Aqualisa Quartz Case Analysis

Summary: Aqulisa’s newest and highly innovative product, the Quartz Shower, comes in two forms: Standard and Pumped. Despite the initial anticipation and buzz surrounding the product at its outset, early sales figures in the first four months were much lower than expected at an average of only 15 units/day. Management is interested in generating sales momentum, and is willing to rethink their marketing strategy but not their pricing. The three options they are facing are to target consumers, do-it-yourselfers, or developers directly. While each of these options have pros and cons, we are recommending that the Quartz product be marketed directly to premium consumers, as well as directly to the consultants they will be advised by while shopping various high-end showrooms. While Aqualisa is a relatively small company, it has invested a great deal of time (three years of development) and money (€5.8M) toward the creation of this product thus far, and the additional €3 - €4 million for a large-scale consumer campaign is a nominal and necessary fee to drive the volume of growth that is necessary in order to “break out of the pack.”
Company: Aqualisa is a U.K. shower manufacturer with a reputation for producing high-quality, premium products alongside excellent service. Market share is currently at 17% (second largest) in Mixer Showers and at 11% (third largest) overall1. However despite their reputation, consumers are beginning to perceive the brand as “overpriced,” actual service is slipping, and 10% of products still malfunction. The company has focused its efforts on innovation, sourcing a top-notch R&D team, a new state-of-the-art testing facility, nine patents, and an engineering team that has grown from six to twenty.
Customer: Only about 60% of homes in the U.K. have showers,2 and market research has shown that consumers are most concerned with style, good pressure, stable temperature, ease of use, and reliability when choosing a shower. However,