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Executive Summary
According to statistics presented in Holmes (2016) publication, he predicts water scarcity over time, and increase on the average family household expenditure on water bills monthly, as a result of the increase in costs of electricity. As a result of this scarcity, wipes will and are already coming to consideration as an alternative source of shower, which in most cases demands not less than 17.2 gallons (65.1 liters) per shower, as opposed to the ½ gallon requirement in the case of the use of wipes. In an average family of four this could go to 481 gallons per week. These wipes have presented a ground through which the issue on water scarcity and high monthly water bills can finally be solved.
There are various bathing wipe products already out on sale, however, this paper targets to enlighten potential users of this product, or those who have already embraced the use of wipes to shower, that Tropical Bathing Wipes are the best alternative when it comes to bathing wipes, out there. Through SWOT analysis, the paper examines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities as well as threats to the market realization and expansion of the company producing Tropical Bathing Wipes. The paper also gives suggested marketing strategies for the product, and goes ahead to explain the current competitive advantage of the product over antagonistic products used for the same purpose.
Key Words: Wipes, Tropical Bathing Wipes, Competitive Advantage, SWOT Analysis, Marketing strategies
Overview of product
Tropical Bath Wipes are basically natural, organic bodies wash towels that are biodegradable together with the package. The fact that they are organic makes them biodegradable hence eco-friendly. The towels are pretreated with antiseptic that is the medium through which germs are killed on the body surface. The wipes ensure that you have dry bath. These wipes are come in a bag filled with antiseptic, organic fragrance as well as organic scent, constituting about ½ a gallon. This solution seeps into the towels and apart from cleaning and removes bad odor. With the Tropical Bathing wipes, one can have a complete bath, leaving the body free from harmful bacteria such as E. coli, Staph, Salmonella and Strep. Following a bath, one squeezes or drains the solution away, soaking the towel afresh in the cleaning solution ready for use on the next bath.
Situation Analysis
SWOT Analysis
Internal
Strengths
According to Escher (2017), water scarcity is a serious problem facing the world at the moment and she suggests shorter showers in this journal. This is a good lead towards the introduction and promotion of bathing wipes that offers a much more effective solution to this water scarcity issue in comparison to taking shorter showers. There has also been an increase in research and reports for example by Drewett (2018), Daily Mail (2018) and Steber (2018), warning against the risk of over bathing or taking too many showers. As for this new course and concern, wipes once again offers the best solution, in the sense that those who are obsessed or very much concerned about their cleanliness can now clean themselves as many times as they desire without endangering the health of their skin as is with the case with taking too many or longer showers, especially hot showers.
Recent statistics, as illustrated in Fig 1 below also indicate that the projections for the use of wipes by the year 2020 are very promising. The use for wipes especially for personal care (antibacterial wipes) is growing so fast and steadily that the market is projected at $3 billion by 2020, (Smithers Apex, 2018).
Figure 1: Projections for disinfecting and cleaning wipes by 2020: Retrieved, Smithers Apex 2018 Report
Weaknesses
Some of the downfalls to the growth of this industry however, include the low levels of awareness about the product at the moment. Many people are still used to showering as a traditional means of cleaning the body, which according to Forrest (2018), has been in existence even before the Roman baths were first created, both as a religious or ritual or daily cleaning practice. Behavior change would thus require a lot of effort, since the culture of water bathing is deeply engraved in almost everybody worldwide and has been passed down by great-great grandfathers to the present generation. Additionally, as evident in Quora and other platforms for community discussions, many people still do not have faith concerning the effectuality of this product in cleaning the body.
External
Opportunities
The market is quite unexploited at the moment and therefore the room for entry and growth is still quite large. With the raising concerns about global warming which in turn has led to water scarcity in most parts of the world, it is clear that tropical bathing wipes are the future of showering, especially at a time when the issue on water scarcity will not be ignorable anymore.
Threats
Despite the uproar concerning the likelihood of waters scarcity issues facing the world in the near future, this is not given. This is because there are already a lot of foundations including the Bill and Melinda foundation termed the Water & Sanitation Hygiene Challenge, as well as the Reinvent the Toilet fair award that offers grants to initiatives that work towards water conservation, (Escher, 2017). There have also been inventions like the Pluto AI that helps in the supply and monitoring of water usage. All these programs and inventions could just as well succeed in cancelling out the worry about water scarcity, leaving the bathing wipes little justification.
High competition constitutes additionally part of the threats that may face and is facing this product as they provide an alternative to the product, with many providers coming into the market with new ideas, technologies and approaches and sometimes targeting specific segments of the market like babies or ladies. Examples of such products include:
1) No Rinse Bathing Wipes which comes in an 8-piece bulk pack up, and costs only 7 dollars. It has a Flap seal for easy tear to open and the towels are hefty and thick.
2) Clean Trek Body Wipes, which is a 24 pc bulk pack up going for approximately 12 dollars. In constitutes 7.5 by 6” sheets and has additives like Aloe and Vitamin E to spice up its performance. It has a very robust plastic flap seal that sometimes complicates the process of opening the package. The sheet covers approximately 50 percent of a body, curled whilst wiping.
3) Archer Outdoor Gear Biodegradable Wipes, this contains 30 pieces per pack and costs on average 8 dollars. The sheets are 8 x 11” and are Hypoallergenic, that is, they have aloe and vitamin E additives. Just like Tropical Bathing Wipes, the sheets are biodegradable. It also covers about 50% of the body while whipping, but reviews have shown its quality is low, as pull it apart by hands during wiping is very likely and the edges role also while whipping.
4) Nathan Power Shower Wipes, this comes in a 15 piece pack up costing about 5 dollars per pack. The sheets measure 7.5 x 8 inch sheets, but are not durable and can easily be pulled apart as its later like. It has a sturdy plastic closure that functions excellent, but affects the product package spacing efficiency.
Target Customer
At the moment the target market for the product constitutes both babies and adults. Bathing babies using this product is much more convenient and less risky as it would involve with taking then through a shower with warm water where one always has to be careful to ensure the child does not drown or have their eyes catch soapy water. With adults on the other hand, this is proving to be the best solution to cutting on water usage as this method of bathing, using Tropical Bathing wipes helps to cut down water usage by a considerable number of gallons per month per household, ensuring that one pays lower costs for their water bills, at a time when the water cost per month is on the rise owing to the fact that electricity charges are also on the rise, (Holmes, 2016).
Competitive edge
What makes the Tropical Bathing Wipes to be outstanding from the rest is that the bag in which the towels are kept can be filled with up to half a gallon and the cleaning agents are organic compounds with organic fragrance. The towel is thick and is approximately 24” x24” and can be wrung and sipped back into the cleaning solution in the pouch. The whole issue of organic revolves around maintaining the company’s objective to express concern for environmental degradation by promoting the use of green raw materials to produce eco-friendly products.
The thickness of the wipe ensures that it is pre-moistened sufficiently with the antiseptic prior to use by an individual. The wide size of the wipes ensures that it can be handled easily and covers a larger area with one clean. As compared to other wipes currently in production, they are thinner as well as smaller, this makes cleaning much harder and to take longer. The towel is also reusable for a period of time, meaning that you do not have to buy a new set of towels each time that you have a bath as with the popular non-woven wipes that you can only use once and then dispose. For this reason it constitutes as a very affordable means of showering.
Marketing strategies
Woven and Non-woven forms-Differentiation strategy
As a differentiation strategy, it is paramount that the company needs to provide also the non-woven form of the product. This will help in ensuring portability of the product by clients who would wish to travel. The current form of the product might prove cumbersome to carry around as compared to the non-woven forms which are lighter, closely packed, with less moisture but producing the same results as the later. The company can also consider packaging Tropical Bathing Wipes in a very distinctive package, aside from ensuring that the organic fragrance is also very distinctive. This according to Bhasin (2018) has been a very effective marketing stratagem applied by Dettol. Lastly, additives that improve the health of the skin, like aloe, vitamin E as well as other additives that other competing companies have not tried out like avocado oil, could greatly contribute to the exceptionality of the product.
Market Penetration
Market penetration through the rigorous marketing of the product by creating more awareness concerning its benefits over the conventional showering can help the company in covering more market share. This would include awareness concerning the water bill cost savings and promotion of environmental sustainability that result from the use of the product. There might also be an overall notion that this product is meant just for the upscale class hence the need to supply enough and affordable packages to stores accessible by both the middle income and low income classes to break this stereotype. Also as a strategy for market penetration, the company can consider partnering with already well established companies like Dettol, now found in several markets across, Africa, North and South America as well as the European continent.
Sustainability
Recent studies indicate that more consumers are willing to spend on sustainable brands, (Marketing Charts, 2016). This is in a bid to help in concerted efforts to reduce and reverse the effects of climate change visible in many parts of the world for example the recent sinking of the Maldives Island. It is thus very critical that the company considers getting an eco-label from the EPA for example as a proof of its adherence to their product environmental standards. Whenever a consumer gets to see this label on a product, they will always prefer it over the rest.
Effectiveness of product in elimination of germs
Consumers will always prefer the most effective product in the market. Hence, by elevating the levels of effectuality of the product in line with germ elimination, more sales can be realized. This is because many buyers always want value for the money that they spend in particular product. The value should form part of the main promotions for example through internet marketing and most importantly, the company should be able to demonstrate occasionally with control products to prove to the consumers that whatever efficiencies the product has over other Wipes is not just a claim but true, (Simon, 2018).
Internet Marketing
With the advent of the internet, it is has now become very possible to reach a large number of target consumers in a very short time. Some of the internet marketing strategies include email marketing that involves sending mass mails to a mail list of subscribers, keeping them updated about how the Tropical Bathing Wipes have been made better for example, concerning offers and promotions. Search Engine Optimization is additionally another strategy that ensures this company will always appear at the top of search results on the search engines whenever a potential client or customers enters key words related to this product. Lastly, through social media platforms like Facebook, the company can be able to advertise to the 2.19 active users of this platform, (statista, 2018).
Conclusion-Evaluation (Why the product would be successful) and Improvement
From the analysis conducted above, it is evident that the product has potential for high sales count, now and in the future. This is because it will fit the need to be clean, smell great and reduce the average family water usage by nearly 900 gallons per week. There are approximately 103 million households in the USA. The impact is huge just by using our product every other day. Total water gallon savings in the USA per year 43,650,000,000. Pira (2016) on his analysis on the prospects of wipes in general also goes ahead to confirm that, personal care wipes as a category of wipes as well as where Tropical Bathing Wipes falls, maintain being among the highest growing wipes categories. He interestingly adds to the fact that most users of these wipes mostly rely on wipes especially when faced with economic stress. This is a likely and quite often occurrence that faces many family households, especially the middle and low income families, who constitute larger part of the world’s populace. This is another promising sign for Tropical Bathing Wipes. It is thus safe to say that, with the incorporation of the suggested strategies, market growth and significant sales can be made from the product.
References
Bhasin, H. (2018). Marketing Strategy of Dettol – Dettol Marketing strategy, Availability at: https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-strategy-of-dettol/ Retrieved 31st May, 2018
Daily Mail (2018). Bathing every day increases risk of infections, experts warn, Available at: https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018/04/18/bathing-every-day-increases-risk-of-infections-experts-warn_c1745897 Retrieved 31st May, 2018
Drewett, Z. (2018). Having a shower every day could be really bad for you, Available at: https://metro.co.uk/2018/04/19/shower-every-day-really-bad-7479608/ Retrieved 31st May, 2018
Escher, A. (2018). Causes of the global water crisis and 12 companies trying to solve it, Available at: https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/22/causes-of-the-global-water-crisis-and-12-companies-trying-to-solve-it/ Retrieved 31st May, 2018
Forrest, S. (2018). The Hidden History of Bathing in Soup Broth, Available at: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/soup-broth-baths-history-healthy Retrieved 31st May, 2018
Holmes, C. (2016). Utility Bills 101: Tips, Average Costs, Fees, and More, Available at: https://www.move.org/utility-bills-101/ Retrieved 31st May, 2018
Marketing Charts. (2016). Consumer Willingness to Pay a Premium for “Green” Products Climbs, Albeit Slowly, Available at: https://www.marketingcharts.com/industries/cpg-and-fmcg-76738 Retrieved 31st May, 2018
Pira, S. (2016). End-use Market Forecasts for Global Wipes to 2021, Available at: https://www.happi.com/issues/2016-09-01/view_features/end-use-market-forecasts-for-global-wipes-to-2021 Retrieved 31st May, 2018
Simon, E. (2018). How advisers prove their value for money, Available at: https://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/advisers-prove-value-money/ Retrieved 31st May, 2018
Statista. (2018). Number of monthly active Facebook users worldwide as of 1st quarter 2018 (in millions), Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/ Retrieved 31st May, 2018
Steber, C. (2018). 11 Surprising Health Effects of Taking Long Showers, Available at: https://www.bustle.com/p/11-surprising-health-effects-of-taking-long-showers-7844515 Retrieved 31st May, 2018
