Zicam has been very successful up to this point. It has gone from simply an idea to a nationally distributed brand that is known by over 25 percent of American households. It has also been able to maintain an annual growth rate of more than 45 percent. From a qualitative standpoint, the company has received [...]
Monthly Archive for September, 2009
The management of Matrixx Initiatives is aware of the current competition for Zicam and the possibility of future competition. The main competition at this point is from zinc lozenges. There are several brands of zinc lozenges currently on the market, as well as a growing number of private-label brands. Matrixx’s competitive strategy against these zinc [...]
Although Zicam was developed and launched without the benefit of a formal market research effort, market research is now being used to manage and expand the brand. In the past year the company has done three rounds of formal focus groups to measure consumer attitudes and test new ideas. It has also used a tracking [...]
Zicam began with only two highly motivated entrepreneurs who brought the venture from a raw idea to an actual product to being folded into an ongoing organization. At the time of this writing, the original product is in national distribution, and the company has launched six additional products (five in just the last year). All [...]
Off-shelf displays were an integral part of the marketing plan for Zicam. Matrixx offered the trade a wide variety of Zicam displays, including gravity feed units, large wing displays, floor-mounted displays, and an eight-unit counter display. The company tried to get as many off-shelf displays as possible up during-the cold season. Thus far the company [...]
Sales promotion was not used during the introductory launch of Zicam, and price discounting to stimulate sales is still not a primary tool. The company really wants to sell this unique product at full price. However, a one-dollar coupon was included in a Sunday freestanding insert for the first time in November 2002. The main [...]
The purpose of the Zicam advertising was to drive awareness and trial at the consumer level. It was not aimed at the trade. Matrixx management believed that the advertising would bring in new customers and that these customers would become loyal users who would spread the word, creating more new users. Management felt that this [...]
Publicity was effective in achieving initial awareness of Zicam. The company realized, however, that it would have to conduct an advertising campaign in order to maintain this awareness. The decision was made to use primarily television advertising for the cold remedies because of the ability to make visual demonstrations through this medium. The media plan [...]
The objective was to obtain distribution for Zicam in all the major retailers that carried cold remedies. This was to be done by using a network of brokers in each local market. This strategy was very effective for the brand once the publicity began. As stated previously, at the time of this writing, Zicam was [...]