8/7/2019 THE CASE OF WRONG SEGMENTATION

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THE CASE OF WRONG SEGMENTATION!!

Saurabh Mitra is a fresh graduate from the institute of Mass Communication. He also possess a

Masters Degree in Marketing Management from the Mumbai University. It was through campus

recruitment that Saurabh was picked up by Doras Pharmaceuticals, a reputed company, having a

large market share in many OTC products. Main among these being a fairness cream named

Snowhite and an ointment for burns and cuts branded SBurns i.e. Stopburns.

The company has an all India presence and plans to soon launch a pain balm - cum - cold rub

named DCold. Dcold would be in straight competition with Vicks Vaporub and Amrutanjan.

Shri Manoj Singh, the companys marketing manager, dreams to make Dcold a leading brand. He

has contracted Admagic the countrys no. 1 advertising agency to handle the account of Dcold.

When Saurabh joined Doras he was included in the Marketing team of Dcold. Looking at

Saurabhs qualifications, and interests he was given the task of liaison with the advertising agency

Admagic. After a series of meetings between Saurabh and the Account Executive of Admagic, in a

few of which Mr. Singh was also present, it was decided to position Dcold towards the adult

segment of the market since all the three of them believed that the requirements of the adult

segment of the pain balm market were different from those of the children. They were also

convinced that Dcold had all the ingredients to meet the requirements of the adult segment of

the market.

Accordingly, the first advertising campaign of Dcold wa5 released in July 1999 to the media. The

company decided to concentrate on TV and the national press to reach its targetted customers.

The TV spots showed Dcold being used on the father of a family who is down with cold and body

ache. The focus of the advertising was on the punch line Bado ka cold rub. The timing of

launching Dcold was perfect since the rainy season was considered boom period for cold rubs.

The initial results were very encouraging and by the end of the rainy season Dcold had already

become a brand to reckon with. After the rainy season Admagic proposed to change the campaign

and accordingly a new campaign was prepared. While the TV spots showed a young mother using

Dcold on her school going child the earlier punch line was entirely missing.

Saurabh was not very happy from the TV spots as he felt that the new campaign went against the

earlier positioning of Dcold. This, he felt, would confuse the buyers and the advantage of the

positioning strategy would be lost. Since Mr. Singh was very happy with the new advertisements

Saurabh decided to keep silent.

1J Evaluate Dcolds segmentation strategy.

2] Do you agree with Saurabhs opinion on the new advertisements?

3] What would you do if you were in Saurabhs place?