...Professor Youngme Moon and Research Associate Kerry Herman prepared this case. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Some data have been modified or disguised. Copyright © 2002 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business School. YOUNGME MOON Aqualisa Quartz: Simply a Better Shower Plumbing hasn’t changed since Roman times. — Tim Pestell, Aqualisa national sales manager Harry Rawlinson (HBS ‘90) shrugged out of his overcoat and headed to the reception desk of the South Kent County Marriott. “Can you direct me to the breakfast room?” he asked, “I’m meeting some guests from America.” The receptionist pointed toward a hallway lined with photographs of the region’s golf fairways and putting greens. “It’s just to the left down there,” she said. As he strode down the narrow corridor, Rawlinson, managing director of Aqualisa (see Exhibit 1), a U.K. shower manufacturer, felt a surge of energy. He...
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...Case study Aqualisa Quartz: Simply a better shower Q1. What is the Quartz value proposition to a) consumers b) plumbers? Ans. Aqualisa, a U.K. based shower manufacturing Company had launched its premium brand µQuartz¶ in May 2001. The Company has been very reputed in the U.K. market for its top quality showers, reliability and great service. The basic purpose behind launching this brand was to address the concerns of the consumers and the plumbers which perhaps were not satisfied with the existing products in the market. Stated below are the issues faced by the consumers and the plumbers and the value proposition offered by Quartz: a) Consumers: Consumers were typically not happy with the kind of showers that were available in the market as revealed by the market research conducted by the Research and Development team of Aqualisa. The consumers wanted a shower that looked elegant, delivered water flow at good pressure, had a stable temperature, was easy to use, do not break down easily, have valves that do not become stiff and hard to turn after a period of time and don¶t require servicing very often. Also, they did not want the big bulky boxes installed for the mechanical control right over their shower wall. Inorder to address these concerns, Aqualisa launched its new product Quartz for providing a solution to the problems faced by the consumers apart from having certain added features. The Quartz, being elegantly designed was easy to use. It gave an option to consumers to run...
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...AQUALISA CASE STUDY AQUALISA VALUE PROPOSITION • Easy to install: half a day V/S 2 days. Apprentice can also install • Earn more Plumbers can do more install in less time more profitable • Reliable : lesser break downs. Second visit if require need to be borne by the plumber. C O N S U M E R S • Safety: Family and especially safe for kids • Ease of use: Remote control, one touch button, indicator - All age group can use. • As easy to installed DIY customer can easily adopt. • No issue :flow, temperature pressure or P L U M B E R S • Smart & Sleek design: No excavation, no major space requirement • Save Labor & excavation cost WHY IS QUARTZ SHOWER NOT SELLING Great PRODUCT High PRICE Lack of awareness: Among Plumbers, Consumers, Distribution channels, plumbers skeptical due to past experiences to adopt newer innovations. Lack of focus: only 10% time spend by employees focusing on new customer, 90% in maintaining existing accounts, distributors, contractors, trade etc. Lack of marketing efforts: Very selective & limited promotion. Average POSITIONING Low PROMOTION Was Aqualisa Worth the Money • Aqualisa Quartz - a great product • Overcame shortfalls in other showers in the market had, including Aqualisa’s own brand. • Efficient & reliable water pressure, temperature control, ease of installation, one touch button and other features. • 1st price at Bathroom Expo in London in 2001. • Good and positive reviews about the product in the news papers...
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...The elderly loved it because they didn’t have to fight withh stiff valves. * Quartz Shower Valve has a good design and it doesn’t have a mounted bulky white box that is visible in the shower stall, since it uses a remote processor and the size is only like shoe box. * The cost of plumbers gonna be cheaper. 4. Please explain the channel from producer to consumer for Gainsborough : Gainsborough is a brand name for eletric shower,because they were cheaper and easier to retrofit so this is gonna be led sales in the channel. Gainsborough targeting the DIY market so they sold it to the DIY Sheds, and then the DIY consumer will be buy the product in DIY outlets. 5. Please explain the channel from producer to consumer for ShowerMax: Aqualisa sold to developers under ShowerMax brand, which only available through specialist contract outlets. Because new homes were almost exclusively buit with high ressure systems so elements of the aquavalve technology had been redesigned and rebranded for the showermax product line and optimized for developers specific needs. Showermax could deliver a high pressure shower so it will be buy by a new house...
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...November 13, 2011 Aqualisa Quartz Case Study SCH-MGMT 660 Ben Hubbard FALL 2011 Table of Contents Overview............................................................................................................................... 3 SWOT Analysis: ..................................................................................................................... 3 Strengths: ......................................................................................................................................3 Weaknesses: ..................................................................................................................................3 Opportunities:................................................................................................................................3 Threats: .........................................................................................................................................3 Alternative Analysis............................................................................................................... 3 Plumbers: ......................................................................................................................................4 Showrooms: ...................................................................................................................................4 DIY:.......................................................................................................
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...1. Problem Statement: In May 2001, Aqualisa had launched the Quartz shower, a real significant product innovation, with unique and superior features in terms of technology, water pressure, design and ease of installation. Four months after the launch, despite the initial euphoria surrounding the product, Quartz has experienced poor sales and has not met the company’s expectations. Harry Rawlinson, the MD of Aqualisa, needs to rethink the Marketing strategy, in order to generate sales momentum and quickly turn around the situation, assuring that the 5,8 Million Pounds spent on the development of Quartz were not in vain. 2. Situation Analysis: Aqualisa is a Shower system manufacturer that operates in the UK market, being generally recognized as a strong brand. Consumers in this market generally fall in one of the three following price segments: Value, Standard and Premium. On the value segment, customers are mainly concerned about price and ease of installation. They don’t give much importance either to style or shower quality experience. Mainly, the products on this segment are electric showers and they are distributed through DIY mass-market outlets, with discounted prices. The retail price represents the total cost incurred by the buyers. Aqualisa has nearly 17% market share (units) on this segment (Appendix C), mainly through their Gainsborough Brand. On the standard and Premium segments, customers tend to value both the shower experience and the style. They prefer mixer...
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...be as easy as they thought. In Aqualisa case, Harry Rawlinson, managing director of Aqualisa, gives us an example that even with new significant shower product Quartz, which seems to be perfect in every aspect, they cannot make a relative progress in U.K. shower market. Quartz is designed to solve all the troubles that exist in U.K. showers. It provides efficient and reliable water pressure and temperature, needs less space in bathroom, has a stylish looking and is easy to use and install. Although Quartz leaps all other showers, the initial sales results turned to be gloomy, as Rawlinson said “For some reason, it simply wasn’t selling”. To reveal these “reasons”, we will first look at the general shower market status, and then we will analysis two main factors that cause Quart fail in initial Sales: Quart itself and Plumber. Finally, we will examine Aqualisa’s marketing strategy and find out what is the right thing to do. Shower market in U.K. The U.K. shower market has 3 distribution channels, 3 buyer segments, and 2 Special roles: Plumber and Developer. To give a brief summary, we will use some charts to demonstrate characteristics of these elements, and use it for latter discussions. Chart 1: Distribution channels in U.K. shower market Distribution channels Features Showrooms Consulting and display High end Installation services Aqualisa share 25% Trade Shops Sell all available brands Primary customer is plumber Aqualisa share 40% Do-It-Yourself Sheds...
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...AQUALISA QUARTZ: SIMPLY A BETTER SHOWER F ELIX L E C HEVALLIER – 11/01/2012 1) Which value do the various products from Aqualisa (the UK company) create: for consumers ? for plumbers ? for its channel partners ? The first step that we need to take is to analyse what are the segmentations of the market. There are three pricing segments as said in the case: premium, standard and value. These segments differentiate the basic consumers; we then have DIYers and developers that have specific standards. We will analyse the aquastream, the gainsborough, the aquastyle and the aquavalve, and the quartz. Channel DIY outlet Consultant’s Advice Decision Criteria Customer Segment DIYers Customer Values Price Convenience Style Performance Service Price Convenience Reliability Style Price Quartz -++ ++ ++ ++ -++ ++ ++ -Gainsborough Aquavalve Aquastyle ++ / -+ ++ + / ++ -/ + + -+ / ++ -+ ++ + + ++ Aquastream -/ ++ + -/ -- Showrooms ACQUALISA Premium Trade Shops Plumber’s advice Standard Value Specialist Contract Habit & Relations Developers The products show great differences in their characteristics in addressing customer’s preferences. They are targeting different segments and thus they don’t create value thanks to the same advantages In addition to the table, we can stress one of the preferences of the plumbers that is of importance. The installation time sensitivity. Indeed, as said in the case, the main issue is the reluctance of plumbers towards electronical...
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...Aqualisa should position Quartz as a premium shower at current retail price, targeting consumers who value styling, multiple setting options, and ease of use (Exhibit 1). Aqualisa’s current portfolio does not offer a premium mixer or power option (Exhibit 2). Quartz could fill this gap and obtain market share from competitors (Exhibit 3) by offering a unique hands-on customer experience. Aqualisa has proven that a working display of Quartz in the showroom is extremely effective. However, it is only available in 25% of showrooms across the UK. To convince more showrooms to carry the brand, Aqualisa should offer trade incentives on MSP for 6 month to demonstrate the selling power of Quartz. This strategy will allow Aqualisa to differentiate Quartz from competitors like Hangsgrohe, while maintaining market share in other channels, resulting in minimal cannibalization (Exhibit 4). Already recognized as a premium brand, Aqualisa can leverage its innovative technology and tailored campaigns to build brand awareness (Exhibit 5) and quickly become the top player in the premium space. A number of other options are also presented: targeting consumers, DIY or developers. Marketing to consumers alone may be ineffective, as they rely heavily on plumbers to select a product. This approach is also expensive, requiring mass media advertisements in an industry where brand awareness is low. While Triton was successful in building awareness, their sales are mainly in cheap electric segment (Exhibit...
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...Aqualisa Quartz Subject: How to best market the new Aqualisa Quartz line of showers Problem: Aqualisa has created a superior new shower line that seems to be perfect for the needs of customers but the sales are far below expectations. Customers do not have brand awareness of Aqualisa, plumbers are wary of innovation and salesmen are unsure of how to positively market a product without negatively reflecting on other products in their company. Background of the situation: In the United Kingdom only about 60% of homes have showers due to the unique issues of bathroom remodels in Victorian era homes. Homes with plumbing from this period are gravity fed, with a separate boiler; this meant poor water pressure and temperature fluctuations. Three types of shower solutions were installed in UK bathrooms. * Electric Showers use water from cold water supply. Electrical heating elements in the shower raise the temperature of the water. This type of shower did not address the flow problem. These are a budget solution and very bulky. * Mixer Shower valves; either Manual or Thermostatic. Both mix hot and cold water to create the desired temperature of the water; these require a lot of excavation of the wall during the installation. To help the water pressure additional booster pump was used. These are a high end, attractive, but costly solution. * Integral power showers are compact with thermostatic mixer valve and a booster pump. They require mounting of a box in the wall...
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...Organic Farming Visit Date: ___________________________ Section 1: Aim The aim of this site visit is to learn about - The use of a greenhouse in agriculture - The importance of biological pest control in agriculture - The use of fertilizers in agriculture - The features of the Maltese soil - The use of good agricultural practices such as crop rotation Section 2: Observations and Data Collection This section will be like a long discussion. You need to include photographs taken on the visit. Paragraph 1: The greenhouse Take a photograph of the greenhouse visited. Describe the main features of the greenhouse visited during this site visit. List down the crops grown in the greenhouse you have visited. Do some research about other crops that are commonly grown in a greenhouse in Malta. Discuss THREE advantages of using a greenhouse to grow crops Discuss THREE disadvantages of using a greenhouse to grow crops Biology Site visit Form 4 Page 1 Organic Farming Visit Paragraph 2: Biological pest control Give the definition of biological pest control. Ask the visitor about the typical pests targeted in the greenhouses visited. List them down. Explain which organisms are used to control the spread of the mentioned pests Discuss THREE advantages of using biological pest control Discuss THREE disadvantages of using biological pest control Paragraph 3: Fertilizers Discuss the importance of fertilizers in agriculture Discuss any deficiency...
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...AQUALISA QUARTZ: SIMPLY A BETTER SHOWER by Nir Ilani-Freedman Situation analysis (Q1) a. Customers Segmenting and characteristics Premium price segment- consumers typically shop in showrooms. Preferred specs: high performance and service. Style determined selection. Granted high performance and service. Standard price range: Emphasize service and performance. Product selection Rely on independent plumbers’ recommendations. Value segment: Primary concerned with convenience and price. Liked to avoid solution that required any excavation. Product selection relies on independent plumbers’ recommendations. DIY market- Primarily interested in inexpensive, easy to install models. Electric showers were the overwhelming choice in this segment. Shopped at large retail outlets. Popular among landlords & apartment dwellers. Property developer market: Preferred reliable nice looking products that could work in multiple settings, price sensitive, did not invest in premium valves. Used independent plumbers to install their selected products. b. Channels of distribution: Products sold, primary customers, channel characteristics Trade shops: Carried products across all available brands. Mainly sold to plumbers that worked for developers, contractors or directly to consumers. Their focus was to have right stock of products in demand. Their customers are looking for reliable product availability more than technical advice. Aqualisa brand was available in about 40% of trade shops...
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...With these developments, it is obvious that conflicts between parties of different nationalities occur and liability to tax on income of foreigners especially among those engaging in trading venture. Whilst the laws affecting domicile and residence may be sufficiently settled, it is paramount for courts to pursue a detailed analysis to ascertain specific preliminary issues so as to avoid controversial rulings. Courts often handle numerous financial cases that involve what can be best described as foreign or international elements. In such cases, court must decide whether it has the jurisdiction under the Family Law Act 1975 to make a decision on such cases. In the event that it is determined that the court is invested with the jurisdiction to determine the case, the court has to consider whether there is a system of law in foreign country that also has the jurisdiction to handle the case. As it was addressed in the case Attorney General of New Zealand v Ortiz [1984] AC 1, these benefits and costs to either party if the case resolution is made in foreign country as compared with the apparent country should also be a subject of concern. [1] Legal systems in most countries around the world adopt community property regime, which takes effect at the inception of marriage or at the time of divorce. For instance, California and Massachusetts in the United States have adopted community property regimes that support equal division of assets upon divorce. However, this provision...
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...Adapted from Bernhardt & Kinnear (1988). Cases in marketing management, pp. 6-16. Plano, TX: Business Publications, Inc. Pay careful attention to the following points. They are often used by instructors to evaluate either a written or oral analysis. 1. Be complete. Each area of the situation analysis must be discussed, problems and opportunities identified, alternative presented and evaluated using the situation analysis and relevant financial analysis, and a decision must be made. An analysis that omits part of the situation analysis or only recognizes one alternative is not a good analysis. Second, each area must be covered in-depth and within insight. 2. Avoid rehashing case facts. Every case has a lot of factual information. A good analysis uses facts that are relevant to the situation at hand to make summary points of analysis. A poor analysis just restates or rehashes theses facts without making relevant summary comments. 3. Make reasonable assumptions. Every case is incomplete in terms of some piece of information that you would like to have. A good case analysis must make realistic assumptions to fill in the gaps of information in the case. For example, the case may not describe the purchase decision process for the product of interest. A poor analysis would either omit mentioning this or just state that no information is available. A good analysis would attempt to present this purchase decision process by classifying the product and drawing upon real life...
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...are given. It is understandable then that we should seek out more opportunities to apply our skills and make more positive impacts within our jurisdictions. It is this general attitude that led us to get involved in investigating cold cases. How We Got Started Mark had, for several years, been consulting with our Coroner’s Division as a forensic anthropologist. During this time he came to learn that there were numerous coroners’ cases in which the identity of the decedent was unknown. These cases were kept in three-ring binders on a shelf in the Sergeant’s office. Over the years, in the course of this forensic work, we would discuss these cases and the progress that was being made on them. The conversation usually ran along the lines of us asking “any luck with that 1980 homicide victim?” and the sergeant answering “well, we’ve gotten so many new cases that I haven’t been able to even look at it yet.” This went on for a few years and through two different sergeants. One day we, as a crime analysis unit, were brainstorming about how we could broaden our “client base”, as it were. We had been successful in integrating ourselves into our Investigations Bureau and had been involved in numerous major cases. And, of course, we had always been active in producing tactical and strategic analyses for our patrol personnel. But we knew that we could be doing more, particularly given the size and responsibilities of our agency. It was during...
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