Oral-B Analysis

The company Oral-B is a brand of oral hygiene products, there products very from anything including toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwashes, dental floss and electric toothbrushes. The brand has been in business since the invention of the Hutson toothbrush all the way back in 1950. The brand has been owned by American multinational Proctor and Gamble (P&G) since 2006. Some innovations that the company is known for bringing to the market include bristles that fade with wear, this innovation was created in 1991 and actually won one of the Edison awards that year for technological innovation. Another innovation that oral b brought to the oral hygiene industry was angled bristles and they introduced that to the market in 1998.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

• Innovation: Oral-B has come a long way from just creating a standard toothbrush to now creating an innovating, exciting new way to brush your teeth, called the “genius 8000.”
• Good Product Research: Oral–B has been responsible for converting products in have been usually considered boring into innovative and interesting products such as plain toothbrushes to now electric ones that clean up to 50% more areas. The biggest strength of Oral–B is they understand the problems that a customer faces in the usage of a toothbrush and how to adapt to help them with it.
• Complete Understanding: Oral-B is a company that understands the competitive market and knows what they must do to be able to continue grow their market.
• Clear Positioning in industry: Oral- B is a brand that positioned itself very clearly in the oral care industry. In addition to it, the company has always followed a customer first need-based positioning for example, removal of plaque that reach remote points in the mouth. The strategy being used has been to identify the needs of its customers and create new products that are innovative towards their needs.
• Testimonials: Oral-B has been a strong user of testimonial advertising and the toothbrushes and other Oral-B products that have been endorsed by dentists and other oral care practitioners. These testimonials have increased the trust and goodwill of their customers because if their own dentists endorse and use the product there’s no reason the average consumer shouldn’t as well.

Weaknesses

• High Competition: Oral-B is aware of the high competition in the dental oral care field and know that now innovated products keep their customers interested and happy.
• Low Awareness: The brand Oral- B is one that makes numerous products that are complex in their positioning. Some examples include offerings like the Oral–B Smart Series which is an electric toothbrush which works on blue tooth technology (something the market is extremely new to). Such complex products need a certain amount of awareness and exposure since people don’t know if its worth all the hype and money or if it would be worth their money.
• Dental Liability: a lot of money is at stake being an oral care company because if any customer was to damage/chip their teeth than the company could be held accountable.
• Low Penetration to Market: Though P & G (Proctor and Gamble) has a well-spread distribution network, the oral care brand Oral- B has not been able to effectively penetrate the rural segment yet, due to in large part because the brand is very expensive and is not aware of the usage, meaning it doesn’t appeal to the average consumer resulting in potential lost customers and sales.
• New innovations Coming up in Market: With all the biggest competitors in the dental hygiene industry there’s going to be new innovating products and services that these companies will come up with and a failure to keep up with the new products and services can be a way for Oral-B lose money and become a less known company.

Opportunities

• Increasing involvement in personal care products: Oral-B is aware that being a part of the oral care field that they have multiple opportunities to branch out into further oral care products, such as teeth whiting kits/ pens etc.
• Differentiated advertising methods: such as newspaper ads, direct marketing online, social media and product placement.
• Unexploited Markets: There’s an increasing demand for personal care products and Oral-being is one of the popular presences in the dental hygiene market so if it would be a huge opportunity if they could pull it off and move into the ‘’health care’’ industry. Oral- B also has limited or no presence in kids oral care which is a domain that they should move into to continue building there brand and increasing their demographic group.

Threats

• Aggressive competition in the same industry: such as Colgate, Crest, Phillips and GUM.
• Regular introduction of new products by competitors: this means other companies creating simple products but having a clear mission’s statement and core values, that they become successful and competition.
• Cost Consciousness: Oral- B is a brand that has never been overly concerned about pricing their products right and don’t price it based off what the consumers budget that’s why their products are expensive. If the customer is getting conscious about the price they pay for essential products like toothbrushes and hold a high value on there money, they might choose to go to a less expensive brand because it can fit there budget better.

Competitor Analysis

Strengths

Oral-B has a lot of big competitors in the oral hygiene industry. Some of the biggest ones in the industry include but are not limited to, Colgate, Crest, Phillips and GUM. The biggest strengths that Oral-B has going for them is there top of the line electric toothbrushes. Even though using a manual toothbrush is the most common way of brushing teeth for many people around the world.  It isn’t necessarily the best, People have not been able to appreciate the use of electric toothbrushes to clean their teeth mostly in part due to the price point of the toothbrushes, but some benefits that electric toothbrushes have are that they have specific cleaning modes. As found on Oral-B’s website ‘’Oral-B Electric Toothbrushes offer a varying number of cleaning modes, so you can personalize your clean and achieve your brushing goals. You can also choose from a range of brush modes until you find the option that’s most comfortable for you.’’ (Proctor and Gamble, 2018).

Another strength that Oral-B’s electric toothbrushes have over any other ordinary manual toothbrush out there on the market is that their tooth brushes have superior technology. Oral-b Electric toothbrushes pulsate to loosen plaque and then oscillate and rotate to sweep the plaque away. There electric toothbrushes deliver up to 48,800 movements per minute, while a regular manual toothbrush can only deliver 300 to 600 movements per minute. The clinically proven superior technology of an electric toothbrush removes 100% more plaque than a regular manual toothbrush. (Proctor and Gamble, 2018). Furthermore, another innovating idea that the Oral-B line of electric toothbrushes have is the ability to put in a two-minute timer on the toothbrush. Having a two-minute timer on the toothbrush allows the consumer to be guided through a two-minute timer routine to ensure they clean all areas of there mouth.

Weaknesses

Oral-B has a lot of strengths that helps the company move along in a positive direction, but they also have some weaknesses as well. Looking to buy an electric toothbrush can be an expensive investment. The use of such toothbrushes can be very lavish and, in a sense, luxurious, with this being the case replacement heads can be a lot pricier than standard toothbrushes, also if you get an electric toothbrush that isn’t rechargeable your going to have to keep up with paying for its batteries. Perhaps looking into a spin-brush can be a better alternative than electric-powered toothbrushes if you’re on a budget. Some issues include overheating even though its very unlikely and the chance of that happening are very minimal it should still be taken into consideration when purchasing an electric toothbrush.

Another weakness that Oral-B has when it comes to people wanting to choose to buy an electric toothbrush over a manual toothbrush would be the ‘’breakability’’ factor. For example, when manual toothbrushes break, the only thing that can happen is to replace it with a new one which can only cost less than a dollar. However, when an electric toothbrush breaks or runs out of battery, it can cost you more than just a few dollars.

Segmentation

A specific target market is a group of customers that a company is trying to sell their product service or good to. Theses specifics marketing groups could include but are not limited to age, ethnicity, geographic, demographic and religious views. Establishing a target market is an essential step for any company in its initial stage of development as it will determine the direction your going to take for your entire company. For example, a target market will determine how you advertise, design, and package your products as well as what type of employees you are looking for to match your companies outlook. With that in mind, Oral-B’s target market is for the most part is anybody that wants good oral health care. But to be more specific its also for a higher age group around 18+ because these toothbrushes could get very expensive. If you don’t have a reliable source of income, I don’t see you spending 100+ dollars on a tooth brush. With that being said, it doesn’t seem that younger kids would have a valid source of income to purchase one of these and its unlikely that they would ask for a 100$ toothbrush for a gift.

Another specific target market Oral-B should go after is the technological market. With technology getting more and more advanced as every year goes on there’s no surprise that these products are evolving as well. with the new Oral-B product being launched called the Oral-B Genius 8000 it has an ability to be able to connect to your smart phone to your toothbrush through an app. Some of the features it can tell you on the app is the pressure your putting on your teeth while using the toothbrush, the amount of time brushing, and the percentage of your mouth you’ve cleaned. With such new and advanced technology put into a toothbrush only the most serious of tech geeks would be interested in such a product resulting in the technological market being the perfect idea to promote such products.

Consumer Behaviour

After a consumer finds a problem, the start to search for information about other products that could potentially better serve their needs. Because when considering toothbrushes, most consumers use manual toothbrushes. The significant higher cost of electrical toothbrushes is the main reason why consumers are hesitant to make the purchase. But majority of people do agree that electrical toothbrushes are generally better at cleaning teeth compared to manual ones and will give them a try when given more disposable income. Most people also say that their most wanted new functionality of a toothbrush would for it to have a whitening feature. Many people could pursue getting an electric toothbrush for multiple different reasons but there are 3 main reasons they could want it. They consumer could want it because of situational, psychological or socio-cultural reasons. A situational reason to buy an electric toothbrush would be because your doctor recommended it to you.

Overwhelmingly, dentists recommend the usage of electric toothbrushes from Oral-B over manual ones. Probably the only reason electric toothbrushes are not the standard in most homes is that they can sometimes be prohibitively expensive and require additional cost in the form of electricity, which can make them inaccessible to some users. If you were to follow the advice of your dentist, however, you'd probably end up with a higher quality electric toothbrush (LiGo Blog, 27 Oct. 2014). A psychological reason to get an electric toothbrush is because it can make your teeth look better. If you want the best smile you could be tricked into thinking you need the best/most expensive oral care to help achieve that look, if you end up having white teeth your smile could look better resulting in you looking more appealing to other people. It’s a way to trick the consumer into thinking its not just a product it’s a lifestyle.

Positioning Part A

Positioning is the strategic plan used by companies to differentiate themselves and their brand from different companies. Companies can do this in multiple different ways. Usually by emphasizing the brands uniqueness and highlighting the features which would make the brand successful. This technique is used by companies when there passed there first stage of development or service. Once a product is created by the company, then will they create different features to entice consumers to purchase their product instead of their competitors, from this spawn the logo and slogan for a company.  A company’s brand is the essence of the company and are sewed together, and you can not break one without the other.  Good examples of brands with creative matching slogans are “Golden Arches” to McDonalds or “Hot & Ready” to little Caesars, and “Pizza Pizza”.  The slogan is the company’s legacy it and it will live throughout the company’s lifecycle. It’s what people will remember once you are gone.

With Oral-B, the consumer perception of the company is that it’s a good reliable company when it comes to high quality oral care products but its been stated that a lot of customers have financial concerns and that lack of money was a common barrier to turn people away. Adolescents are quick to describe the “added costs” of dental care as a negative cost that isn’t ‘’needed’’. That isn’t actually true, Oral-B is trying to change that perception of the company and is showing people that its not a luxury but instead a ‘’need’’ and that you need these new products for top notch oral hygiene results. A lot of people have excess money that is being wasted on things they don’t actually need, with that being said your health and more specifically your oral care should be a top priority for people considering the long term results you can run into if you don’t take care of your teeth the money could really add up so spending a few extra bucks here and there shouldn’t be a problem.

Positioning Part B and Part C

‘’For anyone but adults specifically worried about oral hygiene, Oral-B is the one brand with electric toothbrushes that not only cleans your teeth but also get rid of plaque and helps prevent gum disease better then any manual toothbrush on the market.’’ Above is the positioning map as you can see, I identified 4 unique attributes in relation to the map Low Quality, High Quality, Low Cost and High Cost. I also included the main competitors for Oral-B.

Marketing Mix Part A

The elements of the marketing mix need to be carefully managed by marketers to ensure that they are well coordinated and appeal to the different characteristics of the target market. The product is called the Oral-B Genius 8000 and it’s a highly advanced toothbrush that features a dentist-inspired round head that surrounds and cups each tooth with dynamic oscillating, rotating and pulsating movements to remove up to 100% more plaque than a regular manual toothbrush. You can buy it on Amazon for $199.95. If your looking to purchase the Oral-B Genius 8000you can find it on a variety of different websites such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart.ca and Oral-B’s own website Oral-B.ca. You can also stop buy your nearest supermarket and pick one up as well such as Walmart.

Marketing Mix Part B

In terms of promotion for the Oral-B Genius 8000 there’s an app on your smart phone that you can pair with the toothbrush, with doing so you can also get some exclusive offers that you wouldn’t otherwise get, also it gives you notifications about the other new product drop form the Oral-B company. So, the app can give you free promotion if the consumer has the app on their smartphone.

References

• Bhasin, Hitesh, et al. “SWOT Analysis of Oral- B - Oral- B SWOT Analysis.” Marketing91, 23 Apr. 2018, www.marketing91.com/swot-analysis-of-oral-b/.
• Lombardo, R. “ConnectUS.” ConnectUS, 7 Oct. 2016, connectusfund.org/6-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-electric-toothbrush. “Why Are Electric Toothbrushes Better at Removing Plaque?” Proctor and Gamble, Oral-B Genius 8000 Series Electric Toothbrushes, www.oralb.ca/en-ca/oral-health/solutions/electric-toothbrushes/electric-toothbrushes-remove-more-plaque-than-manual-toothbrushes.
• Craig. “Top 5 Reasons To Switch To An Electric Toothbrush.” LiGo Blog, 27 Oct. 2014, www.ligo.co.uk/blog/top-5-reasons-switch-electric-toothbrush/. American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Clinical Guidelines: Adolescent Oral Health Care. Chicago, IL: American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry; 2012.