Acknowledgement

At first, we acknowledge our heartiest gratefulness to the almighty ALLAH and to all who have
extended their hand of cooperation in preparing the report. We expressed our gratitude and
acknowledge our indebtedness to our relevant course instructor Prof. Dr. M. Salek for his
overall cooperation guidance, advice and support in discharging our responsibilities consciously
and preparing this report.

Finally, we want to give thanks to our honorable teacher for giving us such a good assignment
and appreciate the cooperation and help we receive from our friends and others.

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 Table of Contents

Name Page
Question - 1 5-6
Question - 2 7-8
Question - 3 9-10

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1. Why do you think the introduction of Balaka Super Blades
failed?

Answer: In 1985, Samah made a significant change in its product by introducing “BALAKA
SUPER” (B/S) in the market. After a rigorous sales campaign, B/S was marketed. And it failed
dramatically in capturing the market. There are several reasons behind this failure. They are
explained below:

 Ignorance of opinion :
First mistake that Samah made was by ignoring the opinion
of their major targeted consumers. Balaka was totally used by the lower middle class
group. But while conducting the market survey about B/S, samples were taken only from
Dhaka and its suburbs, due to resource constraints. A large portion of their consumers
lived outside of Dhaka. But Samah totally ignored them. That’s why they failed to gain
the proper opinion.

 Blowing off the existing product :

The main mistake that Samah made was by
blowing off Balaka from the market. While introducing B/S, they removed Balaka from
the existing manufacturing line. They tried to impose the new product on the buyer as
they considered the market as a monopoly market. But they found a negative result. The
expected consumers from the middle class continued to use their previous brands, and the
consumers of Balaka shifted over to other blades (Sword and other imported blades).

 High price rate :

Samah introduced B/S in the market. The quality was a bit superior
and the price a bit higher. The target group for B/S was also the lower middle class, along
with the middle class. But as Samah failed to do the survey properly, they could not know
anything about the opinion of their consumers regarding the price rate. So, they failed to

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 attract the new consumers, as well as failed to hold their existing consumers due to high
price rate.
 Strong Competitors :
When Samah came into the market with B/S, they found
themselves in a competition with both lower class brands and upper class brands. For
B/S, they targeted the lower middle class, along with the middle class. Middle class
people used imported quality blades like 7 O’ clock and Gillette. Without properly
investigating the market they came into competition with strong competitors like 7 O’
clock and Gillette. That’s why they failed to capture the attention of middle class
consumers who continued to use their previous brands and also failed to hold on to their
existing consumers due to high price rate of B/S and discontinuation of production of
Balaka.

 Over confidence and too much risk :

Samah introduced B/S in the market with
too much confidence by ignoring the proper survey. They considered the market as a
monopoly market and tried to impose the new product on the buyer. Samah also took too
much risk by blowing off BALAKA from the existing manufacturing line. That’s why
they could not hold on to their current consumers.

These are the main factors that failed the introduction of Balaka Super Blades. Samah
should have come into the market with B/S after properly investigating the market and
the possible output of the product.

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2. What recommendation would you make for marketing
Balaka Super Blades?

Answer: Samah introduced “BALAKA SUPER” (B/S) in the market with a bit superior quality
and a bit higher price. They also targeted another class. But due to some wrong steps they failed
dramatically in capturing the market. Their expected consumers continued to use their previous
brands and the consumers of Balaka shifted over to other blades. Here are some
recommendations for marketing Balaka Super blades that they could use to gain proper market.

 Proper market research :

First of all, Samah should conduct a proper market survey
on all of its consumers about B/S. The survey should not be limited in any specific area,
besides it should be done around the whole country on their targeted consumers. By
doing this, they would be able to know the proper opinion of their target market regarding
their new product B/S.

 Reconsider the price :

Samah should reconsider the price of B/S after conducting the
survey. Through the survey they would come to know about the opinion of their target
group lower middle class and middle class about B/S. They would give their opinion
regarding the high price rate of B/S. Samah should properly acknowledge the opinions
and reconsider the price.

 Level of competition :
While marketing B/S, Samah will come into competition with
both upper class brands and lower class brands. So, they should reconsider the level of
competition. They should provide such service and set such a price that can easily attract
its target group and keep balance in both of its competition level. They should maintain

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 some strategies to keep in completion with upper class brands like 7 O’ clock and Gillette
and with lower class brands like Sword.

 Confidence without ignoring the market risk :

Samah should come into market
with B/S with confidence but they should not take too much risk. They must not put the
whole pressure on this product. They should market B/S parallel with the existing
production of BALAKA. Thus, they would be able to balance the risk of their products.

 Promotional offer :
Samah can launch different promotional offers for marketing B/S.
They can offer – Percentage base discount, free delivery, free gift, referral offers etc.
They should try to get the attention of dealers of different areas by providing different
offers. They should also try to get the attention of target group by launching ceremony,
media and advertisement etc.

 Launch free products :

Samah should launch some of its products in the market for
free for attracting the attention of its target groups and product dealers. By using the
product, general people would come to know about the quality of the product and the
demand of it will increase. The demand in the market will force the dealers to collect the
products from Samah to satisfy the need of consumers.

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3. What recommendation would you make regarding the
reintroduction of Balaka blade?

Answer: When Samah introduced “BALAK SUPER” (B/S) in the market, they stopped the
production of their existing product BALAKA. This is where they made the mistake. Because
they should have marketed the new product paralleled with the existing product to balance the
risk. Now, they should reintroduce BALAKA blades. Here are some recommendations regarding
the reintroduction of Balaka blades.

 Promotion and special offers :

To reintroduce Balaka blades in the market and
attract its consumers, Samah should conduct some promotional activities and launch
some special offers. It can provide - consumer loyalty offers, influencers offers, exclusive
social offers, volume/cart size offers etc for seeking the attention of its target consumers
and market dealers.

 Old price but superior quality :

Samah can reintroduce the product in the market
by keeping the old price but increasing the quality of the product. They should increase
the product quality so that they can create a value about the product in people’s mind that
they have returned with the product with a boost.

 Attract dealers :
They should try to gain the attention of their old dealers of Balaka to
increase the demand and supply of it in the market. They can also provide different offers
to gain their attention and increase their sale. If they can again reconnect with their
dealers, it will be helpful for them to go back to their place in the market competition.

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  Sponsorship and media :
Samah should provide sponsorship by the name of Balaka
blades to gain the people’s attention. It will also help then to create publicity of their
product. They can sponsor different social programs, social foundations, sports, seminars
etc. They also can reach target group by advertising through different media.

 Lower the price :

Samah can reconsider the price of Balaka blades for a temporary
period to attract its lost consumers by giving superior products in fewer prices. Besides,
people will focus on Balaka blades when they will find its proper supply in fewer prices.

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