Introduction

 

“You go to an agency and say: “I need to increase toothpaste sales, what should we do?” and the agency comes back and says “You should just increase the size of the hole, and of course you will have a lot more toothpaste!”

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his interesting video and this funny quote show us how complex marketing medical oriented products like toothpaste can be. Some customers buy this product hoping that it will help them regarding a health issue (teeth sensitivity, cavity prevention, bad breath, fragile gums...). Consequently, customers not only buy and use it but expect some concrete results. It may be a "common" product but it is not a "simple" one to sell!

Firstly used in Egypt, toothpaste has gone through several modifications before acquiring its final form. It is a very specialized product that is absolutely necessary. Indeed, you need it for your personal wellness but also for your social integration. Would you like to talk with someone who does not use toothpaste... Consequently, you do not need to convince people to buy it (they have to) but you need to make them buy yours! 

To summarize, toothpaste is a relatively cheap Fast Moving Consumer Good that belongs to our daily life. We buy it on a regular basis and it is a low involvement product. Customers can switch easily between the different products available on the market as it is not a very risky purchase. Consequently, companies, more than ever, need to put much effort in terms of marketing to attract the attention of customers, retain them and prevent customers attrition.

Based on datamonitor.com report "Oral Hygiene in Europe", we notice that "Toothpaste is the largest segment of the oral hygiene market in Europe, accounting for 53.5% of the market's total value". After a stable growth between 2005 and 2009, the report informs us that "In 2014, the European oral hygiene market is forecast to have a value of $11,062.4 million, an increase of 14.8% since 2009." Consequently, we notice that this is an interesting market to study, full of innovative products and growing slowly but surely. 

Based on this article about the French market, we can see that pharmacies sell:
> 40% of toothpaste dedicated to "sesitive gum" against "gingivalvia"
> 22% of toothpaste dedicated to "anticavity"
> 17% of toothpaste dedicated to "sensitive teeth"
> 8% of toothpaste "whitening the tooth"
> 13% of specialized toothpaste..
This is a very concentrated market with a strongly segmented offer. You can find several products in the pharmacy (depending on the size of the shop) but they are all very specialized.

On the contrary, super/hypermarkets offer a crazy variety of toothpaste from different brands. 

Based on this article about the French market, we notice that best sellers are:
1) Signal with 30,3% of market share
2) Colgate with 16% of market share
3) Aquafresh with 10,7% of market share

This kind of retailer offers so many different choices in the toothpaste linear that many customers do not know which one is made for them. The three brands above, present in the supermarkets, usually focus on innovation and sophisticated products to be visible and appealing; they need to avoid customer paralysis facing the shelves. We will analyze how the battle between the brands is organized in the supermarkets later in the blog.

The main questions raised in this blog are:

> Which techniques and strategies do companies adopt to convince customers to choose their products? We can think about the professional and authority based slogan launched by P&G for the toothpaste that "protects these areas dentists check most"!

We can also think about the "Whiter than white" partner-in-seduction oriented toothpaste strategy.Companies use different strategies in order to have a competitive advantage. We are going to analyze this idea later in the blog.

> What do companies use to create a strong link with their customers? Which kind of techniques are used to maintain loyalty: TV commercials, exhibitions, games, virtual social networks...?

> How do companies build a brand and adapt themselves to the special needs of customers? Are there any outsiders able to catch the attention of a niche market?

Source: http://www.gcimagazine.com/marketstrends/segments/oralcare/38826392.html?page=2

Stay tuned for more information!

Source: Google Image