Aqualisa Case Study

AQUALISA QUARTZ CASE SUMMARY

Course:

Strategic Marketing Management

Student Name:

Firat Sekerli

The Problem:

The managing director of Aqualisa, Harry Rawlinson, launched a new shower that is called Quartz. Despite of its features such as quality, safety, cost of installation and ease of installation and usage, the early sales have been disappointing. The problem is not that sales are low, but the reasons why sales are not as expected. Some of the reasons are related to distribution channel, promotional strategy and positioning of the product. Consequently, the real problem here is how to boost sales. The biggest issue is having problems with reaching plumbers because they are the key players in terms of being a reliable source for consumers when choosing the product.

The Solution:

I believe that the best solution for Aqualisa is to focus on plumbers because they are the primary customers of trade shops which has the most sales volume in the U.K. shower market. In addition to this, plumbers also work for developers, showrooms, contractors or directly for consumers. As we can see, plumbers play a big mediator role in the distribution channel and reaching the end consumers. First of all, trade shops focus on demand and they do not have time to explain the benefits of the new product. If Aqualisa get plumbers to demand Quartz, trade shops have to stock up this product because their primary customer is the plumbers. Secondly, showrooms also offer installation services by subcontracting with contractors or independent plumbers. Once plumbers are convinced and informed about the benefits of the new product like ease of installation, they will become a source of word of mouth to push showrooms to call attention to Quartz by emphasizing the low cost of installation. Similarly, plumbers will help convince developers by suggesting the new product. Lastly, consumers in the standard price range...