Case Analysis - Kingsford Charcoal

Case Analysis - Kingsford Charcoal

Background of the Study

United States is well known for its barbequing community. We can smell the taste of barbeque specifically in the summers, as family, and friends tend to get to together at a place and enjoy some good time together. In this industry, Kingsford has been around since 1920 with the combined efforts of Henry Ford and E.G. Kingsford of inventing charcoal. Kingsford also became of part of the Clorix's portfolio in the year 1973. Kingsford has been leading in the charcoal business. Though, Kingsford remained the market leader in the year 2000, the sales had dropped considerably. The added competition from Royal Oak and private labels also had an impact on the sales turnover of the product.

For this purpose, brand managers Marcilie Smith Boyle and Allison Warren were assigned the task to revamp the brand image of Kingsford, and present a robust marketing plan focused on the future, that not only improve the sales of the product, but improve the turnover of the overall charcoal industry. This paper would identify the issues that Kingsford are facing, define the objective, and build up strategies and plan that can steer Kingsford out of this situation.

Marketing Plan

In order to come up with a renewed and improved marketing plan, we have carefully studied the case study and the marketing methods that had been applied by Kingsford. We'll start of our marketing plan with the SWOT analysis of Kingsford.

SWOT Analysis

The first step towards creating a marketing strategy is doing a thorough SWOT analysis of the product. This SWOT analysis (Strenghts, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats) will then present us a clear picture of the product.

Strengths

Superior quality of the product

Industry's market leader, holding a share of more than 57%

Two product ranges, that are Regular and Instant

Well-established channels with strong ties with all its members

Strong support from parent company Clirox

Weaknesses

The advertising had been substantially reduced.

Limited incapacity of growing the production capacity

Season driven sales

The trend for the growth of Kingsford was falling

Opportunities

Increase in the culture of barbeque in USA

Compared with gas grills, 2 out of 3 people preferred barbeque made on charcoal

The whole American barbeque experience is linked with charcoal

1/3rd of the sales are based on impulse

Higher percentage (more than 50) of grill owners who medium or heavy

The younger generation and the higher income families accounts for approximately 80% ownership of the grills.

Threats

Gas barbequing

Minimal concept of advertising in charcoal industry

Seasonal sales

Change in weather patterns

Increase in the prices of charcoal

The whole experience of barbequing is inconvenient to many

Situational Analysis

By studying the SWOT analysis of Kingsford, we now have a clear idea of the product. From here, we will be building our marketing plan. The most effective marketing plans are the ones that focus more on the needs and wants of the customers. The following are some key issues that our marketing will focus:

Whether the management of Kingsford should increase the advertising budget and how much should we be spending?

Depending on the sales forecast, should we increase the production capacity ...