Case Review Summary

Cleopatra was a beauty care soap brand by Colgate Palmolive which was successfully
launched in Canada in 1986 with a lot of fanfare. It was a premium quality soap which did
extremely well in France where it was launched in 1984. The market share rose to 15% when
it completed one year of its launch. Encouraged by its success in France, the management
decided to launch it in Canada and they chose Quebec, which was a French speaking
province with more than 80% households listed as French as their mother tongue thus making
it an ideal choice for launch.
Cleopatra looked like an excellent prospect for Canada as established by the results of two
research experiments. However, the idea of launch evoked mixed responses by the Canadian
team of Colgate. Some managers were enthusiastic about the prospects, while some like Ken
resented with a reasoning that it was more of brand thrust. The two research, one focus group
discussion where a group of women professional was exposed to product, price and
advertising and were asked to openly discuss the liking and disliking, the result was positive.
Another involved potential consumer and they were exposed to the advertising and also were
given trial products and when asked about the experience 64% said they will buy it as soon as
it will be available in the market.
The Canadian soap market was worth $105 million in 1986 and was highly competitive and
the rivalry extended to retail stores which were all powerful so much so that they decided
which brand to keep, and whom to do business with and shelf space allocation. The market
was divided into three segments namely skin care, refreshment and utility. Dove was the
brand leader in skin care where Cleopatra was set to be positioned. From 1985 to 1987 its
market share increased by 52%. (Exhibit 2)
The strategy for Cleopatra was clear. They wanted to position it as a premium category soap
and was priced accordingly. Instead of giving the power to retailers Colgate intended to
generated demand directly through consumers and refrained from offering any trade
discounts and allowances. The focus was more on media promotions to create a buzz for the
product and stop relying on retailers which was the industry norms.
However, the ambitious target of 4.5% market share went down the drain despite a heavily
funded media promotion. This compelled company to conduct new market research which
presented strikingly different results. Brand awareness for Cleopatra was 73.5% compared to
99.5% of Dove. Also, people were reluctant to try new product in the personal care market as
proved by just 14.2% response to ever tried question. Also, most of the respondents were not
influenced by its advertisement where a lot of efforts were put in. As per exhibit 12, people
don’t want to use Cleopatra everyday thus making it an occasionally sold brand.
The road ahead was not rosy and it demanded to revisit the marketing strategy for Cleopatra.
Instead of overlooking the power of retailers, it should collaborate with them in order to
ensure its availability in stores. It should offer incentives and discounts for the retailers and
could also think of offering bundled products. Although, the initial results were grim the
company should continue with the brand with above mentioned modifications in marketing
and distribution.