Soren Chemicals
Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking?
Case Study Analysis Submitted by Group
Introduction Soren Chemicals was founded in 1942 by Timothy Soren to sell industrial-strength cleaning solutions. Since then, the company had expanded its focus to include industrial chemicals for lubricants and fuels, as well as a range of chemical solutions for treating drinking water and wastewater. Historically, Soren Chemical had concentrated on business-to-business sales and placed little emphasis on creating consumer awareness of its products. Objective Jen Moritz, the protagonist of this case study, is a marketing manager in the Water Treatment Products group with responsibility for chemicals used in drinking and pool water treatment. Her role is to develop the go-to-market strategy for ‘Coracle’, which is a pool water clarifier, intended for use in residential pools with lower bather loads. Since Soren’s new strategy is to opportunistically develop consumer brands, their plan with Coracle is to make it a branded product. They plan to build some recognition with the Coracle name, so that they have a platform to market more consumer-based products in the future. Problem Statement The volume target for the first year of sales for Coracle was 100,000 units. However, through the first half of the selling season for pool chemicals, Soren had sold just 7,450 units. Coracle had been budgeted at $1.5 million in sales for the year, but so far Soren had sold a very disappointing for $111,000. Problem Analysis Since Coracle, was the first product of Soren Chemicals directed at the consumer market, it suffered from poor brand recognition. Approximately, 80% of consumers maintained their own pools and they didn’t recognize a new brand name like Coracle. The second issue faced is the challenges of selling through distributors and retailers. The company decided not to allow private-label branding for Coracle, despite requests from several major wholesale
Case Study Analysis Submitted by Group
Introduction Soren Chemicals was founded in 1942 by Timothy Soren to sell industrial-strength cleaning solutions. Since then, the company had expanded its focus to include industrial chemicals for lubricants and fuels, as well as a range of chemical solutions for treating drinking water and wastewater. Historically, Soren Chemical had concentrated on business-to-business sales and placed little emphasis on creating consumer awareness of its products. Objective Jen Moritz, the protagonist of this case study, is a marketing manager in the Water Treatment Products group with responsibility for chemicals used in drinking and pool water treatment. Her role is to develop the go-to-market strategy for ‘Coracle’, which is a pool water clarifier, intended for use in residential pools with lower bather loads. Since Soren’s new strategy is to opportunistically develop consumer brands, their plan with Coracle is to make it a branded product. They plan to build some recognition with the Coracle name, so that they have a platform to market more consumer-based products in the future. Problem Statement The volume target for the first year of sales for Coracle was 100,000 units. However, through the first half of the selling season for pool chemicals, Soren had sold just 7,450 units. Coracle had been budgeted at $1.5 million in sales for the year, but so far Soren had sold a very disappointing for $111,000. Problem Analysis Since Coracle, was the first product of Soren Chemicals directed at the consumer market, it suffered from poor brand recognition. Approximately, 80% of consumers maintained their own pools and they didn’t recognize a new brand name like Coracle. The second issue faced is the challenges of selling through distributors and retailers. The company decided not to allow private-label branding for Coracle, despite requests from several major wholesale