Marketing Management report on Brita Water Filter strategy

1. BRITA CASE STUDY
-The Winning Strategy
Imran Khan
Abhishek Kumsi
Ramachandra Pai
Pitch Tavichai
Kitt Thabungkan
Nicholas Thibault
Presented by
5 STAR,
Aston Business School

2. 1
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
History....................................................................................................................................2
Company Strategy..................................................................................................................2
Situation Assessment .............................................................................................................2
SWOT Analysis .....................................................................................................................3
Market Review...........................................................................................................................4
Segmentation..........................................................................................................................4
Target Demographic ..............................................................................................................4
Marketing Strategy.....................................................................................................................5
The Winning Strategy................................................................................................................6
Assumptions...............................................................................................................................6

3. 2
Introduction
History
In 1987, Clorox came across Brita’s pour-through type (PT) filter and it recognised the
product as profitable and innovative. Clorox acquired rights to market Brita in order to satisfy
the growing consumer needs in American homes. Due to fact that Brita was a pioneer in its
field, it gained a huge market share of 70% and became a household name and created a
home water purification industry worth $350 Million.
Company Strategy
Brita’s marketing strategy was “Great tasting” water. Its sales were consistently high and
grossed $200 million within the first decade. Brita’s competitors were unable to compete
effectively with the PT sales and over the years more than 70 competitors tried to enter the
market but failed. The ease of access to Brita’s products made it a household name in 19
million homes and 80% of these were using them on a repeated basis. This suggests that
Brita’s brand awareness and product value were high.
Situation Assessment
In 1997, bottled water made up for 8% of the drinking water market and was fast growing.
Additionally in 1998, a small company called PUR launched the faucet mounted (FM) filter
that could be directly fitted onto the tap for water filtration. In addition to removing
impurities, FM filter could also eliminate disease causing bacteria which PT could not. Even
though Brita dominated the market, their sales & market share dropped.
Figure 1: Market Share
35%
65%
% Market Share
Brita (Clorox)
PUR (P&G)

4. 3
A decade after its initial launch, Brita introduced the FM category of filter. In spite of its
initial success, Brita still could not achieve a satisfactory market share in comparison to PUR.
Brita tried several strategies viz.
1. They positioned their brand based on “Healthy Lifestyle” but failed to appeal to the
consumer market because the idea applied to general PT and FM products, which did
not necessarily belong to Brita. Many advertisements were drafted, but eventually this
approach was dropped.
2. Targeting the competition received from bottled water, stating that unlimited supply
of great tasting water is available at home. Though many advertisements were aired,
the market did not respond.
3. A customer oriented approach by launching a smart PT, but failed to win the
confidence of the consumer.
4. Attack unfiltered tap water by playing on consumer fears on unfiltered water. Once
again after airing advertisements for a short time, the management called off the
campaign since no difference was perceived.
5. Re-target bottled water.
In 2004, The VP of Brita SBU realised that the Brita team has lost sight of their consumers
and were not targeting the right segments. Brita failed to capitalise on the growing concern
about tap water. The strategies used to target the market were short term and ineffective. The
PT sales were taking a hit while the FM sales were on the rise but still low compared to the
competition. Brita’s products were not appealing to the mass consumers
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
 Market leader in the PT category of filter
 Strong brand image
 Well established distribution system
 Customer loyalty
Weakness
 Lack of innovation
 Slow reaction to changing market trends
 Marketing strategy
 Product oriented and not customer oriented
 No investment in R&D
Opportunities
 New target market – bottled water
 Unique marketing approach
 Better indicator system for the PT filter
 Fridge filter market

5. 4
Threats
 Bottled water convenience
 Fridge with inbuilt filter system
 Competition from P&G
Market Review
Segmentation
Based on consumer review & segmentation study, the population those were keen on using
water purification systems fall into the following categories:
 Health conscious
 Environment friendly
 Aesthetical appeal
 Technology oriented
 Family-centred
Target Demographic
 Principled Filter Fans
 Current users of PT and keen on continuing filtered water usage
 Market segment of 17.4%
 Assertive Self Improvers
 Consume high amount of water
 Current users of PT / FM and keen on continuing filtered water usage
 Market segment of 10.4%
 BW Indulgers
 Look for simpler sources of drinking water
 Interested in quality
 Key target for Brita’s new product
 Market segment of 11.7%
 Tap Traditionalists
 Family centric
 Consume high amount of water
 Pragmatic and open to change if convinced
 Market segment of 17.2%

6. 5
Figure 2: Product Positioning and Segmentation
Marketing Strategy
Brita’s brand promise should be “clean & great tasting water”. We should focus on the
following strategies to improve our current position.
1. Venture into the bottled water market
a. Develop an alliance with a bottled water company who would use tap water
and Brita filters to sell the product using our brand name along with theirs.
b. Cross promotion advertising would benefit both companies.
c. If no alliance could be established, Brita can use the existing distribution
network to launch its own bottled water. This would invite an investment into
a bottled water plant.
2. Improve FM type filter system
a. Aesthetic & Functional design:
The FM filter will be more appealing, compact and ergonomic. The filter
should be able to eliminate the disease causing germs along with the
impurities. The taste & nutritional values of water can be improved by adding
minerals during the filtration process.
b. Alerting Mechanism:
Design a new indicator on the filter to display its current condition for
efficient usage and changes colour when the filter needs to be changed.
3. Invest in R&D to keep up with the latest trends of bottled water & FM type filter.
4. Competitive pricing for all Brita products in line with the market.
5. Keep promoting the PT filter as a healthy option.
6. Creative, disruptive and informative advertising campaign.
Principled Filter Fans
Assertive Self Improvers
BW Indulgers
Tap Traditionalists
Bottled Water FM PT

7. 6
The Winning Strategy
Assumptions
1. Current pricing of existing Brita products are in line with the competition.
2. Brita has financial potential for investment into a new product line.
Alliance with
bottled water
company
More people
drinking Brita
filtered water
Increase Sales
= Double-digit top
line growth