Tactical Marketing Plan

“My Shell”

A Shampoo for tweenage girls

December 2007

2
 Table of content

1. Team presentation p.3

2. Executive Summary p.4

3. Current market situation p.5

4. Target analysis p.6

5. Primary market research p.7

6. Competition analysis p.11

7. PEST analysis p.14

8. SWOT analysis p.16

9 Marketing objectives, marketing strategy p.18

10. The Action Plan p.19

11. The Promotional Mix p.22

12. Controls p.25

13. European Roll out and next steps p.27

14. “My Shell” The life cycle p.28

15. Summary of conclusions p.29

Bibliography p.31

Appendix :

1- Questionnaire for the primary research

2- Promotion timetable

2
 1. Team presentation

A 8 – ETERNAL SOLUTIONS

Sarah-Marie Kaczmarek
CEO - Chief Executive Officer

Karl von Mangoldt

CFO - Chief Finance Officer

Bastien Laval
Head of branding

Charlotte Thomée
Head of Design

Michele Grosso
Head of research

2
2. Executive Summary
The hair care market in general is a highly competitive but also profitable
market which has enjoyed growth rates of up to 4.7% in recent years. Brand
preference in the area of body and beauty products is with up to 75% quite
high and can easily turn a product or brand into a cash cow once established.
There are still niche markets within the overall market that are not being
served properly. One of them is the market for tweenagers. Here the product
variety and range of brands involved is humble.

The choice of our target market being tweenage girls is simply due to the fact
that girls that age are a lot more interested in body and beauty products than
boys are, as also revealed by our primary research. Our typical target
customer has the nickname “Princess Sparkling”. She is a girl of the age
between eight and twelve and really is the princess in her family. She has a
great influence on her parents purchase decisions and her parents are willing
to pay a little more to show their girl how precious she is to them.

“My Shell” represents ultimate glamour. Its unique and luxurious design lets
any beholder know immediately that it is of high quality and belongs to
“Princess Sparkling”. Girls want “My Shell” because they want to be taken
serious, they want to feel elegant, and they want the rest of the world to
know about it. Especially for the mother of “Princess Sparkling” “My Shell”
has the “I would have liked something like that when I was her age” effect.
The values that this shampoo sands for do not only apply universally to
almost any girl but they are also timeless, and this is what will make “My
Shell” a long term success.

“My Shell” is a luxurious shampoo in a bottle that has the shape of a sea shell
and is designed to catch the eye of the consumer immediately. With £ 2.99 it
is priced quite high, but referring to the characteristics of our target market
and the features of the shampoo itself this is a suitable price. The distribution
will be done through drugstores, supermarkets, and perfumeries. To promote
“My Shell” especially during the launch, we have carefully selected promotion
activities that will, on the one hand, reach our target customers most
effectively, and on the other, best promote the uniqueness of the bottle as a
distinctive selling factore; among other things are magazine advertisement
with sampling and placing “My Shell” at the gondola end during the
introduction phase.

2
3. Current market situation
Between 2002 and 2003 the hair care products sector has increased its
revenues by 4.7% to an estimated ₤968,7m, which makes 27% of the total
toiletries market in the UK (Key Note1). In 2003 it has been conducted, that
the shampoo sector is the largest sub sector accounting for 35, 4 % of the
hair care products by value. Regarding especially the tweenage shampoo
market, our secondary research offers the following general information.

The number of tweenagers (9-12 years) in the United Kingdom is nearly

equally divided into males and females, as there are 1 962 000 male and 1
860 000 female tweenagers. Our product, which will be named “My Shell”,
targets the females. It is a glamorous shampoo, which will make girls feel
enviable and attractive. This will be achieved due to the special shape of a
shell and its amazing extra features.

Having a closer look at the market, several aspects should be taken into
consideration.
31% of the tweenagers let their parents buy the toiletries for them. Therefore
it is necessary to gather detailed information about the parent´s buying
behaviour.
Generally, a changing Family structure has been noticed. At first one has to
mention that an examination of fertility rates by age group showed, that
parents are getting older. Rates in 2001 have revealed that women have an
average age of 29.6 years when giving birth to their first child. (Key Note1)
Through this number important implications for the children’s market can be
drawn. Firstly, one can conclude that older parents are more likely financially
secure and will therefore also have more money to indulge their children.
Furthermore they are more anxious and protective and will pay more money
in order for their child to feel satisfied.
Secondly it has been found out that the family size is shrinking. Since 1970
the average number of children per woman has fallen from 2,43 to 1,64 in
2000 (7).
One can conclude that parents within these small families are likely to spend
more on the children individually. Last but not least since the late 20th
century, working mothers occur more often, in the year 2002 nearly seven in
ten women whose youngest child was aged between 5 and 10 were in
employment, 37.4% even fulltime (1). This means that the disposable income
of families increases which has also a direct influence on the child.
Additionally one could say that the guilt factor of the working mothers
enlarges and as a result they will hand out the children more pocket money.
All of these facts positively influence the bargain of our product as on the one
hand mothers are more willing to spend money for their children and in our

2
case more money for an exclusive shampoo and on the other hand because
children are getting more and more pocket money which they are also going
to invest in toiletries.
That is why it is also important to analyse the buying behaviour of
tweenagers.
33% of them are buying cosmetics and toiletries for themselves from which
24 % spend up to 5 GDP on cosmetics and toiletries weekly. This shows that
children are an important consumer in their own right.
4. Target analysis:

4.1 The tweenages girls

Our target: “Princess Sparkling”

“My Shell” is mainly targeted to tweenage girls with an age

range of nine to twelve. Furthermore, this high quality
shampoo distinguishes itself from the other products on the
market as it focuses on girls, which can simply be described
as “Princess Sparkling”

These “girlie” girls want to feel like a stylish princess and

want to be admired and even envied by their friends. They
are also highly fashionable and aware of their tastes and
preferences. Moreover, she is a glamorous girl that has
already a lot of idols, for example Ashlee Simpson, Melissa
Joan Hart and Ashlee Tisdale. She looks forward to become a teenager and
starts to adopt teenage trends and habits. “Princess Sparkling” also starts to
care about her looks and fashion and is vain about her beauty. She cares
about the products she is using, and begins trying out the products of her
mother. Our target customer is going to buy that shampoo as it will give them
a feeling of speciality caused by the creative and new design and by the
amazing features it offers.

4.2 The parents

Our target : “My princess deserves the
best” parents

1. General information :

- Wealth section : A; B and C1

2
 - Age section : 32 to 45

2. The parents and their daughter’s shampoo

When it comes to shampoo, research shows that tweenage girls’ parents are
mostly interested in the effects on health and hygiene. For instance, an
impressive number of web sites and parents’ communities’ blogs or forums (2)
show that they are concerned with lice, fragile or greasy hair, and- when their
girl starts to get closer to her teenage years- dandruff. Princess Sparkling’s
parents tend to over-protect their daughter, and are all the more interested
in preserving her hair’s condition. Furthermore, they just want to see their
daughter happy, and this explains the success of “no tears and no knots”
shampoos.

Yet, not only do the parents want their daughter to be healthy, they also feel
like she is unique and she has to be the best-looking girl around. Indeed,
parents’ are very proud of their girl, therefore they will often try to make her
look as pretty as possible. And since she is a unique princess, she deserves
her own personal shampoo, which she won’t share with anyone.

Strategy to reach this target:

Parents will read several information written on the bottle before actually
buying the product, therefore we will give some details about the quality and
effects of “My Shell” on the hair (e.g. “no tears and no knots”).

if the packaging is one of the key points to attract the tweenage princess, it
is also an essential part that will catch her parents’ attention .

According to the description seen previously, they want the best for their girl,
hence they will not buy any product unless they are sure it will please her.
The packaging is what their daughter will see first, thus her first reaction
when given the shampoo depends entirely on the design of the bottle.

Finally, “My Shell” should be displayed close to the parents’ shampoo.

Indeed, it appears that parents think about buying an item for their child
when they actually buy the same kind of product for themselves. From that
point of view, it would be relevant for My Shell to be placed near middle-
agers’ shampoos (Elvive collection, Head and Shoulder, Dove, etc.)

5 Primary market research

Our aim:

2
The aim of conducting a questionnaire on tweenagers as main part of our
primary market research was to gather information on the consumer
behavior and especially to differentiate between tweenage boys and girls,
thus finding out more about their needs and their influence on other
consumers, in this case their parents. We intended to depict the possibilities
we might have in only focusing on a small market niche. What are the
advantages of that niche? How can our product best be communicated and
how do we meet the consumers needs? What are our chances only targeting
tweenage girls?

Market survey on tweenage boys and girls (age: 9-

12):
We conducted our research in
front of schools and approached
tweenagers in the street. With a
total number of 41 tweenagers
we may be able to make fairly
accurate estimations about the
total market section which is
amounted to 1,86 million female
tweenagers. The gender
distribution within the survey was
68% girls and 32% boys. We
therefore statistically weighted all of the following results with the above
percentages and drew our conclusions from it.

General shopping frequency:

We found the overall shopping frequency for girls to be much higher than
that of boys. 54% of
tweenage boys seem
to go shopping only
once per month. On
the other hand 40% of
girls go shopping
every week and 32%
2-3 times a month.
We can see from the

2
above result that there is a major advantage of the market section
“tweenage girls” as they tend to set shopping trends earlier than boys as
they tend to show greater maturity at that age than boys.

Difference in independence:
As said before, the greater maturity of tweenage girls is as well noticeable in
their general independence. Girls seem to be more independent in their
shopping behavior. In terms of general shopping behavior girls seem to be
slightly more independent but concerning toiletries even 42% of them buy
their shampoo themselves. This shows the great opportunity of
communicating our new product directly to the costumer anticipating their
direct reaction.

The difference between boys and girls in the above graphics underlines our
choice of market niche.

General Brand recognition:

In the toiletry market,
brand recognition is a
very important aspect.
Having strong
competition and brand
loyalty, to get into the
market you would need a
good brand recognition.
Not only the new brand
has to be a thrilling one
but it is important to

2
have a target which is open for new brands and recognizes these. As we
found out girls generally seem to have already quite strong brand recognition
for toiletries at the age of 9-12. Boys are far behind in that section maybe
due to their interest and intellect. 82% percent of girls could name a
shampoo that they knew by advertisements whereas boys only reached 46%
in that question.

2
Wish for own personal shampoo:
For girls it seems to be
rather important to
have their own
personal shampoo and
not use the family one
anymore. Our product
is answering exactly
that particular need.
“My Shell” is a
glittering, glamorous,
elegant and very
personal shampoo. Self
actualization, ego status and social needs are our focus. As the graph
displays those needs seem to be quite strong in tweenage girls as nearly 80%
expressed their desire for a personal shampoo.

Influence on parents:
Influence on other
costumers is essential
in our market niche.
First of all, it is
favourable if
shampoos get well
known by inter-
costumer
communication and if
the influence of
tweenagers upon their
friends is high. We do assume the second point is at hand as girls at
that age are already subject to a number of trends and styles. But in
the case of tweenagers it is essential to know the influence that they
have on their parents buying decisions. From other research we know
that girls spend a certain amount of pocket money on toiletries but can
they convince their parents to buy our product as well? As the graph
depicts even 43% of tweenage girls answered that they would always

2
receive the demanded items from their parents whilst shopping. Here
we can see the huge influence that the age group, and especially girls
have on their parents buying behaviour.

Promotion:
Concerning the
promotion of our
shampoo “My Shell”
we found the classic
and best known
method for
shampoos to be
through TV
advertisements, as
43-53% of
tweenagers
recognize toiletry brands through this channel. But especially for girls,
advertisements in magazines would be very affective as nearly 30%
indicated of being aware of shampoo brands only through magazines.
Once again girls are leading in this sector as boys tend to have less
interest in magazines. As a major part of our marketing budget will be
spend on design we will have to focus on magazine promotion and
shops. We suppose that by the uniqueness of our new brand we will
not need the extensive TV advertisements which usually would be
used.

6. Competition analysis:
Even though their seems to be an interesting marget gap for tweenage
shampoos, we can still identify five main competitors, which are the Fructis
Collection by Garnier, l’Oréal for Kids, Sainsbury’s shampoo for kids, Timotei
and Dove for family. These products are well-settled on the market, and are
all sold not only in the United Kingdom but also in other countries. The
comparison chart below highlights the various advantages My Shell and these
five competitors have :

2
Brands My Shell Fructis L’Oréal Sainsbury’s Timotei Dove
collection for Kids

Criteria

1- The Bottle

Original colour X X X X

Original shape X X X X

Unique shape X

Additional
X
feature(s)

2- The
Shampoo

Original smell X X X X

Unique smell X X X

Special X
X
consistency

3- The Effects

2 in 1 process X X X X

Against fragile X
X
or greasy hair

No tears, no X
X X
knots

Hair colouring X

Product adapted X
X X
to hair type

Other X X X

2
4- Distribution

Sainsbury’s X X X X X X

Tesco X X X X

Superdrug X X X X

Boot’s X X X X X

Debenhams X

6- Price

Price of the £ 3.99

£ 2.99 £ 1.76 £ 1.74 £ 0.59 £ 1.65
bottle

Price per 200 ml £ 2.39 £ 1.41 £ 1.31 £ 0.50 £ 1.10 £ 3.19

The graph below shows the number of advantages “My Shell” has on
its competitors and vice versa. For instance, the chart highlights that
among all the points features considered, “My Shell” has 7 Fructis is
missing.

2
Comments:
Even though there is a market gap for tweenage shampoos, it is important to
match as much competitions’ products features as possible. “My Shell’s”
concept is mostly based on its packaging and the shampoo itself can also
keep up with and even outperform the competition.

We can also note that in each main retailer where our competitors’ shampoos
will be sold, “My Shell” will also be displayed. It is indeed very important that
the customers see our product even when they are looking for one of our
competitors’.

7. PEST: Analysis of the external

environment
POLITICAL SOCIAL
• Stable political environment • Multicultural country
• Ecological regulations concerning • Relatively uniform target market
environment and animal testing

ECONOMIC TECHNOLOGICAL
• Free market economy • Patent for packaging
• Completely open to competitors • High maturity in production
• Increasing buying power process
• Still entrepreneurial-friendly • Large number of advertising
channels
• Advertisement restrictions

• Political Factors:
The United Kingdom has a stable and reliable political environment.
The only political issue that can concern our business are the
ecological regulations concerning environment (i.e. chemical waste
disposal) and animal testing.

As our packaging is unique, we will patent it, in order to try to prevent

our competitors from copying it.
As in the United Kingdom internet is widely spread, even among our
target market, we can use the internet for our promotion and

2
advertisement; the majority of girls in this age have internet access
both at home and at school.
We have access to a wide spread of advertisement choices, as the
technology in the country has reached high levels in almost all the fields.

• Economic Factors:
In the British economy the Anglo-Saxon model applies: the main
principles are liberalisation, free market, low taxation and regulation.
As we operate in an open economy and in a free market there are
several competitors to deal with.
Consumers in the United Kingdom are experiencing a constantly
increasing buying power: in particular, in the 3rd Quarter of 2007, it
increased by 0.8%)
A recent independent study(3) by the ESCP-EAP European School of
Management commissioned by the Conservative Party shows that in
the UK there are still a significant number of start-ups, even though
their performance level has slightly decreased during the past years.

• Social Factors:
The United Kingdom is a multicultural country: about 8% of the total
population are people from other cultures and ethnicities(4). However,
our target market is relatively uniform: girls from 9 to 12 have the
same trends, the same role models and roughly the same education
despite of the ethnicity or the religion, we are very confident that our
product will attract all different kinds of girls.
We will of course take into account ethical factors that could possibly
effect advertising to children (for example no half naked girl bathing
etc.).

• Technological Factors:
As our packaging is unique, we will patent it, in order to try to prevent
our competitors from copying it.
As in the United Kingdom internet is widely spread, even among our
target market, we can use the internet for our promotion and
advertisement; the majority of girls in this age have internet access
both at home and at school.
We have access to a wide spread of advertisement choices, as the
technology in the country has reached high levels in almost all the
fields.

2
8. SWOT Analysis:

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
• prettiest bottle on the shelf • Not as attractive to parents
• Timeless design • High price
• Makes smooth, shiny hair • Targets only 50% of tweenage
• Has elegant smell market, which is already a niche
market

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
• Decision making takes place in • Strong competition
the store (we have the prettiest • Parents might be reluctant to
bottle) change buying behaviour
• Perceived as superior
• Profitable market gap
• Suitable for international market
• Large buying power of target
customers
• Potential to become popular
• First mover advantage
• Potential to create high loyalty

Strengths:
The major strength of our product is that it is timeless due to its design
and it will appeal to all “Princesses Sparkling”-girls – now just as much
as in five or ten years. The beautiful and elegant design of our bottle
makes the decision for a mother shopping with her daughter very easy,
because it is by far the prettiest on the shelf.
Using the Maslow’s Pyramid as a basis, it is easy to see that “My Shell”
is designed in a way that it has a distinct value for girlie tweenage girls
at each need-level of the pyramid:
On the physiological need level it offers the girls a shampoo with glitter
particles in it, which makes her hair smooth and shiny and gives it a
light, elegant smell. On the security need level it ensures the mother
that it will not hurt her little girl’s eyes in case some foam gets into her
eyes. Looking at the social need level, “My Shell” satisfies the parents
as well as the girls herself. The parents get the chance to make their
precious little girl happy by buying her the most fancy shampoo, she
wants so badly. The little girl, on the other hand, gets to feel like the
princess once more, because mommy and daddy love her so much that

2
they give her the shampoo that is only for princesses. On the ego need
level, a similar effect occurs. Since “My Shell” is quite the eye-catcher
in the bathroom, visitors (whether it’s her friends or friends of the
parents) who use the bathroom, will immediately see who the princess
of the family is and what the parents of miss-princess can afford to
spend on her. In terms of the need for self-actualization, being in
possession of “My Shell” gives the girl the feeling of being more grown-
up and respected, like she wants to be, because she now has her own
shampoo just like her mother.

Weaknesses:
The shampoo itself is very much designed to attract the attention of
“Princess Sparkling” and only indirectly that of her parents. They are,
however, most likely going to be the ones buying it and definitely the
ones paying for it. Nonetheless, due to the characteristics of our target
customer, “Princess Sparkling”, we can with great certainty assume
that the girl has a strong influence on the purchase decisions of her
parents, especially when it comes to things she wants for herself.
Moreover, girls are often quite similar to their mothers, and therefore,
“My Shell” will induce a feeling of “I would have wanted something like
that when I was little” in the mother.
Another possible weakness could be the high price. Since the
tweenage girl market is already a niche, “My Shell” divides the market
segment even further. Yet, in that very niche market “My Shell” has
great opportunities.

Opportunities:
The biggest opportunity for “My Shell” is the fact that the actual
purchase decision concerning a shampoo is often not made until the
customer is standing in front of the shelves. This is also exactly the
reason why “My Shell” is ‘dressed to impress’. It looks a lot more fancy
and expensive then all the other shampoos. This unconsciously results
in the perception that it is also superior. “My Shell” therefore has a
significant advantage over its other competitors on the shelves. It
stands out and is recognized much faster and therefore longer in the
mind of the customer which.
Due to the fact that there is also no similar product targeting tweenage
girls yet, we have the chance to fill a profitable market gap with “My
Shell”. Our product is in the higher price range and is aimed to attract
middle to high class income families, who have a large buying power.
Given that the product is timeless and fulfils a need that is universal
for girls all over the world, there is large international market potential
for our product in the future. [See also European Roll-Out] Taking into

2
account that products targeted at tweenagers can achieve enormous
growth rates if they become popular among the age group, “My Shell”
definitely has the potential to become a popular product among
tweenage girls.
Another opportunity is created by the fact that “My Shell” has a first-
mover advantage, which in our case really is an advantage. Surveys
have shown that in the area of Cosmetics/Health and Beauty aids 75%
of the customers have a brand preference, and of those between 22%
and 48% are reluctant to switch brands even if they cannot find their
preferred brand right away(5).This really gives us the chance to create
brand loyalty to our product. This potential for brand loyalty will be
further reinforced by our promotion activities in the introduction phase
of the product. Moreover, there are no barriers to the market entry
besides the normal legal requirements for toiletries.

Threats:
A possible threat to the launch of our product could be the strong
competition
in the shampoo market in general. This might lead to the launch of
very similar products targeted at tweenage girls by our competitors
soon after the introduction of our product.
The above named brand loyalty could also be a threat to the
introduction of “My Shell” in the sense that the parents will have to
change their usual buying pattern and start buying an extra shampoo
for their girl instead of making her use theirs.

9.1 Marketing Objectives:

Our marketing objectives are the following:
In general:
− Turn “My Shell” into the number one shampoo all girls want to have
− Create the image of “My Shell” as a popular but timeless luxury
product
− Give it a sustainable and unique competitive position
In the short run:
− Raise customers’ awareness
In the long run:
− Develop customer loyalty
− Market across Europe

9.2 Marketing Strategy:

2
Our marketing strategy is based on the core values that “My Shell” offers:
Being the most beautiful bathroom accessory for “Princess Sparkling” and her
very own shampoo at the same time. In all our marketing efforts we will
transport the image of “My Shell” as a very special, luxurious, “for-girls-only”-
product.
Our marketing emphasis is heavily concentrated on point-of-sale marketing,
because this is where “My Shell’s” major competitive advantage lays, due to
the extravagant packaging. To bring out this advantage and turn it into the
reason why customer buy “My Shell” instead of any other shampoo is the
most important marketing mission. In order to achieve this mission we have
carefully structured our promotion activities around the AIDA process.

Objectives Strategy
Product features, Promotion
Turn „My Shell“ into No.1 Shampoo
activities

Popular and timeless image Communicate brand values

Sustainable, unique competitive Promotion, brand values, European

position roll-out

Raise awareness Point-of-sale promotion, magazines

Market across Europe European roll-out
Emphasize product quality, prize
Develop loyalty
game

10. The Action Plan

Product:
The brand name of our new shampoo is “My Shell”. We have also created a
slogan which reads “My Shell- JUST ME”. With this simple catchphrase we
want to create a recognition factor.

“My Shell” not only has the shape of a sea shell, by which additionally
mermaid-loving girls will find appealing, but is also grandiosely decorated
with dazzling and glittering strass-stones. The
colour of the shampoo will be hold in powerful
pink and gold tones. Owing to the entire design,
the shampoo appears as a highly elegant and
precious shampoo. Moreover, this amazing bottle
will float and change its colour when it comes in

2
contact with water! This certainly is an important factor, as girls that age
range tend to take a bath more often than a shower and still like playing.
While bathing, the girls can play with the shampoo and admire the reflection
of the strass stones in the water while the colour will change into purple. The
shampoo also offers a transparent suction cap at the back of the bottle to
stick it on the wall. Thereby, family and friends will promptly see the
shampoo which will lead to the expected admiration. With “My Shell” our
customer will be offered something really unique and special, they do not just
buy an ordinary shampoo. Quoting Uche Okonkwo, “luxury consumers buy
more than luxury products and services. They buy a package of experiences,
feelings and identities made up of the product, the service and the brand´s
characteristics.” (6). With our product we will achieve exactly these points
mentioned by Uche Okonkwo. The girls buying “My Shell” will identify
themselves with the product. They will also experience the feeling of being
admired and being something special because of possessing a unique
product compared to other shampoos on the market with only regular
designs.

Nevertheless, it is not only the design that makes “My Shell” so special. As
the “key factor to driving expectations of shampoos are the new hair styling
technologies” (1). “My Shell” offers luxurious and refreshing ingredients,
which will contain hydrating actives and silk derived amino acids. Those will
have a unique effect on the girl’s hair. It will smoothen the surface of the hair
strands so they will better reflect the light and also the “no tears and no
knots” effect. Additionally, small glittering macro particles will illuminate rich
tones for a lustrous shine. Combined with a special fruity-sweet smell it will
leave the customer feeling fresh, beautiful and revitalized.

Price:
The retail price will be ₤2.99. Although our product is a high class luxurious
shampoo, girls at that age do not put that much weight on the price of the
product. They will not feel more proud because of having a more expensive
shampoo compared to the other products on the shelf. It is more the
exclusive design of “My Shell” that will give the girls a feeling of specialty and
pride.

However, the price of the shampoo is quite high, but parents who are going
to buy it, put emphasis on the quality of the product. Setting the price at a
higher level will immediately give the parents the association of a high
quality product.

2
That is the reason why the price is set at ₤2.99, which is still more expensive
compared to three products of our direct competition. The shampoos of our
competitors vary from ₤0.59 for the kids shampoo from Sainsbury´s to ₤3.99
for the Dove family product.

Our main advantage and the reason why our product is filling a market niche,
is that the rival products do not offer any variety in the design of their
shampoo. As our shampoo has a very special and unique design (we will
spend 55% of our budget in the packaging) it is surely justified to set this
price higher than most of the other products.

Place:

Our distribution will be through grocers, regular stores that sell toiletries, but
also through department stores.
The shelf space availability and the ability to compete on market share,
makes grocers the largest and most dynamic channel for distribution.
Furthermore grocery multiples have been making rapid inroads into
cosmetics and toiletries whereas hair care has been one of the most
successful sectors (1). Several multiples have even developed exclusive
arrangements with designer brands such as Tesco with “Richard Ward” and
“Denise Mc Adam (1). Therefore we could arrange that Tesco supports us by
bonding our special hair care product in its stores.
For the regular stores we will choose Superdrug and Boots as they offer a
wide range of beauty products.
Moreover, “My Shell” is going to be placed in department stores such as
Debenhams. As this large store offers the latest trends, styles and fashion,
“My Shell” would fit perfectly in the beauty section. Since our product is a
luxurious eye-catcher, it would immediately attract the attention of mothers
and fathers to the shampoo while buying perfume for themselves.

The placement of our product is going to vary during the phases of the life
cycle. In the
introduction phase we
will spend 18% of our
promotion budget (8%
of total budget) of our
budget in order to
quickly catch
attentiveness.
Therefore the product
is going to be placed
in the gondola end of
the supermarket. After
that, the product will
have its location in the

2
middle sector of the shelf. By using several forms of “below the line”
promotion in the following life cycle phases, it is ensured that “My Shell” will
continue drawing attention (see promotion).

Promotion:
AWARENESS DECISION MAKING

• Unique shape and colour set • Easy to find within the

• Frame around it on the shelf supermarket
• Gondola End • Next to women toiletries
• Ads in girl magazines • Free gifts
• Radio • In-store promotion

INFORMATION ACTION

• Direct info in supermarkets • Reaches our target market

• Features on adverts • Every major supermarket
• Samples • Luxury retailers
• Prize games • Drug stores
• Website

11. The Promotional Mix:

The promotional campaign will be quite diversified, and will include different
types of means. Here is an outlook of our different advertising programs:

“Above the line” promotion

The magazines:
The advertisement will appear in two different magazines, Girl Talk and Mizz.
The main argument that lead us to choose these two are their high circulation
and their popularity among our target customer(see table below). Our
advertisement will be printed in colour, full-page size and will include a large
pack-shot of “My Shell”, so as to make sure the readers remember that the
new shampoo has an original shape and colour which they would
automatically recognize in a shop. Furthermore, the advertisement will
include a sample. Finally, the magazines adverts will allow us to give quick
information about the shampoo itself, for instance that it does not burn the
eyes.

Girl Talk Mizz

Circulation 95,000 75,000
Target 9-10 years old 10-12 years old

2
Radio advertising

Even though the most important strength of “My Shell” is its shape, the
increasing popularity of the radio among our target is a great opportunity to
fulfil our awareness raising process. Indeed, as research shows, 59% of 8 and
9 year-old girls have a radio in their room, and the figure even reaches 72%
when it comes to 10 to 12 year-old girls. Besides, our target customer is
mostly interested in musical radios, especially pop music, and tends to listen
to the radio between 4 and 7 PM. Therefore, from month 6 to month 8, we will
run two adverts during these hours for example on a popular pop-music
station like Virgin Radio.

Posters

Posters are a great way to use “My Shell’s” eye-catching appearance to

promote it. We will thus exhibit them on displaying panels, billboards and
some in shops. The posters will have the same lay-out and pictures as the
magazine adverts. Moreover they will be diplayed twice, first in month 5, then
in month 9. During that time we are going to change the pictures from the
first series to the second.

Online promotion

“My Shell’s” website will include several pictures, information about the
product, a couple of advice for girls on how to take care of their hair and also
a forum. The website will also include links to retailers selling our product,
like Sainsbury’s website. Researches have shown that more and more
tweenage girls visit chat rooms and create blogs; we will be advertising our
website putting a banner on these pages.

Displaying features

We plan to display the shampoo on the gondola end of each retailer during
the first month of our product launch, as to make sure that as many people
as possible see and are aware of it.
As the original shape of the bottle is eye-catching and therefore appeals to
the customer, it will not be necessary to use the Gondola End again after the
first month.
However, we plan to put a frame around the shelves at the place where the
bottles will be displayed. The frame will have the same characteristics of the
shampoo, for example it will be colourful, glittering and very girly in order to

2
catch immediately the attention of our customers. The main colours of the
frame will be pink and purple and the drawings on it will remind the ones on
“My Shell”; all these features have the consequences that it will be
immediately eye-catching, even if the consumer is not looking consciously for
shampoos, he will be obliged to at least to look at it.
On the frame corners there will be some colourful labels with “NEW” /
“BRAND NEW” / “TRY IT!” written in capital letters. Indeed, showing that a
product is new, is proven to be an impressive sales booster.

“Below the line” promotion

Free Gifts

From time to time, a “free gift” campaign will be used to maintain our market
growth. During month 10, customers who buy “My Shell” will have the
possibility to claim a poster at the tills, featuring celebrities such as TV stars
(the High School Musical 2 crew, Sabrina, the teenage witch’s Melissa Joan
Hart, etc.). During month 16, the free gift will be another bath product, such
as a small lip gloss.

Games

Games are a great way to create brand loyalty and to promote “My Shell”.
Tweenagers love challenges and prize-winning games. During month 1, as to
accompany the launch of the product, tweenagers girls will have the
possibility to win different prizes, for example a party at Planet Hollywood
with their friends. To get a chance to win, they will be asked to send a picture
of them with their best make-up (which could turn out to be an interesting
source of information on our customers, to gain accuracy in our targeting
process) via logging onto our website.
A second game will be launched during month 4. This time, girls will have to
send us a 5 to 10 seconds voice message in which they say “My Shell – Just
Me”. The 10 best messages will be used for the radio averts.
The two games will be promoted on our website and on the shampoo bottles;
the second game will also be promoted on the magazines, in the
advertisements.
These prize games will increase the interest for our product, and, due to the
enticing prizes, will contribute to build a strong image of “My Shell”.
Considering our target’s behaviour, “word of mouth” is also expected to
increase our product’s growth in addition to all these promotion programs.

Besides if “My Shell” reaches the expected market shares and number of
sales at the end of year 1, additional advertising will be used as to drive the
figures even higher. This includes new posters displayed during month 20
and 21 along with new radio adverts. The product will be back on the gondola

2
end in month 16 and 17 to raise the attention of the late majority and
laggards, and a new game which will be launched in month 23 and 24.
Finally, in the best of the scenarios, we will also go for popular musical TV
shows sponsoring in year 3.

ADVERTISING COSTS BREAKDOWN:

Cost
Magazine
Advertising : £ 283,700
Radio Advertising: £ 69,800
Posters: £ 51,500
Websites: £ 25,000
Online
advertisement: £ 3,000
Free gifts: £ 45,000
Games: £ 9,960
Displaying: £ 75,000

Total: £ 562,960.00

The promotion timetable can be found in the appendix part.

2
12. Controls
In order to ensure the success of our shampoo “My Shell” we have to
put in place certain measures to control the effectiveness and
profitability of our product launch and marketing strategy.

Benchmarking:
As instrument we will use benchmarking, which involves seeking out
the best potentially applicable practices, both internal and external. By
analyzing them and implementing the ones that will produce a
competitive advantage, we ensure our success. On a continuous basis we will
compare the performance features and costumer acceptance of our product
to those of our competitors.

2
In order to give a general overview we would like to display some
simple methods to measure our success.

Advertisement efficiency:
As our advertisement budget is limited, it is vital to control efficiency
measuring the amount of our online, magazines, and stores
advertisements. For the online ads it is rather easy to obtain accurate
numbers according to the “clicks” a webpage obtains. The number of
people that really are aware of the advertisement can be estimated.
The costs for that are fairly low as well (see www.hitcouterexpert.com
for further information). The effectiveness of magazines
advertisements can be calculated according to the print run. It is at all
times very important to make continuous check-ups for advertisement
efficiency.

Customer Satisfaction rating:

To keep ourselves informed about the customer satisfaction we will
have to carry out continuous primary market research. As shown in the
primary market research section it is a very useful method to keep
informed about our success. It is necessary to carry out questionnaires,
distributed in shops or at the back of bottles, in the form of stickers.
The focus of surveys should lie on brand recognition, popularity and
maybe adoptions of “My Shell”. One has to keep in mind the number of
complaints about the shampoo due to functionality of the packaging or
maybe adverse reactions of the liquid. The reasons for dissatisfaction
of “My Shell” can be found in different features, such as price,
unappealing fragrance, colour, etc.

It is vital to react immediately to non-changing or decreasing numbers

of sales. We therefore have to be always at the service of the
costumer.

Sales volume:
To measure our success from the number of sales is maybe the most
basic method. It shows very well whether to stick to the marketing plan
or adapt certain features. On the other hand it does only reflects
external factors, therefore not considering the efficiency of processes.

2
Nonetheless the number of sales should be our first metric, as it is
easy and cheap. The average number of shampoo bottles used per
person is about 11 per year. From the total market of 1.86 million
tweenage girls we anticipate about 8% market share (150,000 girls)
during the first year of sales. We therefore anticipate total sales of
1,650,000 bottles.

x: number of bottles in million sold during first year

for x > 2.5 major success → adaption in

production & advertisement

for 2.0 < x ≤ 2.5 above expectations → further market research,

prod. constant

for 1.3 < x ≤ 2.0 meets expectations → no changes

for 0.8 < x ≤ 1.3 below expectations → further market research,

prod. reduction

for x ≤ 0.8 poor dog → get out of there! Reasons

for failure?

Conclusion of controls:

All the above aspects have to be kept in mind and carried out in a
ongoing manner otherwise we will fail to meet the consumers needs,
ignore facts and therefore miss our goal to comply our launch with a
continuous growth in sales and market share.

13. European Roll-out and next steps:

As already mentioned among the opportunities, “My Shell” is the
perfect product to be introduced to the European market after the
successful introduction to the UK market. Its characteristics appeal to
tweenage girls regardless of their cultural or ethnic background. The
name “My Shell” is also very suitable, at least for France, Germany,
and Austria, where we will introduce it next. There, products with

2
English names and slogans are not only common but appeal to kids in
our targeted age. They know a little bit of English because they have
already started to learn English in school and English for them is a cool
and trendy language.

The European roll-out will probably start in Austria, as this is a smaller

market than Germany or France, it will be the test market. The
introduction in Austria will start one and a half years after the
introduction in the UK, so in 2010. The actual introduction in the three
countries will be very similar to that in the UK, especially in terms of
the point-of-sale marketing emphasis and the price game at the
beginning. The time frame needed to evaluate whether the launch in
Austria was satisfying and if the expansion to Germany and France will
be done will take roughly a year. Therefore, the major European roll-
out will start in 2011.

14. “ My Shell”: Life Cycle

2
15. Summary of Conclusions:

Closing, the following conclusions can be drawn:

− “My Shell” offers a unique selling proposition to our customers.
− “My Shell” fills a market gap in a profitable niche market.
− “My Shell” will be sustainable.
− The launch of “My Shell” is supported by a range of promotion
activities to reach the target market most effectively

“My Shell’s” most impressive feature is its design. This is what really
differentiates it from all the other shampoos and makes it the object of
desire for tweenage girls. On top of this “My Shell” can also keep up
with and even outperform its competitors in terms of its other features,
as shininess, smoothness, and smell. “My Shell” fulfils two essential
needs: The need of the girl to have something that is just for herself
and makes her feel glamorous; and the need of the parents to give
their daughter something special and moreover, let other people see
how much their little girl means to them.

The market gap that “My Shell” fills is that of tweenage girls, who are
very girly and the princess of the family, or simply “Princess
Sparkling”. The wish among girls to have their own shampoo rather
than using the family one is quite strong as our primary research
revealed. Also, girls are a lot more interested in beauty and body care
products than boys are at that age.

There are three reasons why “My Shell” has very high potential for a
long lasting success: First, it has a timeless design, which is not based
on a temporary trend but rather on an object that has been adored by
women and girls for decades and centuries, and will be in the future.
Second, it is based on a need that is also timeless and independent
from cultural backgrounds: a girl’s wish to feel unique, appreciated,
and glamorous. Third, it is perfectly suitable for the international
market and can therefore, in the long run, reach a much larger number
of customers than just the UK market.

The promotion activities supporting the launch of “My Shell” are the
following:

2
 − In-store promotion: placing “My Shell” the gondola end,
emphasising its position on the shelves by a frame around its
shelf space
− Magazine advertisement with samples
− Promotion prize-game

These promotion activities are designed in such a way that they, on

the one hand, reach our target customers as directly as possible, and
on the other, heavily emphasise the main factor of differentiation of
“My Shell”: the beautiful bottle.
We are planning to launch our product in September 2008, as this is
the time of the year when girls get back to school and therefore tend
to visit supermarkets more often. We strongly believe that by that time
we will have already produced enough units to go for the introduction
phase.

Finally, we are confident that “My Shell” will reach its sales numbers
goal of 1,650,000 bottles and will become the most famous and most
successful tweenage girl shampoo on the market.

Budget breakdown :

Bottle design and £

features: 687 500

£
Advertising: 562 960

£ 1
TOTAL : 250 460

2
Bibliography:
1. Key Note:
URL:http://www.keynote.co.uk
(More than 3000 full-text market research reports on over 30 sectors of
the UK market). Search term used: tweenagers
2. www.longhaircareforum.com
3. http://www.escp-eap.ac.uk/docs/Enterprising%20Britain%20-
%20Interim%20Report.pdf
4. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/print/uk.html

5. DUFF, Mike (2000):The challenge of garnering loyalty - survey of

brand loyalty in several categories - Statistical Data Included - DSN
Retailing Today
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FNP/is_20_39/ai_68706287/pg_1
6. OKONKWO, Uche (2007) : Luxury Fashion Branding ; Trend, Tactics,
Techniques

Houndmills Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2007

p. 63 | The Consumer purchase- decision process
7. Marketing pocket book, UK edition – the Advertisement Association

Secondary research; internet pages:

www.thinkbox.tv/server/show/ConWebDoc.105#8

www.sainsburys.co.uk/www.tesco.com/

www.superdrug.com

www.boots.com/

www.timotei.co.uk/

www.garnier.com/fructis/

2
www.dove.com/

www.loreal.co.uk/

2
 Appendix 1
Questionnaire Shampoo Marketing Project

Male: Ο Female: Ο

Age:

Question 1: How often do you go shopping with your parents?

Once per month: Ο2-3 times per month: Ο Once a week: Ο 2-3 times a week: Ο

Question 2: How often do you go and buy stuff yourself?

Never: Ο Sometimes: Ο Most of the time: Ο Always: Ο

Question 3: How often do you buy shampoo yourself?

Never: Ο Sometimes: Ο Most of the time: Ο Always: Ο

Question 4: Do you know the name of the shampoo you are using at the moment?

Yes: Ο What is the name? No: Ο

Question 5: How often do your parents buy you the items concerning shampoo, tooth paste, etc.
you asked them for?

Never: Ο Sometimes: Ο Most of the time: Ο Always: Ο

Question 6: How do you know about the newest shampoo, shower gels, toothpaste, etc.?

From friends: Ο Seen in stores: Ο TV: Ο magazines: Ο

If other, which one:

Question 7: Do you prefer having your own shampoo, rather than using the family one?

Yes: Ο No: Ο

Question 8: At what time of the day do you generally watch TV?

7-9 a.m. Ο 9-12 a.m. Ο 12-4 p.m. Ο 4-7 p.m. Ο 7-late Ο

Question 9: Do you remember any Shampoo advertisement?

Yes: Ο Which one? No: Ο

Appendix 2
Promotion timetable:

The green boxes represent programs we could go for if My Shell’s year 1 growth is as good as foreseen.

Months
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 24
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
Girl Talk
( With
sample )
Mizz
( With
sample )
Radio

Posters

Web site

Online
Promotion
Gondola End

Displaying
features
Free gifts :
Posters
Free gifts :
Bath product
Games