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Cottle-Taylor:
Expanding the Oral
Care Group in
India

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Problem Statement:
1. What factors determine demand for
toothbrushes? How can the demand be
increased?
2. How is Cottle doing in India? What are the
challenges faced?
3. How should Cottle accelerate the
development of toothbrush market in India?
Suggest a Marketing mix strategy?

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Table of content:
Factors Determining the demand.
Methods to increase the demand.
Cottle in India.
Toothbrush market in India.
Marketing Mix Strategy.

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Factors Determining Demand:

Affordability
Oral hygiene awareness
Distribution
Accessibility
Price of the product
Brand awareness
Competition in industry
Population

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Methods To Increase Demand:

Awareness
Promotion
Distribution Strategy
Product Features(Quality, Design, Cost)
Competitors in the market

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Cottle India:
Product Category:
Toothpaste
Toothpowder
Toothbrushes

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Cottle India:
Products were sold in more than 45,000 retail
outlets.
Introduced ancillary products including
mouthwash and dental floss.

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Sales and Revenues

600
500
400
300
200
100
0

2008($)

2009($)

2010 E($)

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Market Share 2009

Hindia-Daltan
22%

SarIndia

21%
11%

46%

Cottle-Taylor
Low cost products imported
from China and Vietnam

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Challenges Faced By Cottle in India:

FACTS:
50% of Indians were not concerned with
dental problems.
Rural people are 5 times more reluctant to
use modern oral care than urban
counterparts.
80% of population lives on less than 2$ a
day.

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Challenges Faced By Cottle in India:

PURCHASE ACCURACY:
8.6% of the toothbrush users replaced their
brush within 3 months.
4 out of 5 toothbrush users used the same
brush well beyond 3 months.

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Challenges Faced By Cottle in India:

DISTRIBUTION DIFFICULTIES:
Distributors did not always understand the
key selling points of Cottle's toothbrushes.
Difficulty in communicating in rural
locations.

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Marketing Mix Strategy:

Product:
Low end manual: Mid range
The Complete manual:
The Sensitooth The Zagger
The FreshGum Directionflex
The Surround
The Kidsie

Battery-operated:
The Swirl
Swirl refills

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Marketing Mix Strategy:

Price:
The majority of Indians wanted to upgrade from
home grown dental remedies to inexpensive
modern oral care products. So they should keep
the price of their products low, since majority of
Indians lived in Rural towns and villages.

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Marketing Mix Strategy:

Promotion:
Cottle should provide free dental checkups, free
product samples, and basic instructions for
proper oral care. Rising awareness of dental
health benefits.
Cottle should partner with IDA for research
studies and dental health outreach campaigns.

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Marketing Mix Strategy:

Place:
It should have multiple distribution strategies.
Cottle should have more outlets in small
villages and roughly 300 distributors serving
wholesalers and retailers in semi urban areas
and few distributors focused on retail outlets in
urban area.

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Thank you..

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