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Marketing Management.

BBA Students of Marketing Management.

The brand ⇓Dentonic” by Ala Chemicals was originally launched as a tooth powder meant for the middle and lower socioeconomic classes. The tooth powder was a hugely successful product. Dentonic tooth powder held the highest market share in the category at 80 per cent in the 1990s. However, the tooth powder market in the urban areas is declining and consumer preference is slowly moving to toothpastes. Although tooth powder is still used in the rural areas, some toothpaste manufacturers have extended their reach at the lower end of the market offering consumers “value propositions” in the shape of toothpaste at the comparable price of tooth powder. The market for dental cleaning products has seen a shift in terms of young consumers switching from powder to the lower-priced toothpaste brands. The company Ala Chemicals did not want to sit back and face a declining tooth powder market. Therefore, they launched a premium quality toothpaste by the same brand name, Dentonic, and made efforts to penetrate the premium segment of toothpaste. However, the marketing strategies did not have the desired effect and the company was unable to get consumers to accept Dentonic as a premium toothpaste. Although Ala Chemicals indulged in promotional spending, using social media, offering a high-quality product and making it accessible with competitive prices, somehow they were unable to create the required pull.

This study provides an example of how “over positioning” of a brand can be an impediment in the case of a brand extension, especially when a lower end brand is positioned as a premium brand. It is also meant to show that the product concept alone cannot lead to marketing success and consumer acceptance. It also exposes students to the requirement of creating a Unique Value Proposition in a brand and the difficulties of pursuing a segment invasion, without considering the entry barriers, and the marketing strategies/positions of competitors.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the salivary fluoride retention as fluoride concentration, amount of soluble fluoride, half-life (t_1/2) and salivary flow rate of different amounts of toothpaste and rinsing procedures.

A randomized crossover study of 21 healthy volunteers was designed to compare pharmacokinetic parameters of 1 g (B1) and 0.3 g (B0.3) of toothpaste without rinsing and brushing with 1 g of toothpaste with expectoration followed by water rinsing (B1R). Unstimulated saliva was collected before brushing as a baseline and at 0, 5, 10, 30, 60 and 90 min after the completion of the tooth brushing procedure.

The salivary fluoride concentration and amount of soluble fluoride of the B1 group were significantly higher than the B0.3 and B1R groups. The B1 and B1R groups prolonged the remineralizing level up to 60 min while the B0.3 group retained their remineralizing levels for 30 min. The initial t_1/2 (rapid phase) of B1 and B1R groups were significantly longer than the B0.3 group. The late t_1/2 (slow phase) of the B0.3 group was significantly longer than the B1 group. This is called the two-compartment open pharmacokinetics model. There was no statistical difference of salivary flow rates between all groups.

Non-rinsing and the amount of fluoride toothpaste play an important role in raising salivary fluoride levels and prolonging the remineralizing level of the oral cavity.

This paper seeks to assess the oral health status and behaviour of a sample of the Mauritian population visiting private dental clinics.

Oral health status was determined using the World Health Organization (Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth (DMFT) index indicating the prevalence of caries, and factors associated with oral health behaviour were investigated. Cross‐sectional data on oral health behaviour and demographic characteristics were collected through a structured 22‐item self‐designed survey questionnaire administered to a randomly selected sample of 250 Mauritians visiting private dental clinics. The data were statistically analysed to examine associations between oral health variables.

Analyses revealed significant correlations between DMFT scores, age and socioeconomic status. Over 80 per cent of the children below the age of 11 had DMFT scores higher than the acceptable WHO value of 3, and most adults older than 45 years had DMFT scores higher than 7. A large majority (85 per cent) reported using both fluoride toothpaste and tongue scrapers, but none reported using dental floss. Those who brushed teeth only once daily had high DMFT scores. Among males, smokers had significantly higher mean DMFT than non‐smokers. Females demonstrated better rates of good oral health behaviour than males. Respondents from higher socioeconomic classes were between three to five times more likely to visit dental clinics than those from lower classes.

This study reveals the need for intervention programmes to raise awareness of good oral health practices among the Mauritian people.

The results identified the high risk groups and highlighted the need for dental education, taking into consideration socioeconomic status and sociodemographics in order to enable Mauritians to become oral‐hygiene‐conscious and active partners for the management of oral health and prevention of systemic diseases.

Marketing in an emerging market.

The case is aimed at MBA students in a marketing strategy class on marketing at the bottom of the pyramid or on branding.

A young brand manager faced the challenge to increase drastically a brand market share to 8 per cent in 2015 in a context of a new emerging market with large number of consumers living with no more than US$1.25 a day.

Expected learning outcomes are as follows: to familiarize students with emerging markets characteristics; to illustrate the challenges of marketing a brand to local consumers with limited financial resources to craft a marketing strategy for Pepsodent with a clear positioning, allowing the Pepsodent brand to differentiate itself and to leverage its brand equity; and to develop a marketing-mix aligned with the brand positioning.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 8: Marketing.

This exercise describes the competitive dynamics situation faced by two large companies, Colgate – Palmolive and Proctor and Gamble in oral care business. Both of them introduced a tooth whitening solutions and anticipated to sustain their competitive lead. P&G introduced its solution in August 2000 and Colgate followed it in September 2002. This was followed by another introduction by Colgate April 2003. The intensified the competitive battle between the two companies. The participants are required to get into the shoes of either Colgate or P&G to think through a competitive strategy. The case provides information on the estimated demand for tooth whitening solutions, gains and losses of the two companies, R&D expenditure, players in the oral hygiene market and legal framework for complaining to facilitate the analysis of the situation and decision making by the participants. The case can be used in modules on competitive strategy, innovation, and economics of strategy.

This paper seeks to identify the functional and symbolic attributes of product and brand selection that are of importance to 18‐24 consumers across food and toiletries products.

The investigation used both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The initial quantitative study (268 respondents) aimed to identify in order of importance (using ANOVA) the variables that drive purchase behaviour across the four product categories of soap, coffee, breakfast cereal and toothpaste.

The study identified the key importance of sensory (e.g. taste, scent) attributes in the selection of the specific products studied. These sensory attributes may define the brand positioning of the products.

This paper has implications for new product development.

Identifies the functional and symbolic attributes of product and brand selection that are of importance to 18‐24 consumers across food and toiletries products.

The epidemiology of dental disease in the United Kingdom has been well documented since the introduction in 1968 of the first of the various decennial national surveys of dental health. This was coupled with an upsurge at about that time of academic interest in the subject which has continued to grow. Although the database on current disease experience and recent trends, at least in relation to dental caries, is extensive, foretelling future levels of dental health and disease can be only speculative and must involve a number of untested assumptions. This is because prediction depends largely upon the extrapolation of past trends, modified by the possible effects of anticipated developments and changes.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and oral health among Thai adults.

This study is a cross-sectional analytical study using secondary data from the 7th Thailand National Oral Health Survey (2012). Age group 35–44 years old samples were used to represent the working age population. Oral health outcome was determined by untreated dental caries. SES was indicated by income, education and occupational groups. Demographic background, oral health-related behavior and access to dental service were adjusted for analysis. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the relationship between independent variables and oral health outcome.

People with lower education showed a higher odds ratio for having untreated dental caries before and after controlling for related variables. Those living in the north and northeast, using additional cleaning tools and going to the public provider for dental service also showed better oral health.

The limitation of this study is that the cross-sectional study cannot indicate casual relationships. The national oral health survey was not designed to find relationships between factors. The access to data and measurement of SES was limited. The policy maker should emphasize on people with lower education which have a higher risk for dental caries to improve oral health in disadvantaged groups. Future research should include all related factors in the study including diet and knowledge about oral health. Moreover, oral health outcome is a long-term effect which accumulated through a lifetime. The social class might change over time and so do behaviors.

There is socioeconomic inequality in dental caries of Thai working age population.