Harvard Case Study Analysis

1. The Precision Toothbrush
A Case Study on

2. Why study this case?
• To understand the market competition faced
by the Colgate Precision Toothbrush.
• To analyse the Consumer Behaviour of that
time period.
• To summarise the profits gained by the
company.

3. Background

4. COLGATE PRECISION
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SUSAN STEINBERG
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5. PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE
FOR SUCCESSFUL
PRODUCT LAUNCH :
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6. CP – A Global Leader in Household & Personal
Care Products:
Company Performance

7. The USA MARKET

8. The U.S. Toothbrush Market has seen
many changes since ancient times
ranging from Dr. West’s Miracle Tuft
Toothbrush to the newly launched The
electronic Toothbrush.

9. History of the Tooth Brush

10. Colgate’s Five year Plan
(1991-1995)

11. ●
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12. PRODUCT SEGMENTATION

13. The industry executives had divided
the toothbrush
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14. Segmentation

15. CONSUMER
BEHAVIOUR

16. CP’s Consumer Research indicated
that the Baby Boom Generation
Consumers were NOW becoming
more CONCERNED about the
HEALTH OF THEIR GUMS AS
OPPOSED TO CAVITY PREVENTION
and were WILLING TO PAY A
PREMIUM FOR NEW PRODUCTS
ADDRESSING THIS ISSUE.

19. Competition

25. Marketing Expenditure

26. Television & Advertising

27. CP’s Television Advertising

28. Advertising Expenditure
For CP ToothBrushes

29. Distribution

30. •
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•

31. The Marketing Mix of
Colgate Precision

32. PRODUCT DESIGN

33. •
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•

34. The Five Goals:

35. Colgate Precision’s Market
Positioning

36. Steinberg developed a marketing mix and
financial projections for both Mainstream
and Niche positioning

37. •

38. Customer Reach

39. Capacity and Investment costs for
Manufacturing Equipments

40. Product Cost
And Pricing

41. Estimate of Cost and Price

42. Sampling

44. COST OF COMMUNICATION
PROMOTIONS WAS
ESTIMATED TO BE $52.1
MILLION.

45. CONCLUSION
• Precision- a technological breakthrough - more than a niche product
/simple line extension .
• How Should Precision be positioned, branded, and communicated to
consumers.
• What the advertising and promotion budget should be and how it
should be broken down.
• To develop a marketing mix and profit-and-loss pro forma to enable
Precision to reach its full potential.
• It should be acceptable to Burton and other colleagues, particularly
the Colgate Plus product manager.

46. Disclaimer:
This presentation is based on a Harvard Business
School Case Study, by Jacob Antony, CUSAT, During
a Marketing Management Internship under the
guidance of Professor Sameer Mathur, Indian
Institute of Management, Lucknow.