MARKETING ASSIGNMENT

Marketing Assignment

Marketing Assignment

Kingsford is facing increased pressure to meet financial targets in an environment where the grilling market segment consumers are gradually shifting from charcoal to gas and the ongoing competition from private label charcoal competition. The Kingsford brand management team must devise a 2001 plan that addresses pricing, advertising, promotion, and capacity that will respond to these challenges and the Clorox Company's overall success (Day, 1988, 45-57).

Recommendation

It is recommended that Kingsford raise prices 5% across all channels for both regular (“blue bag”) and Match Light (“red bag”) charcoal products. Further, Kingsford should shift its promotional spending back from temporary price reductions to media advertising to combat the market shift to gas grilling. In the short-term, Clorox senior leadership should reevaluate the job sharing arrangement for the Kingsford senior brand manager role (Day, 1988, 45-57). To enable strategic growth and success Kingsford should invest in R&D for future gas grilling products that integrate charcoal benefits with the convenience of gas grilling as well as develop strong partnerships with grill makers to enrich charcoal grill product offerings.

Strategies

Strategic Focus - It is an unrealistic goal to reverse a significant market shift, such as the shift from charcoal to gas grilling. For long-term success, Kingsford must initiate two different strategies in concern. The first is to slow the shift to gas grilling through increase media advertising and a consistent message across all charcoal products. However, Kingsford should also focus on research and development to create new products that bring the benefits of charcoal product to gas grilling. Fighting to maintain share of share of an eroding may be futile in the long-run. The market shift to gas grilling, driven largely by psychographic trends, may continue and be irreversible. A contingency effort that will enable Kingsford's success in spite of this uncertainty should be ...