soap and detergents. The Brand name of Dentonic was recommended by a dentist based in India and packaging of Dentonic is done in a plastic unbreakable easy to use bottle. There is flip top cap specially designed for easy pouring of the tooth powder and for customer convenience.
Price Pricing is a vital component of a Products availability to sell and Ala Chemicals charges Rs10 for 45 grams, Rs 18 for its 90 gram and Rs 30 for 180 gram tooth powder and according to the company’s CEO, Dentonic is priced with very slim margin of profit. This is mainly due to existence of low priced tooth pastes such as English toothpaste which cost Rs 12 only. Furthermore, Dentonic is using competition based pricing due to the fact of high level of competition in the market. The reason for using competition based pricing is due to the existence of cheap products such as the Luqmani Manjan which is hazardous for health. The availability of cheap tooth pastes is another reason for competition based pricing like English toothpaste which is available in the market for just
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rupees 12.The value proposition is also a very important factor when talking about the customers that are forgoing low priced toothpastes for Dentonic. Therefore customers want white shinning teeth with longer periods of dental hygiene from Dentonic as the customers weight their value for money after using Dentonic. So the existence of stiff competition in the market has resulted in low pricing policy of Dentonic and the company operates on very slim profit margins and low markups.
Place Dentonic’s best selling point is its widespread availability. It has very effective distribution channels. Dentonic used a new concept of making it available absolutely everywhere including at pan shops! When Dentonic was launched in 26th march 1963, Ala chemicals relied on door to door selling of Dentonic and the focus was to sell the powder to retailers and lesser emphasis was given to whole sellers. Now the entire product is made available to Karachi’s whole sellers and retailers by its own transport vehicles which are around 10 in number. Around 15000 shops are covered every month in Karachi alone and there are around 300 distributors all over Pakistan that make Dentonic available to its customers across Pakistan. It is also available in 2500 utility stores all over Pakistan. According to the company officials, Imtaiz super store at Awami Markez as a retail outlet registers the largest sales volume of Dentonic as a product.Furthermore, 1/3 of total dentonic sales are in Karachi in areas like Landhi, Korangi, Orangi Town, Quaidabad, Layari, Kayomabad, Dentonic is also exported to Srilanka, Bangladesh (franchise selling), India, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Japan and the United States of America.
Promotion In the early days of Dentonic, the promotion was focused on personnel selling and door to door distribution to small scale retailers such as Pan Shops. After considerable growth, as quoted by the company’s Chief Executive officer, the Company Ala Chemicals which manufactures Dentionic spent $25000 for the production of Dentonic’s first ever TV commercial. The animated add was produced by Hollywood and made Dentonic extremely popular among the masses. Furthermore, for marketing quality products in the market, Ala chemicals have indulged into activities such as brand recalling. For promotional purposes, Ala chemicals has also been giving retail allowances to large scale retailers to promote the Dentonic. The company regularly conducts surveys to test the popularity of Dentonic in different segments of the market and different segments of the society are contacted to provoke awareness of the true benefits of the Dentonic as a product. A useful example is the workshops for dentists that can embark their patients to use Dentonic.
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The four P’s of the marketing Mix of Dentonic toothpowder can be better understood by the following Diagram.
Product Variety Quality Design Features Brand Name Packaging Services
Price List price Discounts Allowances Payment period Credit terms Target Customers
Intended Positioning Promotion Advertising Personal Selling Sales promotion Public relations
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Place Channels Coverage Assortments Locations Inventory Transportation Logistics
Research Hypothesis: This reseach was done to check the brand recall of Dentonic in consumers or nonconsumers and to check their likeness regarding Dentonic. The target sample had income below Rs.12000 per month.
Description and Results A random sample of 50 people was questioned according to the questionnaire prepared. Income indicators were included in the questionnaire so that the targeted subjects could be focused. In that sample, 70 percent of the subjects had used toothpowder and out of those 70 percent, 90 percent had used Dentonic toothpowder. 90 percent of the subjects were able to recognize the Dentonic cartoon whether they were users, ex-users or non-users. Most of the non-users of Dentonic toothpowder used Luqmani Manjan (a traditional toothpowder). But to our surprise some subjects used Dentonic mixed with Luqmani Manjan. 34 percent of the users of Dentonic toothpowder had age below 20 years and 60 percent had age between 21 to 40 years. Some of the ex-users complained that they stopped using Dentonic as it does not form foam which makes cleanliness unsatisfactory to them. They also complained that their younger children regard it as candy and they eat it. The users and ex-users favored Dentonic powder due to its low price and availability. No subject was sure of the level of effectiveness comparing toothpowder and toothpaste.
Conclusion The findings of this survey were positive concerning brand recall. Not only cartoon, but subjects were also able to recall the jingle in the advertisement done by Dentonic 20years ago. Similarly subjects have positive response towards the product due to its economical price and availability.
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Age Group of Users 70% 60%
Percentage
50% 40% Users 30% 20% 10% 0% 0-20
21-40
40+ Age
People who were able to Recognize the Character
100% 90% 80%
Percentage
70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Able to recognize
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Not able to recognize
Users of Toothpowder 80% 70%
Percentage
60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Ye s
No
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Questionnaire 1. Age Group 0 - 20
21 - 30
31 - 40
41 - 50
50 +
2. Area of living? ______________________________________________________________ 3. Do you live in a rented or owned house? Rented
Owned
4. Car that you own? Suzuki
Honda
Toyota
Daihatsu
Hyundai
If other, please specify: ___________________________________________ 5. How many people do you live with at your house? ______________________________________________________________ 6. Who buys the groceries? ______________________________________________________________ 7. What does this character remind you of?
8. Have you ever used toothpowder? Yes
No
9. If yes, what brand of toothpowder have you used? ______________________________________________________________ If the answer to the above is Dentonic, continue asking the following questions: 10. Do you still use Dentonic? If not, what made you quit its usage? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 11. What do/did you particularly like about Dentonic? ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 12. Which is more effective; toothpaste or toothpowder? Why do you feel so? ___________________________________________________________________
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Product Life-Cycle Strategies The Product Life-Cycle (PLC)
Sales and profits/ Losses and investment
Dentonic Toothpowder (Regular) PLC
P. D
Introduction
Growth
Maturity
Decline
Time Sales
Profit
Product Development Stage The product development stage of Dentonic Toothpowder lasted for a very short while as there was no research done regarding the formula. As it was the dentist’s formula and handed over, the founder of Dentonic just had to make it and market it.
Introduction Stage After developing the product, it was introduced in the market. Initially it was hard to sell the product, and that is the reason why the introduction stage is so long. After discouragement from family and retailers, the founder started selling Dentonic in small sachets at ‘pan’ shops after which, sales started picking up. Success was noted and the founder came to Pakistan and started marketing the product, which again ended up getting great response. Dentonic became a hit. Sales rose and Dentionic was in business. This is the time when advertising campaigns were started, hence profit levels were low.
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Growth Stage During this time Dentonic started establishing itself in the market, and its profits had started increasing as well. Ala Chemicals launched a few more advertising campaigns during this time.
Maturity Stage At its maturity, Dentonic became stagnant. It had removed all competing toothpowders from the market and began to enjoy its monopoly. Sales and profits were both high at this stage. The need to advertise was not felt hence, the gap in advertising campaign is seen quite distinctively.
Decline Stage Currently Dentonic’s sales have started decling due to reasons such as a generation change and the switch from toothpowder to toothpaste. In order to survive in the market, Ala Chemicals introduced Dentonic Plus. Dentonic still had many loyal clients and the lower segment in our society still uses Dentonic and for this reason we would say that although, Dentonic has started its decline, it may just come back!
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The Past, the Present and the Future of Dentonic Toothpowder Past Dentonic started being sold to customers on a very small-scale, only personal selling by the owner Mr. Alvi himself. Intial low demand as the product awareness was low but with promotional campaigns by Ala chemicals, dentonic became a well-known, highdemand sought-after product. Distribution and availability was emphasized. Highbudget advertisements were placed in the print/broadcast media. High market share.
Present At present, Dentonic still holds a high market share of oral hygiene products. Brand recall is spectacular. A majority of people surveyed delightedly spoke about the original Dentonic cartoon. It has however pulled off advertisements for the time being as a new product is being launched in the market. Customer awareness is still not very high at the moment, but Ala chemicals plans to launch a strong promotional campaign for its new product-Dentonic Plus.
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Future In future, Ala chemicals feels that the original recipe of Dentonic still holds a high market share thus is will not be dissolved. However Dentonic plus shows a bright future for the company with its foaming qualities, easy usage and competitive prices. The company will undergo research in the future, develop improvements to the brand if needed and launch a promotional strategy for Dentonic Plus.
Customer Relationship Management Customer Perceived Value Dentonic Toothpowder’s customers earn a number of benefits from the toothpowder. Dentonic Toothpowder is a high quality product that keeps gums and teeth healthy and what is even more attractive is that it offers all of this at a low price. Hence, giving the customers a high value but that is not just the case. The benefits mentioned above are those that the company offers to customers. The customer’s perceived value on the other hand, may be different. For example, they may think that the powder is not even worth its low price since it does not clean better than toothpaste. According to Mr. Saghir Alavi, that is a very common misconception. It is therefore, very hard to understand the customer’s perceived value.
Customer Satisfaction When Dentonic Toothpowder sticks to its promise of keeping gums and teeth healthy, customers become satisfied. From the research conducted by Ala Chemicals, it has been seen that Dentonic Toothpowder has managed to earn customer satisfaction from those people who have been using Dentonic Toothpowder for over 10 to 20 years.
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New Product Development Dentonic Plus Toothpowder Quite recently, the market for Dentonic has suffered a slight decline, we have noticed a removal of advertisements from television and a lack of aggressive promotional campaign launched by ala chemicals for their most popular product—Dentonic tooth powder. On internal inspection we found out that new product has been developed and thorough research is being conducted at present. We will be discussing this new product, its idea generation to its launch in the market:
Idea Generation The idea was generated after conducting market research on their existing product, Dentonic toothpowder in the market, and sensing the need to come up with a product which can overcome the weaknesses that the old powder might have.
Idea Screening Various ideas were introduced as to what the approach should be. Some were ruled out here because they were above the budget limit.
Concept Development and Testing The concept of powder with foaming ingredients was developed. This foaming agent was introduced in the powder to make the customer feel psychologically satisfied while using an oral hygiene product when it is used with a toothbrush and foam is produced.
Marketing strategy The target market is going to be the same as it was for the old Dentonic, the lower income bracket (income less than Rs 7000) who use oral hygiene product. A high budget is allocated to the promotion of Dentonic plus as the management is undergoing research at the moment because it feels the market needs awareness of the product and relationship building with the customers is required.
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Business Analysis The business’s products already have an existing market. Ala Chemicals sells on very competitive prices which is why the business has slim margins to be allocated in educating the customers and conducting research programs. For the past three years now, Ala Chemicals has allocated funds for research and development. Product development: the product Dentonic Plus was developed some 3 months ago, with different ingredients, i.e. foaming agents. It is also meant to be used by a regular toothbrush so it caters to that segment of the population that believes the brush is more effective. The product developed here was a workable version of what the original Dentonic should have been like.
Test marketing Ala chemicals claims that it has never test marketed its products.
Commercialization The commercialization was done, once the product had been successfully developed for the customers. The product advertising is still under its way, but Dentonic Plus is now avalaible in your nearest store!
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Recommendations Toothpowder in our society is considered to be less effective than toothpaste-toothbrush usage, which is essentially untrue. This misconception originates from lack of knowledge on the customers part. Dentonic has been unsuccessful in communicating its effectiveness to the wider audience. Another complaint that we received after conducting our survey was that a few parents complaint that the kids eat it thinking it is candy and that should be harmful to their health. Studies have shown that its not, yes children should rather not eat it, but if they happen to swallow some, it is not hazardous to their health. Some parents complained that their children do not like the taste very much, to cure that, we suggested to the management that flavors be introduced to give it variety and better taste. Thirdly, Ala chemicals has pulled off all advertisements for the moment, for they have allocated large budgets on research and since it sells on very slim margins, it will be coming up with active promotional campaigns very soon.
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