The Brita Case Solution

The bulky and relatively low value of the product as well as the high costs of transport mean that the manufacturing and distribution plants need to be located where there are major population centres. The Australian bottled water manufacturing industry is currently in a growth stage. Growth has been achieved due to the increase in per capita consumption of bottled water, albeit from a relatively low base compared with other more established beverages. As consumers become more health conscious and change their drinking habits away from CSDs to healthier beverages, bottled water would increasingly become their drink of choice.

Key Issue 2: Is $1b appropriate to enhance UST’s firm value and ultimately shareholder value?

When it comes to pricing we always strived to provide one of the lowest prices in the market. We decreased product prices by $0.50 on each product each year to appeal to consumers. Since providing a low cost product was one of our strategic goals we did not stray from decreasing prices. Looking back, perhaps we shouldn’t have been so loyal to our strategy when we were unable to turn a profit. While a strategy is important to stick to, being a profitable company is the ultimate goal.

The water filtration industry was experiencing some shifts in the competitive landscape and now Clorox, a market leader, is considering several options to maintain its dominance in the market. Couric is considering allocating resources to launch a faucet-mounted filtration system in response to emerging competitors, notably PUR.

By selling the Purity II to the box stores, we are gaining market from builders and remodelers. We will be offering a discount to the box stores for buying in bulk. Our sales team will get incentive as well from selling orders to the box stores. Incentive size for the salespeople depends on the quantity sold to the box stores. Retail market sales consist of internet and door to door sales. The door to door sales will be phased out because our team believes this strategy to be old fashioned and could portray a negative outlook on Eco Water as a company. The markets we would like to tap into are more rural territories. These types of markets show more cases of rust, impurities, and contamination in the water. Consumers will also enjoy better-tasting water, coffee, soups, mixed drinks, juices, and beverages.

→ high focus on sales/technical knowledge; high customer-centric outlook; flexibility in meeting needs of customer key to success; unique/comprehensive business structure (engineering, manufacturing, and distributing of various filtration products and systems

In the Exhibit 4 we learn that people between the ages of 18 - 44 years care about the water quality as they raise more concerns about the water quality. The faucet mounted system stands for better water quality, so this segment is likely to have higher interest in the new product. Especially young parents care very much about the health of their children.

Faced the problem of losing customer faith in the Brita brand. Brita had slowed established a string brand position among consumers over the ten year period since 1988. It grew to be a $200m grossing company from a small filter system provider. Brand awareness stood at 70% and 18% of 103m households in US used Brita pitchers. This reputation was at stake due to the decline in sales and

After looking at the issues causing the initial lack of sales of Quartz, it is essential to note that the lack of adoption of Quartz from the plumber has had a high impact on the issue at hand. For plumbers, Quartz brand is a high margin brand for plumbers, and thus, once adopted by plumbers will, the product extension will yield great gains for the

They had hard time justifying to themselves why a product cost what it did using the old cost system. The whole price justification process was very confusing to the customers and very frustrating for them. With the new system they could say this is what the flow is, this is what those activities cost, and this is how much your product is going to cost.

In contemporary society, bottled water consumption has become more attractive and popular. While in 2009 were only sold 161,589 million liters of bottled water, in 2011 approximately 181.61 million liters were sold all over the world (The Statistics Portal, 2014). In this context, attributing that significant growth of bottled water commercialization is consequence of a successful marketing should

Purchase selection of premium customers was influenced by style and looks of the shower. These customers shopped in showrooms so we should focus on getting Quartz shower in showroom. Showrooms also offered installation services by subcontracting with contractors and independent plumbers. This will also get the attention of plumbers to Quartz. Only 25% of about 2000 showroom showcased Aqualisa’s product range. We should also focus on increasing this number to increase market penetration.

Variety of flavors is a strength. With such an assortment and having a good tasting water enhancer, the customer will be able to choose their favorite flavor and will give us the rebuys to help the company grow.

Although consumers noticed it but decided to go along with it as far as the company does not tingles with prices.

The keys to the company’s future value and growth are profitability (ROE) and the reinvestment of retained earnings. Retained earnings are determined by dividend payout. The spreadsheet sets ROE at 15% for the five years from 2006 to 2010. If Reeby Sports will lose its competitive edge by 2011, then it cannot continue earning more than its 10% cost of capital. Therefore ROE is reduced to 10% starting in 2011.