Biore Pore Pack

Kao Corporation made a big hit in the industry of personal care product with Biore Pore Pack launched in 1996 in Japan. However, after the successful launching, Biore Pore Pack faced intensive competitions which threatened its brand and positioning in the market. (1) As such, there is a need for a critical analysis of the marketing environment SWOT analysis.

Strengths Weaknesses

• Potential internal strengths

• Comprehensive products fields

• Wide distribution channel

• Expansion based on brand equity

• Pioneering advantage • Less market-shares in the global markets comparing with that in the domestic market

• Unable to up-stretch market

Opportunities Threats

• High demand

• Potential markets • Intensive competitions

1. Strengths:

• Potential internal strengths

As stated in Kao Business Activities (2008), members of individual Kao Group companies and divisions that operate on a global basis are engaged in business activities aiming at Yoki-Monozukuri that will really satisfy Kao’s customers and enable Kao to share joy with them.

(Source: Kao Corporation – Business Activities. Available at: http://www.kao.co.jp/en/company/activities/index.html)

Bear in mind the motto of “Integrates diversity to create innovative products”, Kao R&D team always keeps track of market’s changing tastes and needs in order to satisfy its customers whom it gets tougher to gain or even retain due to the vast ranges of competitive products. By applying the Yoki-Monozukuri into its business activities, be it the R&D, Sales, Marketing, Production and Distribution, Kao possesses a potential internal strength which helps not only back up for its business activities but also differentiate itself from the other competitors.

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...ack for 6 months. Pond’s aggressively shared the market-shares of pore pack with its me-too product named Clear Pore Strip which claims to have the same use and relatively same packaging. As a normal practice in business competition, Kao encountered not only Pond’s but also Oxy Blackout which is in paste form, facial mask which also claims to remove dirt from the pores, Sasha nose mask for men, and even copycats in the industry of pore back. Being the later entrant, Pond’s speeded up in the race of sharing market by its advanced product, a modified version of Clear Pore Strip, called T-Zone Clear Pore Strip used for 3 areas of faces including forehead, chin and nose which are easily seen as oily. Since Pond’s is a weighty competitor as such, Kao is facing a disadvantage in term of product categories as Biore Pore Pack, at this point of time, is only for the nose area.