DISTRIBUTION

Distribution is the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer using direct or indirect means of intermediaries.

Levels of distribution are of 4 types:

1.Zero level distribution : direct marketing

2.First level distribution  : retailers

3.Second level distribution:wholesalers and retailers

4.Third level distribution: broker, wholesalers, retailers

Distribution channels of Duracell

Duracell adopts first level and second level distribution channels. 

The depot of the company sells its products directly to the retailers and then from retailers it goes to the consumers.This happens only in places where depot of the company is located.

In small towns wholesalers are established by the company.Wholesalers get product from depot of the company and they sell to retailers. From retailers it goes to consumers.

Duracell mainly focuses on retailers as its distribution channel.

PRICING

Pricing is the process of determining what a company will receive in exchange for its product or service. pricing decisions are clearly complex and difficult, and holistic marketers must take into account many factors in making pricing decisions - the company, the customers, the competitions, and the marketing environment. pricing decision must be consistent with the firm's marketing strategy and its target market and brand positioning.

The product range of Duracell Batteries in India includes Duracell and Duracell Ultra. Duracell is available in sizes AAA, AA, C, D, and 9-volt while Duracell Ultra is available in sizes AA and AAA sizes.

Duracell Copper Top batteries are priced competitively at Rs.100 for 4ps pouch (AA) and 180 for 6ps pouch (AAA)

while Duracell ultra has a premium charge of Rs 75 for 2 ps pouch.

PRODUCT HIERARCHY

Product hierarchy is a spectrum that stretches from basic needs to the product that satisfy those needs. 

Product Hierarchy:

Each product is related to certain other products. The product hierarchy stretches from basic needs to particular items that satisfy those needs. There are 7 levels of the product hierarchy:

1. Need family:

The core need that underlines the existence of a product family. The need family for batteries is need for electric source

2. Product family:

All the product classes that can satisfy a core need with reasonable effectiveness. For example, all of the products such as batteries, dynamo, generator are power source.

3. Product class:

A group of products within the product family recognised as having a certain functional coherence. For instance, alkaline batteries in one product class

4. Product line:

A group of products within a product class that are closely related because they perform a similar function, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through the same channels or fall within given price range. Here Rechargeable batteries is a product line

5. Product type:

A group of items within a product line that share one of several possible forms of the product. For instance, AA pencil  batteries is one product type.

6. Item/stock-keeping unit/product variant:

A distinct unit within a brand or product line distinguishable by size, price, appearance or some other attributes. for example AA pencil alkaline batteries is a single item

Product Mix:

An organisations product line is a group of closely related products that are considered a unit because of marketing, technical or end-use considerations. In order to analyse each product line, product- line managers need to know two factors. These are.

i. Sales and profits

ii. Market profile

A product mix or assortment is the set of all products and items that a particular seller offers for sale. A company’s product-mix has some attributes such as.

1. Width:

This refers to how many different product lines the company carries.

2. Depth:

This refers to how many variants, shades, models, pack sizes etc. are offered of each product in the line

3. Length:

This refers to the total number of items in the mix.

4. Consistency:

This refers to how closely the various product lines are related in end use, production requirements, distribution channels or some other way.

Setting Product Strategy

Anything which companies produce to satisfy particular needs and demands is referred to as a product. A product can be classified as to be made of following five levels.

The core benefit is the underlying segment product is offering. For example, customer  buying batteries has basic need of substitute power supply or portable charging option. this is the core value that is being offered by the product. A product engineered to satisfy this basic need becomes basic product. further to this companies add product value to there offering. At the expected level a battery should be long lasting and should have high reliability factor. certain basic expectations when added to the the basic product makes it an expected product. An augmented product provides more than customer expectation like having ability to hold charge for a very long time and others features that gives added benefits to the product.. However, augmentation increases the price of the product and customers have to pay extra. An augmented product gets converted into an expected. At potential level companies provides products considering all the possible augmentation.

Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix basically consists of the following 4 parameters that a marketer can control,
subject to internal and external constraints of the marketing environment. The goal is to focus on these parameters to create perceived value and generate positive response.  

Product Decisions

The term "product" refers to tangible, physical products as well as services. Here are

some examples of the product decisions to be made:

Brand name - Duracell brand name itself signifies that the product is focused on the duarbility of the product.

Functionality- The batteries are able to hold charge for a longer period of time compared to other brands offerings

Quality - From its long history of innovation and its focus on best serving the needs of the consumer, Duracell continues to set the standard for portable power.

Price Decisions

Some examples of pricing decisions to be made include:

Pricing strategy -skim, penetration, etc. 

Suggested retail price - Duracell Battery AA pack of 2 - Rs 51, Alkaline Battery 1.5v pack of 4 Rs. 120, Duracell ultra power Duralock AA pack of 4 Rs 350

Bundling - The batteries often comes in varied number of packaging and the price per battery is less is purchased in bulk.

Distribution (Place) Decisions

Distribution is about getting the products to the customer. Some examples of

distribution decisions include:

Distribution channels - Duracell batteries are available through number of places including shopping marts, retail grocery stores, electronics shops, camera shops, online retailing shops

Market coverage (inclusive, selective, or exclusive distribution)

Specific channel members

Inventory management

Warehousing

Order processing

Transportation

Promotion Decisions

Advertising-  Promotion of the brand was done using several ad-campaigns including Duracell two helicopter campaign, Duracell trusted everywhere campaign and about Air-life Denver.

Personal selling & sales force - The infamous "Duracell Bunny" has promoted 85% recall among the customers who immediately link the character to the brand.

Sales promotions - Duracell did annual survey of top ten toys which gave the brand a valuable association with the toys.

Public relations & publicity - It promoted itself as a long lasting battery brand now it simply states Duracell Power, more life. Duracell sponsored 2002 Fifa world cup by offering new merchandising material and ad campaigns.

Product Life Cycle

Every product has a life span, which is divided into above five stages. The product lifecycle describes the sales pattern of a product over the time.The five stages are R&D, Introduction, Growth, Maturity, Decline.

Product life cycle of Duracell Batteries.

1) R&D stage- Duracell originated via the partnership of scientist Samuel Ruben and businessman Philip Rogers Mallory, who met during the 1920s. The P.R. Mallory Company of Burlington, Massachusetts, United States, produced mercury batteries for military equipment, trumping the carbon-zinc batteries used then in virtually all applications. During the 1950s, Kodak introduced cameras with a flash: the design required a new cell size, and size AAA was developed

2)Introduction stage- It was not until 1964 that “Duracell” was introduced as a brand, the name a portmanteau–a combination of multiple words–for “durable cell.” Then in 1978, Dark acquired the P.R. Mallory Company, which then merged with Kraft just two years later. In 1988 Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the American multinational private equity firm, bought Duracell making the company public by the next year. It was then acquired in 1996 by Gilette, which was ultimately attained by Procter & Gamble.

3)Growth stage - Since the introduction Duracell has made innovative strides in developing new battery design with prismatic batteries, introducing NiOx technology, and advancing environmentally sound wireless power. Leading the way in the evolution of battery power, it’s no wonder Duracell has remained on top for so long.

4)Maturity stage- Duracell, the “Trusted Everywhere” battery brand, has been meeting global battery needs for decades, dating back to the first alkaline batteries. The Procter & Gamble-owned brand owns 25 percent of the global battery market share and is regarded as one of P&G’s “Leadership Brands.”

5)Decline stage-  The brand faces a big challenge maintaining the leadership position that it has acquired , however. Smartphones, tablets, MP3 players, and other consumer electronics tend to run on their own rechargeable batteries, causing the battery market to decline in recent years. To stem declines, the iconic Copper Top battery maker expanded its product mix with products like the Duracell Power mat, a convenient tool to recharge any gadget. The company recently launched Quantum, a premium sub-brand that it’s calling its most powerful battery to date. Innovation in complementary categories has enabled Duracell to maintain its marketplace presence and remain relevant, including OEM global sales and consulting services. Trust in the brand remains high thanks to key marketing partnerships, including serving as the official battery of the NFL. On social media, Duracell’s community growth exceeds that of its competitors with 4.1 million Facebook likes. Duracell strengthened its emotional connection with consumers through ad campaigns featuring fire-fighters and other first responders. 

Competition And Industry

Competition is the rivalry between companies selling similar products and services with the goal of achieving revenue, profit, and market share growth. Companies strive to increase sales volume by utilizing the 4 components of marketing mix, also referred to as the 4 P's: Product, Place, Promotion, Place.All organizations must consider their competition, whether it is direct or indirect competition vying for the consumer’s dollar. Both nonprofit and for-profit organizations compete for customers’ resources. Coke and Pepsi are direct competitors in the soft drink industry, Apple and Samsung are competitors in the Cellphone manufacturing. A group of competitors that provide similar products or services form an industry. Michael Porter, a professor at Harvard University and a leading authority on competitive strategy, developed an approach for analyzing industries. Called the five forces model and shown in the figure below. The framework helps organizations understand their current competitors as well as organizations that could become competitors in the future. As such, firms can find the best way to defend their position in the industry.

Bargaining powers of suppliers and buyers have less say than the threats posed by the potential entrants of new product and substitutes offered in the market.

Chief Global Competition for Duracell Include companies like

1) Energizer

2) Sanyo

3) Panasonic

4) Sony

5) Toshiba

6) Ultralite

7) Matsushita

Customer Decision Making (CDM) Process

Customer Decision Making Process comprises of 5 stages that a customer goes through to make his final purchasing decision. The stages of the buyer decision process are the recognition of the problem, the information searching, evaluation of all alternatives, the purchase decision and then finally  the post-purchase behavior. 

Problem Recognition - This is the first stage of the Customer decision making process where a customer realizes a particular problem that needs to be solved or he has a need to satisfy. this can be triggered either by a internal or external stimulus

Information Searching - Stage two is where we begin to search for information about the product or service. Buyers here begin to look around to find out what’s out there in terms of choice and they start to work out what might be the best product or service for solving the problem or satisfying any need.

Evaluation of alternatives - Stage three sees the evaluation of the available alternatives whereby the buyer decides upon a set of criteria by which to assess each alternative.

The Purchase decision - This stage is where a customer finally makes the decision of what to buy and where to buy it from.

Post Purchase Behavior - Once the product is purchased and used, the consumer will evaluate the adequacy with his original needs (those who caused the buying behavior). And whether he has made ​​the right choice in buying this product or not. He will feel either a sense of satisfaction for the product (and the choice). Or, on the contrary, a disappointment if the product has fallen far short of expectations.

We shall now look upon some questions with regard to the product which is Duracell batteries

1. Who buys this item?

The household batteries market has declined as most of the mobile devices including mobile phones cameras mp3 players are now using dedicated built in rechargeable batteries. Still household batteries maintains a ubiquitous presence in home in variety of  household applications from remote controls to fire alarms. while they once provided portable power to most household items, their role is shifting to one of security and preparedness. Duracell is the first choice of customers looking for a reliable and long lasting battery to power their devices including camera, remote controls, radios, power cases for cell phones, portable chargers and many others. 

2. What problem will this product solve?

Portability is what makes batteries so important. The convenience brought by batteries have led to invention of more gadgets that make use of wireless power. Thanks to which we have wireless mouse, flash lights, portable fans, lamps and televisions that previously used to be wired to a power source. We can fully appreciate the use of batteries when electricity goes out. They allow us to operate our devices where ever we are, no matter what the situation is. Cellphones which have now increased in their size and performance are struggling to maintain their portability. In such situation phone cases with built in power bank can supply extra power to them when their batteries gets discharged.

3. Which attributes are important and why?

The key attributes customers look for while buying batteries are
- Reliability of the product.  
- Durability, how long will it last.
- In case of rechargeable batteries, the number of charging cycles and its charging time.
- Its capacity to size ratio, portability.
- Ability to hold charge for longer period of time.

4. If this decision is the first time, how will it go? If it is repeat, how will it go? 
The first time customer goes for a product that offers them the best deal. people buying batteries would not do research on what brand to buy. they would just go for a well known brand that is already well established. and which is easily available to them. Branding and advertisements also play important role in influencing their purchasing decision.
For those customers who are already associated with the brand will usually not switch to another brand. Duracell customers are loyal to the brand since it has strong brand positioning. However some customers are indifferent to brands and if they find a better offering from a competition, they would buy it. Eveready is the second largest battery manufacturer and major competitor to Duracell. Therefore to retain its customers, Duracell comes up with more innovative product line and better quality products than its competitors.

Customer Value

Customer value is the customer’s evaluation of the difference between all the benefits and all the costs of a market offering relative to those of competing offers. 

Total Customer value = 
(Product benefit, Personal Benefit, Services Benefit, Image Benefit)

Total Customer Cost = 
(Psychological Cost, Time Cost, Energy Cost, Monetary Cost)

Customer Perceived Value = Total Customer Value - Total Customer Cost

Thus its can be said that customer value is the benefit a customer gets from a product or services compared to the cost of procuring it.
The Marketer can increase the value of the customer offering by increasing the total customer benefits and reducing the total customer cost. 

Duracell appears to have a long-term vision to adapt to the changing electronic device market. The "Trusted Everywhere" campaign reflects customers' basic emotional needs for security and reliability. By answering consumer's demands for new technology, it indicates Duracell's customer-oriented values. The main conflict that Duracell has right now is with consumers deciding to purchase rechargeable batteries as opposed to Prismatic. Features & Benefits

Duracell has made sure of launching products that may be of valuable use to its consumers. These products include the commonly used AA, AAA, C, D and 9 volt batteries. They've also kept up with the recent advances in technology launching products such as the Duracell power reserve, which is a usb device that keeps hours of power back up in electronic devices such as cell phones, ipods, ipads, digital cameras, etc.

Introduction

    

• Parent Company    Procter and Gamble
• Category                 Electronics
• Sector                     FMCG
• Tag line/ Slogan     Lasts longer, much longer
• USP                        Market leader and excellent                                                          brand recognition

Duracell is a member of the Gillette Company owned by Proctor & Gamble and is the alkaline battery market leader holding approximately 50 percent of the U.S. market share. Gillette's overall goal focuses on the skillful marketing of superior technology to achieve worldwide leadership. The Duracell name means reliability to consumers and that is why their products are trusted by customers every day. They use the most advanced technologies to ensure that the power is there when the customers need it to be. One of the reasons why I chose this product over the rest of the competitors of this market is because Duracell I find has more appealing advertisement, such as its innovative commercials. In addition, they're more appealing to the public because of the brightness of its color and bold name which is part of a good product presentation.