AQUALISA QUARTZ

Simply a Better Shower

CASE SUMMARY

Everyone had a bathtub, only about 60% UK homes had showers

Archaic plumbing (Victorian era) was still common in many homes

Gravity Fed

a cold-water tank or cistern sat somewhere in the roof

separate boiler & cylinder were needed to store hot water in a nearby airing cupboard

poor-to-low water pressure

created frequent fluctuations in pressure

temperature to noticeably vary from minute to minute

Showers in UK were plagued with problems :

• doesn’t require hot water supply

• results in bulky box in the wall

• low flow rate

Electric Showers

• requires both hot & cold water supply

• requires additional pump to address

pressure problems

• installation typically requires

excavation of bathroom

Mixer Shower Valves

• requires both hot & cold water supply

• results in bulky box on the wall

• regarded as less reliable than a mixer-

shower & pump combination

Integral Power Showers

U.K. Market Share DataU.K. Market Share Data:Unit Sold (2000)

Triton30%

Mira22%

Gainsborough11%

Aqualisa7%

Masco7%

Ideal Standard3%

Heatrae Sadia2%

Bristan1%

Grohe1%

Hansgrohe1%

Others15%

THE QUARTZ

• The are 2 versions:The Quartz Standard Shower & The Quartz Pumped Shower

• To install the Quartz shower:– the plumber had to identify a physical space to accommodate

the remote processor– The processor contained the thermostatic mixing valve and

pump– The device could be mounted horizontally, vertically, or on its

side, depending on space constraints

• With Quartz technology: – Installation time of a half-day– Plumbers were finding that the install was so straightforward– The Quartz shower provided efficient and reliable water

pressure and temperature – “one touch” control– the temperature control is automatic

DIY : Do-It-Yourself

Property Developer

shopped at large retail outlets that catered them, interested in inexpensive models that were easy to install (DIY products were bulky & attractive), popular among landlords & apartment dwellers.

need to worry about pressure problems because new homes were almost exclusively built with high-pressure systems, preferring reliable while nice-looking products that could work in multiple settings, price sensitive (exception of luxury builders), didn’t feel the need to invest in premium valves, usually had relationship with independent plumbers .

SegmentingTargetingPositioning

SegmentingTargetingPositioning

Targeting Customer Directly

PROS

Build a consumer brand TRITON has proven !

CONS

Tough to justify high-risk & high-reward strategy

Costly (large-scale consumer campaign cost €3 million-€4 million over 2 years)

Targeting Do-It-Yourselfers

PROS

Quartz is easy to install everyone can do it !

Partnership with B&Q = less need for expensive consumer advertising

CONS

Once show-up in the DIY sheds can’t climb back-out

Careful about associating premium brand with discount channel

SegmentingTargetingPositioning

Targeting Developers (aggressively)

PROS

Could conceivably be a large-volume channel high-sales

Force plumbers to get familiar with the Quartz products

CONS

Significant time lag before showers would reach consumers

Developers had already shown a reluctance to spend money spend money on premium brands though way

SegmentingTargetingPositioning

Positioning Strategies

1. Positioning by attributes

2. Positioning by benefit

3. Positioning by use

4. Positioning by user

5. Positioning by competitor

6. Positioning by product category

SegmentingTargetingPositioning

P R O B L E M !

HIGH AWARENESS

LOW SALES

resulted-in

A N A L Y S I SConsider of these behaviors of

shower customer in UK :

Have a NEGATIVE initial reaction of any innovation involving electronics !

DISLIKE shower with poor pressure, hard-to-turn valves, leaky seals & worn-out look

Consider of these facts of shower customer in UK :

Consumers were generally uninformed & little understanding of product options

Quartz is a breakthrough technology Aqualisa was RELUCTANT to discount the price

Aqualisa’s Products & Price

Quartz value proposition

Plumbers did not like innovation

especially electric

Plumbers strong

influence to consumers

Current Conditio

n

Promising Condition

Through brand awareness and selling to direct

consumer

Plumbers influence

slowly eliminated

In order to expand

their market

Aqualisa need to

sell Quartz product

directly to consumer to reduce

their dependen

cy to plumbers

Aqualisa Distribution

R E C O M M E N D A T I O N

The cause of quartz failure is the resistance from plumbers. With the analysis of circumference, they should : ‘Targeting Consumers Directly’.

Bring the Brand experience to customer through its marketing activities, so that customer can feel the simplicity of Quartz shower.

1. What is the Quartz value proposition to plumbers? To customers?2. Why is the Quartz shower not selling?3. Aqualisa spent three years and €5.8 million developing the Quartz. Wasthe product worth the investment? Is Quartz a niche product or amainstream product?4. Aqualisa currently has three brands: Aqualisa, Gainsborough, andShowerMax. What is the rationale behind this multiple brand strategy?Does it make sense?5. What should Rawlinson do to generate sales momentum for the Quartzproduct? Should he change his marketing strategy to target consumersdirectly, target the DIY market, or target developers? Should he lower theprice of the Quartz? Or, should he do something different altogether?