Old Spice is well-known brand of male grooming products; it is produced and sold by Procter & Gamble (P&G), who purchased the brand from the Shulton Company in 1990 for three hundred million dollars.
Since its origins in 1937, Old Spice targeted men from age 18 to 34 with their infamous sailor ads. P & G refocused the target market in 1994 after realizing that their target market of age group 25 to 43 was not meeting their expectation.P & G change direction and decided to “skip a generation” in 1999, they did this by giving free samples to fifth graders who covered ninety percent of the nation schools. Targeting first time buyers of deodorants and investing at a lower age because of lack of experience with such a product. While In 2000, P&G marketed Old Spice Red Zone, a sub-brand, and sales increased and came close to competing brand Right Guard in 2001.With differentiated marketing Old Spice will need to target more than one segment and will have to devise a divided marketing mix for each one.
Old Spice differentiation strategy will benefit both the company and the customers since their certain needs are being dealt with and the amount of customers being served is greater. This will create brand loyalty for Old spice which is vital for the company. Differentiation of Old Spice’s brand is producing their product to meet the needs of the market and having their market infrastructure to facilitate movement to the market.Positioning is a perceptual concept in marketing, it is the process used by marketers to create an image or identity of their product in the minds of their target market (consumers).
And it is where ones Old Spice fits into the marketplace as a niche. Effective positioning puts their targeted market first in line and in the minds of Old Spice potential customers. Positioning becomes vital for the long term continued existence of Old Spice and the durability of their product life cycle. Positioning strategy of Old Spice will need to review their strengths and weaknesses. The understanding the strength and weaknesses of their competitors, factors which makes consumer buying behavior, and then recognizing openings in their industry marks out the model positioning strategy for Old Spice.The impact of repositioning for the product life cycle of Old Spice has pro-longed the product.
Repositioning is basically changing the identity or the image of the product in the minds of the consumers. Old Spice maintains its original demographics but had to reposition themselves again due to lack of sales from the target market. The repositioning to younger consumer was an investment in the future buyers as an entry point for the need of such a product. The investment was on retaining of young men as their age, as they age Old Spice will reach its original target market and still maintain the original demographics. It is a constant flow of new customers that prevails flexible, causing brand loyalty and maintains brand name.Old Spice is a well-known American brand of male grooming products that was originally targeted towards men of age group 25 to 45.
Changing direction to “skip a generation” and targeting first time buyers of deodorants and investing at a lower age has insure long product life cycle. Old Spice constant flow of new customers, which is flexible, causing brand loyalty and maintains brand loyalty. Their effective positioning makes their targeted market first in line, and in the minds of Old Spice potential customers has ensure success and long term longevity of the company.
