DENTONIC

TOOTHPOWDER
Marketing Management Report

SUBMITTED TO:
SHAHNAZ MEGHANI

DATE:
29-NOVEMBER-2010

SUBMITTED BY:
ALVEENA ABDUL RAZZAK (8642)
UMME ABIHA (9218)
ALI AHMED SIDDIQUI (12168)
NARESH KUMAR (10571)
ZOHAIB KHAN (8601)
 Table of Contents

Company Mission Statement...............................................................................................5

Company Background.........................................................................................................5
Introduction to Dentonic Powder.........................................................................................6
S.W.O.T Analysis................................................................................................................7
Boston Matrix......................................................................................................................8
Ansoff Matrix......................................................................................................................9
Market Development...................................................................................................9
Diversification..............................................................................................................9
Market Penetration:......................................................................................................9
Market Development:..................................................................................................9
Product Development:.................................................................................................9
Diversification:............................................................................................................9
Product Mix.......................................................................................................................10
Micro Environment............................................................................................................12
The Company.............................................................................................................12
Suppliers....................................................................................................................12
Marketing Intermediaries...........................................................................................12
Customers..................................................................................................................12
Competitors................................................................................................................12
Publics........................................................................................................................13
Macro Environment...........................................................................................................14
Demographic Forces .................................................................................................14
Economic Forces........................................................................................................14
Natural Forces............................................................................................................14
Technological Forces.................................................................................................14
Political Forces...........................................................................................................14
Cultural Forces...........................................................................................................15
Market Segmentation.........................................................................................................16
The Segmentation Chart............................................................................................16
Psychographic Segmentation.....................................................................................16
Behavioral Segmentation...........................................................................................16
Target Marketing...............................................................................................................17
The Marketing Mix............................................................................................................18
Product ......................................................................................................................18
Price...........................................................................................................................18
Place...........................................................................................................................19
Promotion...................................................................................................................19
Research.............................................................................................................................21
Hypothesis:................................................................................................................21
Description and Results.............................................................................................21

3
 Conclusion.................................................................................................................21
Questionnaire.....................................................................................................................24
Product Life-Cycle Strategies............................................................................................25
The Product Life-Cycle (PLC)...................................................................................25
Product Development Stage.......................................................................................25
Introduction Stage......................................................................................................25
Growth Stage.............................................................................................................26
Maturity Stage............................................................................................................26
Decline Stage.............................................................................................................26
The Past, the Present and the Future of Dentonic Toothpowder.......................................27
Customer Relationship Management.................................................................................28
Customer Perceived Value.........................................................................................28
Customer Satisfaction................................................................................................28
New Product Development................................................................................................29
Dentonic Plus Toothpowder..........................................................................................29
Idea Generation .........................................................................................................29
Idea Screening............................................................................................................29
Concept Development and Testing............................................................................29
Marketing strategy.....................................................................................................29
Business Analysis .....................................................................................................30
Test marketing ..........................................................................................................30
Commercialization ....................................................................................................30
Recommendations..............................................................................................................31

4
 Company Mission Statement
To provide good dental hygiene to all segments of the society at an affordable price.

Company Background
The Dentonic story, quoted by Mr. Saghir Alvi, director of Ala chemicals:

‘My father at the age of 25 was suffering from a severe dental disease of plague
accumulation, gingivitis. He had tried all remedies available, went to some qualified
dentists, but to no avail. He was left with sleepless nights due to severe pain and bloody
gums. It was then that he encountered a dentist, while working at a sugar mill, who gave
him a powder to be used for dental care and protection. With usage of the powder 5-8
times, there seemed to have a significant difference made. The disease was later with
constant consumption completely cured. The dentist gave my father the formula on
insistence by him. This was back in 1958, in Bangladesh that it occurred to my father to
market the powder that so efficiently not only cured his gums, but is good for daily usage
as well. ‘

The company came into existence on the 26th September 1963, initiated by Syed
Amiruddin Alvi. The start-up capital was a mere Rs 6000. In the beginning, Dentonic
Toothpowder was barely bought by the people. There existed some toothpowders at the
time, for example, Dentogene by the Dentogene laboratory, and Tibet by Kohinoor, but
neither was much appreciated by the consumers of dental hygiene products. Dentonic,
much like its competitors (toothpowders) was not a success in its initial introduction
stage. People were not accustomed to use toothpowder. They believed it to be just like
“choona” even though, choona essentially consisted of coal and acidic salt while
Dentonic’s base is calcium carbonate and essential oils.

Dentonic was one of the pioneers, which in the time, took up the concept of sachets. In
1961, 5-10 paisa sachets for potential customers to try it out, and realize its worth. And
they did.

5
 Introduction to Dentonic Powder
Oral hygiene seeking measures vary across the world owing to socioeconomic,
traditional and religious backgrounds. Although toothpaste-toothbrush method is the
most common hygiene regime, miswaks are also used due to their low cost.

Toothpowders are essentially toothpastes without a liquid humectants system.

Dentonic is the most widely used toothpowder by a fairly large section of the population
in Pakistan. Its main ingredients are calcium carbonate, essential oils and sodium
saccharin. It is one of the safest products to be used for oral hygiene and contains an
optimal level of supra-gingival plague control. A research conducted in November 2003
by reknowned dentists of Pakistan belonging to prestigious dental hygiene institutions
like Hamdard Dental College and Altamash Institute of dental medicine, reported that
dentonic is still infact the largest selling oral health product in Pakistan. The preliminary
findings of the study were positive for Dentonic Toothpowder. It showed a significant
reduction in plague accumulation and gingivitis.

Dentonic Toothpowder is currently selling in 2500 utility stores and 15000 shops of
varying sizes. It produces more than 35 tonnes of powder a week!

Dentonic is ISO 9000 Ceritified and has also been approved by the Dental Association of
Pakistan.

6
 S.W.O.T Analysis

Strengths
• Consumer loyalty
• Only Pakistani company to use
“Trychozan” of dental quality
• Exports to Sirlanka, Bangladesh
(Franchise), India (Calcutta),
U.A.E and Saudi Arabia
• Latest Technology
• High Quality
• Strong consumer recall
• Market monopoly in tooth powder
• Good management and loyal
staff
Opportunities
• Exports e.g. Japan, Malaysia and
U.S.A
• Getting recognition by different
Dental associations in Pakistan
• Can target higher class and
current generation by product
development and promotion
• Smokers (removal of stains)

Weaknesses Threats
• Started investing in research very • Competitors: low cost
late toothpastes and Lukmani Mangin
• Working on very low margins • Considered an obsolete solution
• Lack of advertising and to dental care
promotion • Lack of awareness today
• Lack of awareness in the current • The loyal consumers of the
generation product are growing old and the
• Don’t have flavors or colors rate of new consumers growing in
not enough
• Misconceptions

7
 Boston Matrix

Star Problem child (?)

• Dentonic Plus • Dentonic Toothpaste
• Dentonic Ultrawhiteing Gel
High
Market growth rate

Cash Cow Dog

• Dentonic Toothpowder • Dentonic Sensitive Teeth
Low

High Low

Relative market share

8
 Ansoff Matrix

Existing Products New Products

Existing Markets Market Penetration Product Development

• Increase distribution • Dentonic Plus
• New packaging

New Markets Market Development Diversification

• Export markets • Toothpastes

Market Penetration:
Dentonic Toothpowder has a huge distribution network consisting of 10 vans to distribute
in Karachi. They distribute to CSD’s, departmental stores, utility stores, etc. Outside
Karachi, they have 250 distributors, covering 15000 shops every month.

Market Development:
Ala Chemicals started exporting its products to different countries such as U.A.E, Saudi
Arabia and Sri Lanka. Dentonic also gave a franchise in Bangladesh, from where the
toothpowder is sent to Calcutta, India.

Product Development:
Ala Chemicals developed a new toothpowder, Dentonic Plus which generates foam
when applied, unlike their regular toothpowder. This is to make the toothpowder feel
more like toothpaste.
Besides the new product, Ala Chemicals also changed Dentonic Toothpowder’s
packaging and introduced a press-to-open lid cover, which is more convenient for
consumers. Dentonic also has different packaging for export products.

Diversification:
Apart from the toothpowder business, Ala Chemicals launched its toothpaste 5
years back. Now they have a whole range of toothpastes, which includes the
regular toothpaste, Dentonic for sensitive teeth and Dentonic Ultrawhitening Gel
(mainly for export).

9
 Product Mix

Product Mix Width

Product Mix Length

Toothpowder Product
Toothpaste Mix Depth
Dentonic Dentonic Toothpaste Mint

Dentonic Plus Dentonic Ultrawhitening Lemon Mint

Gel
Refreshing
Dentonic Sensitive Cinnamon
Teeth
Refreshing
Peppermint

10
the figure. The product mix length in toothpowder is Dentonic and Dentonic Plus,
whereas in Toothpaste we have Dentonic Toothpaste, Dentonic Ultrawhitening Gel and
Dentonic Sensitive teeth. The product mix Depth is only seen in one product which is
Dentonic Ultrawhitening Gel as it is available in different flavors. There can be debate
whether Dentonic Plus is depth of Dentonic Regular, but as it is a completely new
product, developed after extensive research, it has different features from the regular
toothpowder; hence we consider it a length rather than a depth.

11
 Micro Environment

The Company
Dentonic’s owners work in a very coordinated way. Currently two brothers are running
the company with their father as the chairperson. Mr. Saghir Alvi handles the marketing
and sales while Mr. Zaheer Alvi handles the production. Managers are hired for
departments such as finance and human resource etc who are supervised by the
owners.

Suppliers
Ala Chemicals has to deal with many different suppliers. They acquire their raw
materials from Standard Chemicals ltd, packing labels are supplied by Tariq Process
and Cartons are purchased from Islamia Packages. Essential oils and flavors are
imported from England and China.

Marketing Intermediaries
Ala Chemicals have a fleet of distribution vehicles within Karachi. Apart from that they
have 250 distributors within Pakistan to sell their product. They have also hired 20
people to work with the distributors and go shop to shop in looking for new opportunities
or to inform if stocks are running out. Ala Chemicals sells either directly to retailer or
through wholesalers, but when we asked them which way they prefer more, they
answered, selling directly to retailers as that way they can get better market feedback
and can keep better quality controls, by supplying fresh stock.

Customers
Dentonic Toothpowder is a personal consumption product and is sold to households.
Dentonic is basically used by the lower income class people. The consumers in Pakistan
are very loyal and do not like changes. This is one of the reasons why Dentonic’s
packaging and appearance has been the same over so many years. On the contrary,
Dentonic’s packing is totally different abroad, and the powder is packed in a different
designed bottle which is suitable to and accepted by those consumers.

Competitors
Ala Chemicals has a toothpowder monopoly in Pakistan. Many companies tried
launching toothpowder, but failed. For example, Colgate launched a toothpowder by the
name of Trident, Khass powder was launched by Medicam group in 1989 and even
Unilever almost launched a toothpowder under the banner of Pepsodent which they later
launched in India as they could not compete with the low margins of Dentonic.
Dentonic’s international competitor in the U.A.E is Ukril.
Apart from toothpowders, the biggest competition that Dentonic is facing today is from
the low priced toothpastes for example, English Toothpaste which is only for Rs.12.
Another major competition faced by Dentonic is from Lukmani Mangin, which is created
out of salt, coal, ashes and acidic salt. It costs Rs.2.5 and lasts for two months. A

12
research conducted in Korangi, Karachi by Ala Chemicals showed that people consume
Dentonic twince a week and rest of the week they use Lukmani Mangin.

Publics
Ala Chemicals works a lot with Dental associations and consult dentists, as they are an
importance to the toothpowder. Ala Chemicals invites dental universities to bring their
students to visit the factory and see the level of quality and learn about the product, so
that they could recommend it when they start their practice. Ala Chemicals is the only
Pakistani Company approved by Pakistan Dental Association.

13
 Macro Environment

Demographic Forces

Dentonic caters to all segments whether it is of age, gender or race. The problem it
faces is that as due to increasing diversity and a better-educated population, Dentonic
Toothpowder is loosing its sales in the younger generation. Today, we look forward to an
easy way of brushing and unless we feel foam inside our mouth we are not satisfied with
the cleanliness of our teeth. Dentonic now caters to the new generation as well now that
it has introduced a new Dentonic Plus Toothpowder that includes foaming agent and
also a flip top cap which makes it easier to use.

Economic Forces

The regular Dentonic Toothpowder does not target any specific income group but due to
its low price 90% of its users are those who earn less than Rs.7000 per month.

Natural Forces

As Dentonic Toothpowder is 98% limestone, there are as such no natural factors that
affect its production. But the water used in its production was once found to be
unhygienic which made them install their own water distillation plant.

Technological Forces

Technological changes have affected Dentonic’s sales over a period of time. The
increase in sales of new toothpaste has hurt the sales of Dentonic Toothpowder. To
keep themselves in the future market, Ala Chemicals has introduced Dentonic
toothpaste as well which is doing well in the international markets. They have also
installed a computerized machine to check every batch of toothpaste before its delivery.
This machine ‘ROTOVISCO’, checks the quality of toothpaste and its viscosity. If the
readings deviate 2%-3%, the whole 200kg batch is destroyed.

Political Forces

As such Dentonic is not really affected by government agencies and pressure groups,
but Dentonic is approved by Pakistan Dental Association (PDA) and is also ISO 9001-
2000 certified. These certifications are helpful in the international market.

14
Ala Chemicals does not have any labor union, so is does not face problems concerning
labor strikes etc. The only thing that affects the production level are political strikes.

Cultural Forces

Some people have status issues so majority of the people do not use Dentonic as they
regard it as an old formula. Most users are old age people who are using Dentonic for
more than 15years and they are loyal towards this product. Some people’s perception is
that Dentonic toothpowder is for smokers, thus they do not use it.

15
 Market Segmentation

The Segmentation Chart

Geographic
World region or country Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India,
United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia
Demographic
Age 3+
Family size 2+
Income Under Rs 7,000
Psychographic
Social class Upper lowers, working class, middle class
Behavioral
Benefits Economy, quality, convenience
User Status Nonuser, regular user
Loyalty status None, strong
Readiness stage Unaware, aware

Psychographic Segmentation

Dentonic Toothpowder is targeted to people constituting the working class, middle class
and upper lower class. It is however, not targeted to the lower lowers because although,
they come in the income category of under Rs 7,000, even the smallest pack of Dentonic
Toothpowder costing Rs 18 is mostly out of their budget. The lower lowers therefore,
prefer using Luqmani Manjan, which costs them Rs 2.5 per pack. This also makes
Luqmani Manjan a competitor to Dentonic Toothpowder, as mentioned earlier.

Behavioral Segmentation

Behavioral segmentation, as the name suggests, divides buyers on the basis of their
behavior, knowledge or response to a product. Dentonic Toothpowder is a product that
offers high quality and convenience at a reasonable price. However, each segment of
the market (the upper lowers, working class and middle class) seeks for varied benefits.
While the upper lowers look for the economy of Dentonic Toothpowder, the working
class looks for both its economy and quality and finally, the middle class looks for the
quality, convenience and economy of the product. Due to these varied interests, Ala
Chemicals subdivides its market for Dentonic Toothpowder on the basis of economy,
quality and convenience.

After a recent survey conducted by Ala Chemicals in the city of Karachi, it was seen that
either the subjects were using Dentonic Toothpowder for over 10-15 years on a regular

16
basis, or that they were not using the product at all. These results further classified the
population on the basis of loyalty; strong and none.

There are only two stages of readiness; aware and unaware. This is largely depended
on the fact that Dentonic Toothpowder has not been promoted or advertised in a while.
Therefore, only those people who saw Dentonic Toothpowder’s early adverts are aware
of the product and the more recent generation has not even heard of the product unless
their family uses it. It should also be noted that even those people who are aware of the
product are not exactly consuming it. An example of this is the group of people who
switched from toothpowders to toothpaste.

Target Marketing
Dentonic Toothpowder is an undifferentiated (mass) marketed product therefore, it
caters to the entire market with the same offer; providing good dental health to all
segments of the society at an affordable price (mission statement).

Mass marketing is also suitable for Dentonic Toothpowder since it is a high quality
standardized product. In fact, Ala Chemicals has state-of-the-art technology installed to
perform checks on each batch of toothpowder produced to maintain standardization.

However, it should be noted that although Dentonic Toothpowder is a mass marketed

product, recent developments may lead to it becoming a differentiated marketed product.
The newer generation as it is, prefers toothpaste over toothpowder however, Dentonic
Plus Toothpowder on the other hand, with the foaming agent has actually started to
become popular among children. This may turn Dentonic Toothpowder into a product
that is consumed by those people who are reluctant to change therefore, eventually
making Dentonic Toothpowder a differentiated marketed product.

17
 The Marketing Mix
Factors that influence dentonic’s ability to sell in the market are know as the marketing
mix of dentonic and these broad marketing mix are mainly grouped into the famous 4 P’s
which include Product, Price, Promotion and Place.

Product

The Dentonic Toothpowder that the company Ala Chemicals is offering to the lower
incomes masses of Pakistan and for export purposes is its product. Dentonic as a
product can be described as toothpaste without a liquid humectants system and is
widely used as an oral hygiene tool by a fairly large section of the population in Pakistan.
Dentonic’s main ingredients are calcium carbonate (98.5%), essential oils (1%) and
sodium saccharin (0.5%) and all these ingredients are 100% food grade. Essential oils
are volatile aromatic oils that are synthetic or are derived from plants by distillation,
expression or extraction. It has been found that dentifrices formulated with fixed
combination of essential oils possess anti-plaque and anti-gingivitis properties.
Furthermore, dentifrice abrasivity should be sufficiently high to give effective cleaning.
Calcium carbonate imparts this ability in Dentonic and sodium saccharin is used as a
sweetening agent. Dentonic does not have the filler and carrier components like
glycerine and water that are found in toothpastes. Tooth powders are very famous in the
developing world as an oral health product and one Indian company claims that it
provides tooth powder worth 5 billion Indian rupees per annum. Furthermore, defining
Dentonic as a product includes the three different varieties of Dentonic toothpowder that
are available in the market. These three varieties include the 45 gram, the 90 gram and
130 gram family packs of Dentonic available in the market. Talking about the quality of
Dentonic as a product, Dentonic is made up of 100% food grade calcium carbonate and
Ala chemicals uses tryclozan which is an anti-bacterial agent which cost rupees 5000
per KG. Other companies use tryclozan which cost rupees 1500 per KG which is usually
recommended for manufacturing soap and detergents. The Brand name of Dentonic was
recommended by a dentist based in India and packaging of Dentonic is done in a plastic
unbreakable easy to use bottle. There is flip top cap specially designed for easy pouring
of the tooth powder and for customer convenience.

Price

Pricing is a vital component of a Products availability to sell and Ala Chemicals charges
Rs10 for 45 grams, Rs 18 for its 90 gram and Rs 30 for 180 gram tooth powder and
according to the company’s CEO, Dentonic is priced with very slim margin of profit. This
is mainly due to existence of low priced tooth pastes such as English toothpaste which
cost Rs 12 only. Furthermore, Dentonic is using competition based pricing due to the
fact of high level of competition in the market. The reason for using competition based
pricing is due to the existence of cheap products such as the Luqmani Manjan which is
hazardous for health. The availability of cheap tooth pastes is another reason for
competition based pricing like English toothpaste which is available in the market for just

18
rupees 12.The value proposition is also a very important factor when talking about the
customers that are forgoing low priced toothpastes for Dentonic. Therefore customers
want white shinning teeth with longer periods of dental hygiene from Dentonic as the
customers weight their value for money after using Dentonic. So the existence of stiff
competition in the market has resulted in low pricing policy of Dentonic and the company
operates on very slim profit margins and low markups.

Place

Dentonic’s best selling point is its widespread availability. It has very effective distribution
channels. Dentonic used a new concept of making it available absolutely everywhere
including at pan shops! When Dentonic was launched in 26th march 1963, Ala chemicals
relied on door to door selling of Dentonic and the focus was to sell the powder to
retailers and lesser emphasis was given to whole sellers. Now the entire product is
made available to Karachi’s whole sellers and retailers by its own transport vehicles
which are around 10 in number. Around 15000 shops are covered every month in
Karachi alone and there are around 300 distributors all over Pakistan that make
Dentonic available to its customers across Pakistan. It is also available in 2500 utility
stores all over Pakistan. According to the company officials, Imtaiz super store at Awami
Markez as a retail outlet registers the largest sales volume of Dentonic as a
product.Furthermore, 1/3 of total dentonic sales are in Karachi in areas like Landhi,
Korangi, Orangi Town, Quaidabad, Layari, Kayomabad, Dentonic is also exported to
Srilanka, Bangladesh (franchise selling), India, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia,
Malaysia, Japan and the United States of America.

Promotion

In the early days of Dentonic, the promotion was focused on personnel selling and door
to door distribution to small scale retailers such as Pan Shops. After considerable
growth, as quoted by the company’s Chief Executive officer, the Company Ala
Chemicals which manufactures Dentionic spent $25000 for the production of Dentonic’s
first ever TV commercial. The animated add was produced by Hollywood and made
Dentonic extremely popular among the masses. Furthermore, for marketing quality
products in the market, Ala chemicals have indulged into activities such as brand
recalling. For promotional purposes, Ala chemicals has also been giving retail
allowances to large scale retailers to promote the Dentonic. The company regularly
conducts surveys to test the popularity of Dentonic in different segments of the market
and different segments of the society are contacted to provoke awareness of the true
benefits of the Dentonic as a product. A useful example is the workshops for dentists
that can embark their patients to use Dentonic.

19
The four P’s of the marketing Mix of Dentonic toothpowder can be better understood by
the following Diagram.

Product
Variety
Price
Quality
List price
Design
Discounts
Features
Allowances
Brand Name
Payment period
Packaging
Credit terms
Services
Target

Customers

Intended
Positioning
Place
Channels
Promotion
Coverage
Advertising
Assortments
Personal Selling
Locations
Sales promotion
Inventory
Public relations
Transportation
Logistics

20
 Research
Hypothesis:

This reseach was done to check the brand recall of Dentonic in consumers or non-
consumers and to check their likeness regarding Dentonic. The target sample had
income below Rs.12000 per month.

Description and Results

A random sample of 50 people was questioned according to the questionnaire prepared.

Income indicators were included in the questionnaire so that the targeted subjects could
be focused.

In that sample, 70 percent of the subjects had used toothpowder and out of those 70
percent, 90 percent had used Dentonic toothpowder. 90 percent of the subjects were
able to recognize the Dentonic cartoon whether they were users, ex-users or non-users.
Most of the non-users of Dentonic toothpowder used Luqmani Manjan (a traditional
toothpowder). But to our surprise some subjects used Dentonic mixed with Luqmani
Manjan. 34 percent of the users of Dentonic toothpowder had age below 20 years and
60 percent had age between 21 to 40 years.

Some of the ex-users complained that they stopped using Dentonic as it does not form
foam which makes cleanliness unsatisfactory to them. They also complained that their
younger children regard it as candy and they eat it.

The users and ex-users favored Dentonic powder due to its low price and availability.

No subject was sure of the level of effectiveness comparing toothpowder and toothpaste.

Conclusion

The findings of this survey were positive concerning brand recall. Not only cartoon, but
subjects were also able to recall the jingle in the advertisement done by Dentonic
20years ago. Similarly subjects have positive response towards the product due to its
economical price and availability.

21
Age Group of Users

70%

60%

50%

40%
Percentage

Users
30%

20%

10%

0%
0-20 21-40 40+
Age
People who were able to Recognize the Character

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
Percentage

50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Able to recognize Not able to recognize

22
Users of Toothpowder

80%

70%

60%

50%
Percentage

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Ye s No

23
 Questionnaire
1. Age Group

0 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 50 50 +

2. Area of living?
______________________________________________________________
3. Do you live in a rented or owned house?
Rented Owned

4. Car that you own?

Suzuki Honda Toyota Daihatsu Hyundai

If other, please specify: ___________________________________________

5. How many people do you live with at your house?
______________________________________________________________
6. Who buys the groceries?
______________________________________________________________
7. What does this character remind you of?

8. Have you ever used toothpowder?

Yes No

9. If yes, what brand of toothpowder have you used?

______________________________________________________________
If the answer to the above is Dentonic, continue asking the following questions:
10. Do you still use Dentonic? If not, what made you quit its usage?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
11. What do/did you particularly like about Dentonic?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
12. Which is more effective; toothpaste or toothpowder? Why do you feel so?
___________________________________________________________________

24
 Product Life-Cycle Strategies

The Product Life-Cycle (PLC)

Dentonic Toothpowder (Regular) PLC

profits/ Losses
and investment
Sales and

P. D Introduction Growth Maturity Decline

Time

Sales Profit

Product Development Stage

The product development stage of Dentonic Toothpowder lasted for a very short while
as there was no research done regarding the formula. As it was the dentist’s formula and
handed over, the founder of Dentonic just had to make it and market it.

Introduction Stage

After developing the product, it was introduced in the market. Initially it was hard to sell
the product, and that is the reason why the introduction stage is so long. After
discouragement from family and retailers, the founder started selling Dentonic in small
sachets at ‘pan’ shops after which, sales started picking up.
Success was noted and the founder came to Pakistan and started marketing the
product, which again ended up getting great response. Dentonic became a hit. Sales
rose and Dentionic was in business. This is the time when advertising campaigns were
started, hence profit levels were low.

25
Growth Stage

During this time Dentonic started establishing itself in the market, and its profits had
started increasing as well. Ala Chemicals launched a few more advertising campaigns
during this time.

Maturity Stage

At its maturity, Dentonic became stagnant. It had removed all competing toothpowders
from the market and began to enjoy its monopoly. Sales and profits were both high at
this stage. The need to advertise was not felt hence, the gap in advertising campaign is
seen quite distinctively.

Decline Stage

Currently Dentonic’s sales have started decling due to reasons such as a generation
change and the switch from toothpowder to toothpaste. In order to survive in the market,
Ala Chemicals introduced Dentonic Plus. Dentonic still had many loyal clients and the
lower segment in our society still uses Dentonic and for this reason we would say that
although, Dentonic has started its decline, it may just come back!

26
 The Past, the Present and the Future of Dentonic
Toothpowder
Past
Dentonic started being sold
to customers on a very
small-scale, only personal
selling by the owner Mr.
Alvi himself. Intial low
demand as the product
awareness was low but with
promotional campaigns by
Ala chemicals, dentonic
became a well-known, high-
demand sought-after
product.
Distribution and availability
was emphasized. High-
budget advertisements
were placed in the
print/broadcast media. High
market share.
Present
At present, Dentonic still
holds a high market share
of oral hygiene products.
Brand recall is spectacular.
A majority of people
surveyed delightedly spoke
about the original Dentonic
cartoon. It has however
pulled off advertisements
for the time being as a new
product is being launched
in the market. Customer
awareness is still not very
high at the moment, but Ala
chemicals plans to launch a
strong promotional
campaign for its new
product-Dentonic Plus.
27
Future
In future, Ala chemicals
feels that the original recipe
of Dentonic still holds a high
market share thus is will not
be dissolved. However
Dentonic plus shows a
bright future for the
company with its foaming
qualities, easy usage and
competitive prices. The
company will undergo
research in the future,
develop improvements to
the brand if needed and
launch a promotional
strategy for Dentonic Plus.
 Customer Relationship Management

Customer Perceived Value

Dentonic Toothpowder’s customers earn a number of benefits from the toothpowder.

Dentonic Toothpowder is a high quality product that keeps gums and teeth healthy and
what is even more attractive is that it offers all of this at a low price. Hence, giving the
customers a high value but that is not just the case. The benefits mentioned above are
those that the company offers to customers. The customer’s perceived value on the
other hand, may be different. For example, they may think that the powder is not even
worth its low price since it does not clean better than toothpaste. According to Mr. Saghir
Alavi, that is a very common misconception. It is therefore, very hard to understand the
customer’s perceived value.

Customer Satisfaction

When Dentonic Toothpowder sticks to its promise of keeping gums and teeth healthy,
customers become satisfied. From the research conducted by Ala Chemicals, it has
been seen that Dentonic Toothpowder has managed to earn customer satisfaction from
those people who have been using Dentonic Toothpowder for over 10 to 20 years.

28
 New Product Development

Dentonic Plus Toothpowder

Quite recently, the market for Dentonic has suffered a slight decline, we have noticed a
removal of advertisements from television and a lack of aggressive promotional
campaign launched by ala chemicals for their most popular product—Dentonic tooth
powder. On internal inspection we found out that new product has been developed and
thorough research is being conducted at present. We will be discussing this new
product, its idea generation to its launch in the market:

Idea Generation

The idea was generated after conducting market research on their existing product,
Dentonic toothpowder in the market, and sensing the need to come up with a product
which can overcome the weaknesses that the old powder might have.

Idea Screening

Various ideas were introduced as to what the approach should be. Some were ruled out
here because they were above the budget limit.

Concept Development and Testing

The concept of powder with foaming ingredients was developed. This foaming agent
was introduced in the powder to make the customer feel psychologically satisfied while
using an oral hygiene product when it is used with a toothbrush and foam is produced.

Marketing strategy

The target market is going to be the same as it was for the old Dentonic, the lower
income bracket (income less than Rs 7000) who use oral hygiene product. A high
budget is allocated to the promotion of Dentonic plus as the management is undergoing
research at the moment because it feels the market needs awareness of the product and
relationship building with the customers is required.

29
Business Analysis

The business’s products already have an existing market. Ala Chemicals sells on very
competitive prices which is why the business has slim margins to be allocated in
educating the customers and conducting research programs. For the past three years
now, Ala Chemicals has allocated funds for research and development.

Product development: the product Dentonic Plus was developed some 3 months ago,
with different ingredients, i.e. foaming agents. It is also meant to be used by a regular
toothbrush so it caters to that segment of the population that believes the brush is more
effective. The product developed here was a workable version of what the original
Dentonic should have been like.

Test marketing

Ala chemicals claims that it has never test marketed its products.

Commercialization

The commercialization was done, once the product had been successfully developed for
the customers. The product advertising is still under its way, but Dentonic Plus is now
avalaible in your nearest store!

30
 Recommendations
Toothpowder in our society is considered to be less effective than toothpaste-toothbrush
usage, which is essentially untrue. This misconception originates from lack of knowledge
on the customers part. Dentonic has been unsuccessful in communicating its
effectiveness to the wider audience.

Another complaint that we received after conducting our survey was that a few parents
complaint that the kids eat it thinking it is candy and that should be harmful to their
health. Studies have shown that its not, yes children should rather not eat it, but if they
happen to swallow some, it is not hazardous to their health.

Some parents complained that their children do not like the taste very much, to cure that,
we suggested to the management that flavors be introduced to give it variety and better
taste.

Thirdly, Ala chemicals has pulled off all advertisements for the moment, for they have
allocated large budgets on research and since it sells on very slim margins, it will be
coming up with active promotional campaigns very soon.

31