Product Mix Research Paper

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Product Mix: Old Spice

Old Spice is a line of products that meet personal needs of people, providing varied services. Initial Old Spice products were for women, and they had the brand name of Early Old Spice. The product came into the market in the year 1937, with an extension occurring in 1938 that introduced Old Spice for men. The products of Old Spice initially were after shave lotions, shaving soaps, deodorants and perfumes, which later incorporated other products such as soaps, detergents among others. This product creates a presentable opportunity to understand the development of products, growing from simple one line production of product to a mixed product line of production. The products in the Old Spice mix are for fragrances, skin care and antiperspirant and deodorant products.

The Old Spice brand is a company of its own, from the time of establishment. Initially, the product production belonged to a company called Shulton Company. In the year 1934, William Lightfoot Shultz, a businessperson in the line of soap and toiletries products, where he realized the need to maintain the colonial framework from the new inventions that were getting into the country, he founded the Shulton Company. From his vision, his interest was to maintain the colonial era theme; hence, the reason he chose a nautical theme for Old Spice. Thus for his trademark, he used colonial sailing ships (Spice I2I Ltd. 5). Continually, through advertising and marketing, the ships became a valuable trademark in identifying Old Spice products for men. The initial ships used in packaging the products were the Grand Turk along with the Friendship. Other ships used in packaging include the Wesley, Salem Birmingham and Hamilton. However, in the year 1990, the company, Procter and Gamble purchased the products of Old Spice line from the Shulton Company. Since this transaction, Old Spice continues to produce the original products, as was the case in the beginning, as well as, introducing new products. The introduction of these new products is mostly aiding in enhancing Old Spice line of production.

The Shulton Company after launching the line of the aftershave lotion and soap, along with the deodorants, it expanded rapidly. Within a short period of launching, the company had overwhelming orders over the United States and beyond. Thus, it expanded its operations to over seventy-five countries. However, during the world war second it started making metal dyes allied for ammunitions for military. Later on, it relocated to Clifton, New Jersey, where it worked until in 1990 when Procter and Gamble bought the line of production. When the Procter and Gamble Company bought the product line, it dropped many of the fragrances initially made by Shulton, especially those for women. The Old Spice line then focused on producing grooming products for men, such as body washes and deodorants. This wildly proved successful as the results indicate. In America, the top consumer rated antiperspirants and deodorants are Fiji and High Endurance, both of which products are of Old Spice. Despite the change in ownership and introduction of new products in the line of production, the Old Spice retains its primary scent profile. It did not adopt the popular male oriented scents, but rather retained the iconic mixture that brings out seafaring explorers and adventure. This makes the brand unique to identify since it remains adherent to the brand vision from the time of discovery to date.

Old spice continues to associate itself with the long tradition of packaging its products distinctively. Through the packaging, the products attracted collectors, making it a selling point for Shulton Company. Initially, the products came in sizeable, reusable containers that looked like decorated boxes and jars. The decorations included tall graceful ships among other designs. However, with time the packaging changed, mainly in the material used to make the bottles. Today, the packaging is in bottles made of glass, ceramic or plastic, rather than the antique apothecary bottle (Spice I2I Ltd. 3). Nonetheless, they still maintain the opaque soft white color, with a pullout stopper, as was the case initially.

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Recently, since the purchase by Procter and Gamble, the brand stretched to facilitate production of other deodorants and body wash to incorporate the younger generation into their brand. The initial sales by Shulton were through the shelves. The company supplied the products to vendors who would then sell the products to consumers. However, as demand grew in America and countries abroad, the company started shipping the products through the various shipping lines available at that time. Even after the purchase of the Old Spice line by Procter and Gamble, the line still uses the same portfolio to make the products accessible to consumers (Soap, Detergents, Cleaning Preparations, Perfumes and Cosmetics 3). The arrangement of the products in the stores varied with sizes and prices, as the products have different sizes and prices. Additionally, the classification of the arrangement of the products is in line with the packaging by category, for instance, the soaps and body wash are in the line of soaps while the deodorants and sprays are in the line of the perfume products.

In view of the market mix of the Old Spice products, the line produces various products. These products include antiperspirant, deodorants, body wash, and body spray, bar soap, shave gel and fragrance sprays. The line provides these products. The products currently target males. They have the fragrance that gives a seafaring and adventure feeling. The products are also in different forms as there are those for washing, for spraying or for applying. As these features indicate, the manufacturer meets the first P. Of the 4P's of marketing. The colors also present antique feeling towards the product. The branding gives a male tough as it incorporates an old but classic aspect of the products. The second P. is that of placing the product (Hoffmann 6). In this case, Old Spice presents a variety of places to access the product from for the customers. The products are available in the supermarket stores, online and the place of manufacturing, in addition to small business stalls, which sell personal utilities. A sales force is in place to identify strategic places for supplying the products. Thus, the customers have an easy and quick access to the products of Old Spice.

The third P. Of marketing is Price. Pricing of a product determines the target market for the product (Hoffmann 7). Old Spice realizes that it caters for males of different ages and class. Therefore, it presents products with varied prices, but considering their affordability. The products of Old Spice are affordable to the people as the production costs are low; thus, no exploitation of customers. In times of promotions, the prices vary depending on the products they are promoting. In comparison to competitors, the products are affordable as the prices range depending on the market and competitor product. Lastly, is promotion, which propagates the product image to the customer. In Old Spice products, promotion of the products is a key aspect of the success it is making. The brand invests largely in marketing strategies through advertisements in the media, online, via television and radio among other platforms. It also uses banners for advertisement, as well as, discounts for promotion. The product mix presents a well thought out plan by Old Spice, as there are no chances of competing among themselves. The aspect of incorporating varied deodorants, say spray and roll-ons provide the customer with variety to choose from depending on their liking. Thus, the product mix does not compete among the product varieties.

In view of the developments in Old Spice incorporating added products, this is line extension. It is extending from deodorant to soaps. As the line progress, it is likely to stretch as the manufacturer continues to pressure for incorporation of new products. Likely example….....

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