The Quartz Shower

In May of 2001 Aqualisa launched their newest product, the Quartz shower. The Quartz shower was not only their newest product but the most innovative in company history as well. However, a very low number of units sold in the shower's first four months on the market. Now the fear is a scenario where in six months time, channel partners are still sitting on unwanted Quartz products they have purchased and will end up writing this endeavor off as a failure.

Is there need for a marketing strategy shift?

The Quartz shower is such an innovative product relative to its market and competition that one can think of many different routes to go as far as marketing strategy is concerned. There are a few options that include: targeting consumers directly, targeting do-it-yourselfers, target developers, and last but not least - let the Quartz run its current course which sets the product up to be a showroom hit, which results in a lower volume niche product.

My preferential course would be consumer awareness. Because consumers are generally uninformed about shower there is much room for improvement with this strategy, which has already been proved successful by competitor, Triton. Downfalls to this approach would be some big spending. A large-scale consumer campaign is estimated to cost about $3-$4 million with a net income of about $17 million making it a tough sell across the board.

There would also have to be some changes made in the sales department with the majority of their time currently being used to maintain current accounts. The goal of consumer awareness would be to directly hit customers with new information and in the end new sales. I think the pie chart titled "Shower Selection for Mixer Showers" does a good job of illustrating the thought process behind consumer's shower purchases and how any purchases are done solo without any secondary input from a plumber/expert.

The dilemma that is distribution.

Directly following marketing strategy is the question of distribution. Distribution largely affects how this product is viewed: premium, standard, or value. For example, if a consumer awareness strategy is chosen you may have to drop to a less premium level of distribution such as DIY which can sometimes be hard to climb back out of. But there is also the chance that the Quartz shower will still be able to charge a premium price in such an outlet if the right marketing strategy is utilized.

If the showroom route is chosen, then more than likely a niche-premium position will have to be taken for selling the Quartz shower. Because showrooms tend to draw in higher-end customers again it may be hard to crawl out of the hole that can also be premium positioning.

Trade shops and developers are another option that can be chosen if the company chooses to avoid the consumer awareness approach. However, having plumbers