Aqualisa Quartz

Aqualisa is a premium brand which is an innovation to be sold through trade shops and
showrooms. Quartz is the new introduction which is challenging all the existing products in the
market. It has other brands like (i) Gainsborough which is a Discount brand – Older / rebranded
models – also sold through DoItYourself stores, and (ii) Shower Max is another variant which is
sold to developers – older / rebranded models. Aqualisa as a company holds 3 rd place in overall
market share and has 2nd place in mixing value market share. The industry is notorious for not
encouraging innovation. At regular intervals the brands remodel the showers keeping aesthetics
in mind but never the technology behind was improved. Types of houses, preferences of
plumbers, lack of involvement of consumers, lack of proper infrastructure in the house to pump
water, and failures of certain innovations have kept the status-quo of the industry.

Aqualisa as a company is interested in challenging the status-quo and gain market share for
itself. It has spent quite a some on research and development to come up with Quartz shower
which was expected to capture a lot of market. This was expected due to (i) potential of the
product to address the pain point of consumers in terms of getting right temperature of water for
bath, (ii) avoiding excavations and reduce inconvenience while installing, and (iii) reducing time
taken by plumbers in installation allowing them to service more consumers. However, the
product didn’t take off as expected.

The selection of showers for installation for general consumers was largely controlled by
plumbers. Consumers didn’t know the technicalities involved in selecting the right type of
showers keeping the available infrastructure in their house or apartment. Due to this they left the
selection to the plumber with the condition that if the second service needs to be done, the
plumber will be responsible for the costs involved. The plumbers were making some 960 euros
for two days of installation which was challenged by the quartz product. Added to this, previous
product failures observed in the showers when using electronics made the plumbers weary of any
introductions in this range.

Behaviour of different stakeholders affected the overall sales of the quartz product. Though the
UK market has lot of potential for first installation as well as replacement, still quartz is unable
to penetrate the market. Internally Aqualisa sales team is not willing to support the marketing of
the Quartz shower. The fear expressed by them is that Quartz will canniblise the sales of other
popular products. The organisation did not spend suitable quantity of money on right channels to
reach the consumers. Even the ads that were published did not focus on the benefits to be given
by the product to attract consumers. The company is more obsessed about itself and product
rather than what it can deliver to consumers. Hesitation of plumbers has been mentioned earlier.
Trade shops which are frequented by plumbers and selling a large quantity of showers are not
given focus. Aqualisa is present in only one fourth of showrooms where the quartz type showers
are sold to premium consumers. DIY stores may not be interested in holding quartz as the price
is beyond the interest and affordability of their consumers. For succeeding with this product, the
organisation needs to take its marketing efforts with all the people involved.

The analysis does not use any framework but suggests that marketing needs to be done through
all means possible. Word of mouth or opinions of different stakeholders is important for

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successfully marketing a product. So we will see how a product can be marketed through all
stakeholders.

Salespeople
The organisation’s sales force has been focusing on existing product about 90 percent time and
only 10 percent is used for spending capturing new consumers. This needs to be changed so that
more effort will be put in marketing of quartz showers. Either new salespeople can be chosen for
the quartz shower sales or achievers in existing salespeople can be short enlisted for the new
sales campaign. The department needs to be given confidence that introduction of new products
is a regular phenomenon. Increased sales will only increase the size of the market which
translates into profits for the organisation. Profits will translate into better salaries and incentives
for the salespeople. Further the sales head also needs to be roped in while designing the products.
This will improve the relations between research & development and sales & marketing. It will
further help in training salespeople in presenting value proposition of each product very well to
the customer or consumer. Depending on the profit contributions made by the salespersons their
incentives can be decided or improved.

Plumbers
Aqualisa has some plumbers enlisted with it who can support in spreading the positive word of
mouth. However, plumbers in general need to be convinced of the technical features and positive
effect on their wages. Aqualisa needs to first present the value proposition to plumbers where it
is emphasizing the efficiency, convenience, and better wage-earning opportunities. Taking
feedback from the enlisted plumbers the value proposition can be increased. Hesitations of
plumbers in accepting the product need to be found out and plans need to prepared to address the
pain points.

Further, the organisation can offer training program for other plumbers for free with the promise
that one of the products will be given at a heavily discounted price. Once the program for
plumbers is complete, then with their help, almost graduating apprentice can be called in for
training. Both these initiatives need to be used to remove any inhibitions that plumbers and
apprentice have. It also can be used as opportunity to enlist the types of houses, infrastructure
problems, kind of showers appropriate, tools needed, technologies possible and any support for
plumber community. Most importantly the organisation needs to unveil its idea of supporting
plumbers to meet more consumers who are interested in getting their showers replaced or
installed. Based on the available technology at the time, toll free number, website, blog, or social
media page or app which can connect consumers wanting to change showers with plumbers /
their apprentice who can help. The plumbers need not reduce their wages drastically but can
charge a suitable amount if working with quartz. Further with the help of Aqualisa can get more
consumers for their wages. Further, if plumbers fear that apprentice can also fix the product, then
only master plumbers need to be encouraged to fix the quartz so that they feel good. This way by
helping plumbers help themselves Aqualisa can build a good reputation among plumbers. It is
not so easy and needs a lot of commitment and change in ideology at the organisation level. So
imitation is not possible quickly. Generally, marketers are trained to sell products and extend
some handholding to consumers, but not to the people who help in installation. In this way the
organisation can prepare plumbers to remain open to innovations that will come in future. It will

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also challenge other players in market who are not doing much in terms of consumer
convenience.
Trade shops
These carry large variety of products due to which the sales staff is not educated about any
product in particular. Aqualisa needs to change this as plumbers frequent trade shops for
purchasing their equipment. It can establish a kiosk in trade shop to specifically promote quartz
for a limited period. A sales associate can be designated for sharing the value proposition for
plumbers and customers. This will help in customer and consumer. It will also help in getting
attention of those plumbers or apprentice who have not been able to attend the training program
by Aqualisa. Sales associates can be given special incentive for increasing the sales of quartz.
Cost implications of getting space allocated for kiosk need to be ascertained with trade shops
before the commencement of this program.

Showrooms
These are most important players in the market who can help display the shower properly and
demonstrate the value proposition to premium consumers. Aqualisa now needs to approach more
showrooms to convince them to host quartz so that more consumers can enjoy the benefits.
Margins to be offered to showrooms can be decided on mutual comfort and sales targets. Further,
Aqualisa can prioritize some showrooms which will give importance to selling quartz compared
to competition i.e. Triton’s products. These priority stores can be provided little extra support
and benefits. Most importantly, an open offer should be placed to showrooms selling quartz that
the products will be serviced by Aqualisa trained plumbers to ensure best installation and any
second visit needed will be covered by Aqualisa. This will reduce pressure on showrooms and
plumbers.

DIY Shops
Quartz being a premium product should not be offered in DIY shops. However, the base
technology can be used to prepare a no-frill product specifically for DIY shops. This will help
keep the distance between premium consumers and self-reliant consumers. The idea being with
more features and comfort the consumer is expected to pay more price. However, once trend of
using sophisticated products sets in then more products can flow through DIY also.

Advertising
The organisation needs to come out of its product centric mentality and adopt consumer centric
mentality. This will help R&D division to focus on the pain points of consumers rather than self-
focused technology specifications which may or may not be understood and appreciated by
customers and consumers. Low cost advertising can be planned using social media and other
channels which will give good coverage but will not cost a lot. Overall the marketing department
needs to be more active and coordinating with other departments and stakeholders to help the
growing organisation.