The Clorox Company: Kingsford Case

605 Words2 Pages

The Clorox Company purchased Kingsford in 1973. Kingsford became one of the largest product groups within Clorox’s portfolio by 2000. Charcoal also represented a large percentage of Clorox’s revenues and net income. Therefore, a change in growth of the charcoal market would have a significant direct impact on Clorox’s annual sales and net earnings. Since the 1980’s Kingsford enjoyed growth in revenues ranging from a 1-3% increase each year. The charcoal industry had also experienced a steady growth as a whole. However, during the summer of 2000 charcoal sales declined and Kingsford’s summer results were projected to be below target. Clorox must now rely on Kingsford’s improvements in sales and profits to re-establish the company’s growth objectives. The two brand managers Marcilie Smith Boyle and Allison Warren will be challenged with determining the causes of decline, the impact of altering Kingsford’s current pricing, advertising, promotion, and production methods, and developing recommendations to increase profits. …show more content…

The primary problem discovered from analyzing the case is a poorly constructed marketing mix which doesn’t market Kingsford to its fullest potential. The marketing mix is comprised of the products’ pricing, advertising, production and promotional strategies. Kingsford has not changed their marketing strategy for the past several years. This is ineffective when the market is constantly changing and when new competitors are emerging. Kingsford has not designed each marketing mix component so that each component positively complements the others. This has been the main cause for Kingsford’s reduced growth rate. Secondary problems that have prevented Kingsford from achieving company objectives are the “seasonal business” approach and the heavy dependence on sales and merchandising

Open Document