PERT Plus Shampoo Case Studies Examples

1) Whether they should launch this product in different European countries simultaneously (a Pan-European approach); or they should enter those countries sequentially?
It is recommended to apply a Pan-European approach to the product launch, because the company has incredible global reputation; it was tested for the quality of other existing brands of shampoo in European market (Vidal Sassoon, Shamptu and Pantene); Pert Plus shampoo as new technology of hair-care will attract customers from conditioner market as there will be no need to buy conditioner separately; and it allows to avoid imitating by competitors.
2) Whether they should launch this product as a product line extension for an existing brand (for example, launch this product as the new 2-in-1 under the Vidal Sassoon brand name, or the new 2-in-1 under the Head-and-shoulder brand, etc.) or they should launch this product with a new brand name (for example, they could use Pert Plus. Since Pert Plus was not available in the European market at the time of the case, they would introduce a new brand there.)
P&G should launch this product with a new brand name because the product has very unique characteristic, namely innovative technology of combination of shampoo and conditioner in one product.
3) Use the case information, at the time of the case, how attractive is the European market for Pert Plus in terms of demand potential?
Concerning the attractiveness of European market in terms of demand potential it can be concluded that it is quite attractive. At first, economic growth and increased living standards mean that customers are able to buy products even at higher prices. Despite the fact that shampoo market shows better tendencies compared to conditioner market, Pert Plus has great advantage in the technology combination. After conducting some customer research based on the positioning statement about four products, including Pert Plus shampoo, it was found that 28% of customers would definitely buy the shampoo at stated price and of presented volume.
4) At the time of the case, how competitive is the European market? Given the case information, please evaluate the performance of P&G’s brands, Vidal Sassoon, Pantene, Petrole Hahn, Shamtu and Head & Shoulders in the European market.
The most important competitors for P&G are Uniliver, Colgate, Schwarzkopf and L’Oreal. These companies have reliable reputation and recognizable brand name. However, P&G’s brands have defined market share, which in some countries exceeds competitors’ one. For example Shamptu in West Germany is more popular than Timotei or Elseve, Head & Shoulders is more popular in Great Britain than Palmolive. Unfortunately, in France, Scandinavia and Benelux, Vidal Sassoon, Pantene, Petrole Hahn, Shamtu and Head & Shoulders have very low market share in comparison with competitors.
3) If you were the manager of P&G, and you decided to launch this BC18 technology into the European market, you have the following 5 options. Please specify which option will you choose, and please specify the brand name you will use; price per bottle; countries you will enter; and why you prefer this approach.
Being the manager of P&G I would decide on option C, namely use a new brand name (such as Pert Plus) and launch this product simultaneously (Pan European Approach) into different countries, namely West Germany, Great Britain and France, where other brands of the company were presented and had proper market share. The price should be little higher than reasonable, which would reflect high quality of the product. Such approach will allow avoiding the possibility of imitating, increasing market share of the company on countries’ market and attracting new customers.