Student id: 19/1/0398/524 Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Triton 2

Mira 3

Aqualisa 3

Aqualisa’s investment and its outcome. 4

Analyzing 3 strategies. 5

Targeting Consumers Directly 5

Targeting Do-It-Yourselfers 7

Targeting Developers 8

What to do? 9

Why isn't it selling? 10

Recomendation 12

References 13

14

Introduction

Aqualisa is one of the giant shower-manufacturing companies in the United Kingdom. The company’s market share accounts for about 1/5 of the whole market and Aqualisa is the third best-selling shower brand, only bested by Triton and Mira, with market shares of 30% and 22% respectively (Euromonitor, 2018a). In 2001, the company introduced a break-through product, Aqualisa Quartz, a brand new electric shower expected to replace the traditional types of showers. Despite the amount of money and effort put into the product, however, the public reaction for the launch of Aqualisa Quarts was not as positive as the company had previously anticipated and the sales of this new shower type disappointingly failed to meet the expectations. Now the company has to figure out ways to improve the sales of this particular product.

The shower market of the United Kingdom is dominated by three large shower manufacturing companies: Triton, Mira, and Aqualisa (Euromonitor, 2018b). Overall they make up 70% share of the entire market and they all have their own unique competitive advantages that enable them stand out in the market. Below, what makes those companies products unique is discussed

Triton

According to Tottle (2019), Triton is by far the most popular electric shower brand in the United Kingdom due its cheapness and ease of access and use. Unlike other types of electric showers that require the help of a separate boiler to heat up the water, Triton offers showers that operates with an in-built heating mechanism to heat the water. Because one would not have to spend additional money to buy a separate boiler, it makes an excellent choice option for someone who is looking for an affordable yet quality electric shower.

Another thing that makes these electric showers more preferable is the fact that it is very easy to install the shower. Most of the current electric showers require special means and considerable amount of effort from the plumber to be properly installed. On the other hand, Triton showers have only a few entry points for water feeds and cables which “makes it really straightforward for your plumber to install it into the installation area” (Antonia, 2019a). And of course, plumbers often charge less for something they do not have to put lots of effort onto.

Finally, Triton, in their electric shower, offers a control panel instead of a traditional vale to control the temperature of the water. All one has to do is select number on the panel to set the temperature of the water. The hose is not too bulky and has the “Eco Mode” that when enabled, it prevents the unnecessary waste of water (Collins et al., 2017).

Mira

Unlike Triton, Mira is not an electric shower brand that can boast about its affordability. Even though Mira models are more expensive than Triton, the brand’s affordability can be compensated with the fact that its electric showers are more powerful and come in more stylish and modernized looks.

The main system block of Mira showers is quite big. Surprisingly, it is a feature that comes in handy. Thornton (2009) states that the size of the system enables to block and hide any holes or cracks made during the installation so one would not have to worry about tiling their bathroom wall around the shower again. Mira models also have the “Eco Mode” but not fully digital like Triton. However, using and controlling the shower is still just as easy and the water temperature is controlled the same way as Triton’s, via a panel dial. The head of the shower is quite small and flexible in comparison to Triton’s and it contains a special technology called “Opti-Flo” which is a tool that prevents water from getting too cold, nor too hot (Woolf et al., 2006). Another special mode the head has is super flow mode. When enabled the shower provides with super powerful flow rate of water. The shower also includes a defense mechanism which “protects itself from dirt and limescale and so it lasts for a very long time” (Antonia, 2019).

Aqualisa

The main weapon Aqualisa uses to compete with brand like Triton and Mira is innovation (Simester, 2016). Long before Aqualisa became a strong “player” in the shower market, the company focused on innovation and delivering breakthrough products to the public. Aqualisa’s electric showers are manufactured under the name of “Gainsborough”, and “Aqualisa Quartz” is an example of electric showers the company produces and is at the center of this current discussion. The fact that the company has spent 3 years and about six million pounds on research and development department to develop Aqualisa Quartz is a clear indication of the importance of innovation for the company. The electric showers are easy to install and set up like Triton models. They are also able to provide stable water pressure for a considerable amount of time.

Even though, the competition Aqualisa has to face is rather tough, the company has a chance to blossom in the shower market due to the unique and innovative products it offers. Aqualisa could also benefit greatly from investing a little bit more in promoting the product to increase the public awareness (Installer, 2019).

Aqualisa’s investment and its outcome.

In the beginning of the year 1998, the company decided that they would bring a whole new innovative product into the United Kingdom shower market and initiated devising strategic plans to develop this new product. The shower was intended to be electric and unlike anything the market has ever seen before with its innovative design and functioning (Sealand, 2010a). In mid-summer 1998 the designing the new product had been kicked off. The company went above and beyond and invested 5.8million pounds on its new project. They called their new product “Aqualisa Quartz”

After 3 years of development, the product was finally introduced to public in May 2001. Upon its launch, the reaction from the critics was well positive and Aqualisa Quartz received lots of praise on its break through feature. Shortly after its release, the product was nominated for the best product award in London Bathroom Expo 2001 and won it (Sealand, 2010b). In spite of the positive start, the product was not selling as quickly as Aqualisa expected it to. The company was eyeing to obtain niche tier for the product and was planning to sell about 200 electric showers daily, while in reality barely a tenth of the forecasted amount was being sold (Sealand, 2010c). Therefore, the product never became a niche product and all of this led the company to believe that they should re-evaluate its ways and come up with solutions to matter of improving the sales of the shower so that all the effort would not go to waste.

Analyzing 3 strategies.

Tim Pestell who is national sales manager of Aqualisa, mentioned describing the imports of sales team: “Our sales force spends about 90% of their time on maintaining existing accounts— servicing existing customers: distributors, trade shops, contractors, showrooms, and developers. Ten percent of their time is spent on developing new customers.” Selling Showers in the U.K. did through trade shops, distributors, showrooms, and DIY exits (Parker, 2019).

Targeting Consumers Directly

Customer direct marketing helps to promote your services and goods clearly to the consumers (target audience). Various forms such as email, mail, radio and TV ads, telemarketing and so on, which can help companies to introduce their products more easily. In Aqualisa’s case there is also targeting Consumers Directly.

In May 2001, production of the Quartz shower was launched by the Aqualisa, many people who lived in U.K reported that “the first significant product innovation in the U.K. shower market since- well, to Rawlinson’s mind- since forever”. But, it was in early 2001, September, and the euphoria surrounding the product’s preliminary presentation had long since distressed. Rawlinson understood that the Quartz was technologically rises and leaps other U.K. showers in terms of water pressure, comfort of installation, use, and design. But because of some reasons, running selling service was unsuccessful (Airwalker, 2019).

Why it was unsuccessful?

Strong Advertising plays an important role in every target markets because of knowing information about products. Tapping this market means directing the biggest independent market, and could result in a main climb in deals. It had worked with Triton previously, however their products were not as buyer amicable as thoseе of Aqualisa.

However, Aqualisa brand is available in 40% of exchange shops. These shops center around right items that are wanted after as they can't learn highlights and advantages of the 45,000 things available in showcase. Nevertheless, a low deal in Quartz is credited to short information about the new items. The exchange shops are keen on selling the present items as they are unaware about the Quartz benefits and can't accept to become familiar with its highlights (Parker, 2019).

To sum up, clients can be fixated on reasonably through advertisements. Notices and leaflets can be applied to make individuals aware about the item. They are comparatively modest methods for progression which are useful and cheap than the TV commercials. Rawlinson's theory of huge scale causes isn't possible.