Brand Value and Sales Declination Assignment

Brand Value and Sales Declination
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Acknowledgment
Practical Knowledge is fundamental for the application of theoretical intelligence. Having this in
mind our course teacher assigned to prepare this assignment to the students of the course
“Marketing Research”. We cordially thank the honorable teacher for providing us the
opportunity to apply class room learning practice. This assignment creates a bridge between our
class room lessons and the application of our gathered knowledge.
We would also like to convey our deep gratitude to those people who have helped us to collect
the information and supported us.
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Letter of Transmittal
Date: 02, December, 2016
Jahangirnagar University.
Subject: Submission of Assignment.
Dear Madam, It is our absolute pleasure to present the term paper on “identifying the causes of
brand value & sales declination of Cosco Soap through Marketing Research Process”. While
preparing the report we have tried our level best to focus closely on the topic and try to collect
the most complete and updated information available. We believe that it will provide a clear idea
about the current Situation of Cosco soap on the market and what was the reason of its downfall.
To prepare this term paper, we have given best effort to accumulate needed information. We will
be available to answer any question for clarification. Thank you for your sincere support.
Sincerely yours,
Member of Rose Group
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Executive Summary
We were given the task to research about “Cosco Glycerin Soap” and find out the
causes of brand value and sales declination of this brand. In this project, we have
shown the market position of this product, their brand performance, competitive
scenario of previous and current situation and a consumer perceptual map so that
we can identify the flaws of this product, why they are unsuccessful though they are
so experienced brand. However, Kohinoor chemical sold their Cosco soap brand
to Commander Soap Company to about why Cosco glycerin soap is unsuccessful
we conducted a research on male and female both so there would be no
discrimination. Then we tried to make some points and questionnaires for them. A
survey was conducted to know how much Bangladeshi citizen knows about Cosco
soap and how it is faring with other Soap brands. They gave feedback about Cosco
soap if they had used it before. Through this process we were able to identify those
reasons behind Cosco soap’s unsuccessful condition. After conducting a survey of
30 people we did a ratio analysis. We also gathered significant information from
internet and contacting local businessman.
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Table of Contents
Content Name Page
Introduction 5
1.0. Marketing Research process 5
1.1. Problem Definition
 Background Study
 Brand profile & problem statement
6-8
1.2. Development of the approach and specifying
research objective
 Objective of the research
 Data analysis
8-9
1.3. Research Design Formulation 10-11
1.4. Fieldwork or Data Collection
 Survey method
 Observation method
11-12
1.5. Data Preparation and Analysis
 Cosco Brand performance
 Competitive scenario
12-14
1.6. Report reparation and presentation
 Findings
14-20
Conclusion 21
Appendix 22-24
Introduction
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Marketing research is the process of designing, gathering analyzing and reporting information
that possibly will be used to solve a specific issue which can help us to explore different ideas of
consumers and sectors of marketing to develop new product or service. Our research based on
the consumer products Cosco Glycerin Soap. Cosco Soap is the product of Commander Soap
Co. Ltd that already have declined the market share this product. Cosco Soap Bar was selected
by discussing our all group members as our product to research and we eight have conducted this
research on Cosco’s market situation. We identify the causes of brand value & sales declination
of Cosco Soap by the following marketing research process step by step.
1.0. Marketing Research Process
A set of six steps that defines the marketing tasks to be accomplished in conducting a marketing
research study. These include-
1.1 Problem definition
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In defining the problem, we take into account the purpose of the study, the relevant background
information, what information is needed, and how it will be used in decision making. Problem
definition involves discussion with the decision makers, interviews with industry experts,
analysis of secondary data, and, perhaps, some qualitative research, such as focus groups. Once
the problem has been precisely defined, the research can be designed and conducted properly.
Background study
Soap is an ionic combination of fatty acid and base. It is mainly used as an assistant in washing,
bathing and cleaning. Soaps for cleansing are obtained by treating vegetable or animal oils and
fats with a strongly alkaline solution. This primary bonding is basically the solution of sodium
soaps where beauty soaps represent potassium soaps, derived from potassium hydroxide, are
softer or often liquid. The initial soap making was started like materials dates back to around
2800 BC in ancient Babylon and that was a simple formula for soap consisting of water , alkali,
and cassia oil was written on a Babylonian clay tablet around 2200 BC.
In some regions in 556-539 BC, a method for soap consisted of ashes, cypress [oil ] and sesame [
seed oil] for their servant girls. The soap industry has started to run but until the industrial
revolution, it was conducted in asmall scale and the product was irregular. At first, Andrew Pears
started making a high-quality, transparent soap which is familiar with the name "Pears" in 1789
in London. Later, his son-inlaw, Thomas J. Barratt, who is a pioneer of brand marketing, opened
a factory in Isleworth in 1862. William Gossage produced low-priced, good-quality soap from
the 1850s. Robert Spear Hudson began manufacturing a soap powder in 1837, initially by
grinding the soap with a mortar and pestle which was famous as "Hudson's Dry Soap". On this
flow of industry on soap American manufacturer Benjamin T. Babbitt added another benchmark
that he introduced marketing innovations that included sale of bar soap and distribution of
product samples. Then, in1886, William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James, bought a small
soap works in Warrington, England and founded what is still one of the largest soap businesses,
formerly called Lever Brothers and now called Unilever.
Later in 1898, B.J. Johnson came up with a new soap formula which became very popular that
the B.J Johnson Company changed their name according to their soap and this is still one of the
most popular soap bars in world and the brand is "Palmolive". These organizations created a
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fancy and the competition began with advertisement and also product. These soap businesses
were among the first to employ large scale advertising campaigns and formally produced soap's
business. So, in 19`h century the industry of soap bar has flourished in industrial manner with
large scale of competition in Europe and US where the Asian part was not involved. Asians
remained the suppliers of the ingredients of producing soaps in western parts and after a very
long period from the beginning of manufacture soaps have become familiar in Asia.
Now, in case of Bangladesh, it was a colony of British Empire for a long 200 years (1857-1947)
and then was ruled by Pakistan for 24 years (1947- 1971) and become independent after a
massive bloodshed war in 1971. The industry has grown up in the independent Bangladesh while
it has become competitive in late 90's. From a survey (2004) it has been seen that there were four
soap industries in Bangladesh. However, many other have been added later period which is
approximately twelve and have brought the competition along with numbers. Whereas marketing
here is playing an immense important role to sustain as competition is relatively high and
product categories are different. So with the aim of grabbing market share companies have come
up with different soap brands for different target customers. So, by the time consumers of
Bangladesh have got soaps like Tibet, Cosco, Lux, Sandalina, Lifebuoy, Aeromatic, Keya,
Dettol, Meril, Dove and so on. A study says that among the all companies around 43% market
share in the beauty soap industry is covered by Unilever BD and later are gradually covered by
Kohinoor and Keya cosmetics ltd which generally cover the mass market means outside the city
area.
Brand Profile & Problem Statement
Cosco glycerin soap was a product of Kohinoor chemical co (Bd) Limited but Kohinoor
Chemical Co Limited sold it to Commander Soap Co limited. It is a soap which contains
glycerin and using by Bangladeshi people from 1970’s. Decades back, it was used for household
purposes such as for bath but now the scenario of this product has been changed. Actually,
Kohinoor chemical has some other successful brands like Sandellina but the consumption of this
Cosco glycerin soap is decreasing day by day as a result they sold it to Commander Soap Co
limited. Since then, it was a very preferable soap for everyone but now it is only used for hygiene
purpose. The consumer market of this soap has also changed because the consumers are the
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lower class people. They used to consume this Cosco soap as their household purposes as the
price is actually very cheap than other soap brands. In this year, Cosco glycerin soap is used for
the hygiene purposes of local restaurants, universities, schools, colleges, government
organizations and so on. So, Cosco glycerin soap is one of the unsuccessful brands in
Bangladeshi market. We have figured out some symptoms to define this problem and we have
got that
a) Less new customers,
b) Less frequency of purchasing and
c) Interested to new brands of existing customers has made Cosco's sales growth stumpy.
1.2. Development of an approach and specifying research objectives
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Development of an approach to the problem includes formulating an objective or theoretical
framework, analytical models, research questions, hypotheses, and identifying characteristics or
factors that can influence the research design.
Objectives of this Research
 To understand and evaluate the previous market and the current market scenario of
assigned brand (Cosco Glycerin soap).
 To identify the causes of brand declination that why this brand is unsuccessful.
 To suggest areas to improve to regain market position.
Data analysis
In this group project of Cosco glycerin soap, we had conducted a research. To conduct this
research we followed two methods of research. They are:
.
 Primary research data: At first, we started collecting our survey from the department
store, consumers & students of Jahangirnagar University and surroundings. Lastly we
focused interviewing/data collecting from the day-laborers who are uneducated for the
purpose of them being not able to read the survey for themselves
 Secondary research data: In secondary research, we got findings from the website of
Cosco glycerin soap. We have not found any core information from Kohinoor Chemical
Co. because they sold this brand to Commander Soap Co limited.
1.3. Research Design Formulation
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A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project.
Conducting exploratory research, precisely defining the variables, and designing appropriate
scales to measure them are also a part of the research design. The issue of how the data should be
obtained from the respondents (for example, by conducting a survey or an experiment) must be
addressed. It is also necessary to design a questionnaire and a sampling plan to select
respondents for the study.
More formally, formulating the research design involves the following steps:
1. Secondary data analysis
2. Qualitative research
3. Methods of collecting quantitative data (survey, observation, and experimentation)
4. Definition of the information needed
5. Measurement and scaling procedures
6. Questionnaire design
7. Sampling process and sample size
8. Plan of data analysis
After formulating research design we select some method to our research procedures, these are given
below:
 Quantitative (Survey method );
 Qualitative.
Quantitative research is interested in quantifying and statistically analyzing the responses of a
representative sample of respondents. Alternatively, qualitative research questions a small
number of respondents and provides insight and in-depth observations.
A researcher has a vast array of methods to choose from. Generally, marketing researchers use
survey methods, focus groups and depth interviews as their primary means of collecting data.
Surveys use questionnaires to interview a large number of people. Alternatively focus groups are
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small group discussions organized and moderated by a trained individual. Depth-interviews are
one-to-one sessions between one respondent and an interviewer.
Basically this is a quantitative research as it’s analysis is mainly done from the responses of the
respondents.
As number of secondary sources is very few to analyze the research and mostly this project is
related with the problems of the Brand Cosco and its customers/users are the ultimate influencers
for increasing or decreasing this brand sales so we have designed our research mostly with
primary data.
This is an exploratory research as it aims to explore the insight of declining a brand Cosco sales
growth. This project aimed to gather the relevant information regarding the declination of Cosco
from both male& female respondents so that this will help to come up with appropriate results.
Most of the information is to be gathered from primary sources and there will be questionnaires
to get the feedback from respondents.
1.4. Fieldwork or Data Collection
Data collection involves a field force or staff that operates either in the field, as in the case of
personal interviewing (in-home, mall intercept, or computer-assisted personal interviewing),
from an office by telephone (telephone or computer-assisted telephone interviewing), or through
mail (traditional mail and mail panel surveys with prerecruited households). Proper selection,
training, supervision, and evaluation of the field force helps minimize data-collection errors.
Survey Method
At first we conducted a survey on Cosco glycerin soap. We took total 30 participants who
answered our questionnaires. There were 15 male and 15 female participants. In the beginning if
this survey we wanted to know that how many people are aware of Cosco glycerin soap.
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Awareness was 73.3% where unawareness was 26.6. Secondly, we came to know that those
people aged between 46-55,their unlikeness for this product is 3.33% where the people aged
between 25< their unlikeness is 60%.through this process we came to know the exact percentage
of the unsuccessful condition cosco glycerin soap.
Observation Method
In a personal observation, we observe actual behavior as it occurs in the market, customer focus
on the product, sales persons view, department store view, and community view about the
product.
1.5. Data Preparation and Analysis
Data preparation includes the editing, coding, transcription, and verification of data. Each
questionnaire or observation form is inspected, or edited, and, if necessary, corrected. Number or
letter codes are assigned to represent each response to each question in the questionnaire.
Verification ensures that the data from the original questionnaires have been accurately
transcribed, while data analysis, guided by the plan of data analysis, gives meaning to the data
that have been collected.
Cosco Brand Performance
By observing the overall current market situations we can identify that Cosco is performing very
poorly. It may be because of customer’s awareness level for the product. Customers are now
more exposed to alternative brands, lack of advertising and promotion from the company etc. Its
sales have gone down and people are not willing to use this product. All these things indicate the
poor performance of Cosco. On the other hand, it was the first transparent soap in Bangladesh as
a domestic brand. High durability is a strong strength of the soap. The soap is not easily melting
soap. It runs day after day. It was a high quality A grade soap. But in the current market the
brand elements is not strong enough and quality is very low and vague. The brand must develop
the brand elements like new logo, tagline, and packaging.
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Cosco is currently being distributed all over the country although the product visibility is at its
lowest in any of the shops. The current brand image of Cosco is “a restaurant useable soap”. The
brand should work to develop brand image. The visibility of product under same category has
been taken by the major brands like Lux, Meril, etc.
The promotion of Cosco glycerin soap was although good for the time frame when it was
initially launched, but it was not satisfactory enough when the market became competitive. The
product launched only a handful of television commercials and newspaper advertisements during
its time. Since, there are a little or no promotional activities, the brand awareness of the soap
declined with time. As a result, consumer forgot the existence of the product.
Competitive Scenario (Both previous and current)
Cosco Glycerin soap was launched in the very beginning of the journey of Kohinoor Company
Bangladesh Limited. This soap on its beginning phase was cash cow of the company. Among the
local soap manufacturing companies, it was the first glycerin soap to be manufactured and
marketed in Bangladesh at that time period. Having these advantages, Cosco instantly grabbed
and created a group of regular customers and run its sales smoothly before late 70’s. In late 70’s
after the liberation when the export of goods started to rise and new local companies started
emerging, the sales started to fall. Along with that, the involvement of multi-national brands
which started manufacturing operation in our country and become available in the market within
the price range Cosco soap used to offer; consequently it dragged the sales down.
The competitive scenario of this product in its initial stage depicts that in the years 1959 to 1990
Cosco soap was one of the most available and demanded soap. People of all walks including the
aristocrats used to use this soap for different purposes. The soap remains unchanged in between
this time period. Starting from the packaging to its quality neither degraded nor upgrade. Though
it is not all season soap, the people used to use it only because of the availability. But after the
intervention of different foreign brands Cosco begins losing its charm drastically at least to the
upper class people because of its status quo nature. And the people of below average income, has
to remain with this soap because it is cheaper than others though lux’s availability in different
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size and price has taken the remaining opportunities of Cosco and thus this soap is now exist in
the market, just for its existence.
Kohinoor industries, give up on this soap in 1995, and Commander Soap Company Limited
started producing this same product in the same way Kohinoor used to do. Nothing changed and
again this soap remained what it was before. Currently, Cosco soap holds only 6% of market
shares whereas Lux’s share is of around 45%. Which depicts that this soap is in a stage where it
is not competing with any other bigger brands; however other local companies’ of soaps for
instance Keya, Tibet, Meril etc. are doing far better than this.
As a locally made soap brand Cosco has the opportunity to better its position in the market
because this is the only local company that produces Glycerin soap in Bangladesh; if it could
better its quality, add some variants, implicate changes in packaging, improve quality, and apply
branding strategies this brand will surely shine again. All these together will get back its previous
image and will allow this brand to prevail in the market again.
1.6. Report Preparation and Presentation
The findings are presented in a comprehensible format so that we can be readily used in the
decision making process. In addition, an oral presentation is made to management using tables,
figures, and graphs to enhance clarity and impact.
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Findings
The following informations are the result of our survey analysis as well as primary and
secondary research
Age Category:
Since the research was conducted in a local market, Public University were students & others
professional people are regular in number, 60% of our participant were below 25 year and other
40% were above 25 years and falls under working class.
Education Categories:
Since the research was conducted in a University & local market so maximum of our
participants had fallen under the “Graduating” group and the rest were either below high
school graduating or above post-graduation.
Below secondary 3.33%
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Secondary 23.33%
Graduating 56.67%
Post graduate 13.33%
Professional Qualification 3.33%
Income Range:
We didn’t find any distinguished difference in this category but learned that soap has relation
with income range since soap can be bought according to your earning. A person who lives in the
slums can also buy soap but not like that of a middle class person. In this case, Cosco soap can
be bought by the level of any groups.
Tk 1,000 – Tk 5,000 33.33%
Tk 5,000 – Tk 20,000 33.33%
Above- 33.33%
Usage of Soap (month-wise):
In this sector we have learned that majority on the population uses one soap for a month.
1 per month 50%
1 per 2 month 23.33%
1 for 3 months 3.33%
Others 23.33%
Soap Purchasing Venue:
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During our surveying session we have found that 50% of the population buys their soap from the
nearby grocery store. From here we have learned that, people do not bother thinking of buying
something like soap by going distant to a mall or super-mart. People have a blind faith on their
selected product they used and think that no matter where they buy it from, it will be genuine.
Soap Purchasing Budget:
Here we have found that people do not go for a higher ranging price to buy their daily soap. But
during our session of interview we have learned that middle class people tend to buy Luxury
soap during their special occasion like Eid, Puja or Christmas.
< TK 50 36.67%
Tk 50- Tk 150 40%
Tk 150 < 23.33%
Does Packaging matters?
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We would “Yes”.
NO matters how many more times we say “Beauty doesn’t matter” but it does matter. Anything
beautiful can capture the eyes of human eye. Therefore, packaging for any product is crucial.
Yes
73.33%
No
26.67%
How often people change their soap brand:
Different soap has different properties. Every soap is not going to suit everybody’s skin since
skin type differs from person to person. Therefore, Majority of the people do not tend to change
their soap brand if they had found their perfect match.
Very Often 26.67%
Rarely 56.67%
Moderately 16.67%
Promotion Interest:
People are more keen to go for the product which has “Buy 1, get 1 free” offer and more than
half of the candidates has supported this. As we see in the chart, very low percent of people tend
to support “Money off next purchase”. Here we believe, people do not trust the offer to keep
their promise and giving the item for free the next time they go for purchasing.
Buy 1, get 1 free 63.33%
Buy 3, get 2 free 13.33%
Sample selection 20%
Money off next purchase 3.33%
Statement Best describes:
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I purchase soap by seeing its medicinal &
Ayurveda properties
53.33%
I purchase soap which is within my budget 23.33%
I buy soap by the scent 16.67%
I will buy anything that’s going to clean me
(I don’t care about the brand name)
6.67%
Soap recognition by the promotion:
As we see in the chart people don’t even remember watching any of Cosco soap’s commercials
and the highest rate of promotional activities goes to Lux. Therefore, Cosco soap should pay
more attention in this sector that is Promotional activities.
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Soap Type Preferences:
People Prefer their soaps in liquid than bars.
Liquid 63.33%
Bar 33.33%
Both 3.33%
Communication Channel Preference:
As we can see in the chart, Majority prefers to see commercials in the TV better than any other
Media. So Cosco should play their commercials in the TV Channels more often than other
foreign brands.
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Conclusion
There is a saying "Nothing stays on top forever. Even rain comes down crashing, sometimes
hard". The same situation faced Cosco soap. At one time it was at the very top. Every
Bangladeshi used Cosco soap. Almost every house used it. Not almost no one of knows the soap
even exists. Only people of older generation remember the brand “Cosco”. Though Cosco was a
A grade soap, after 1990 when other brands started to enter the market Cosco’s name and brand
began to fall because of low to no marketing. If they were persistent to remain at the top they
should have created new marketing campaign to promote their product. As Cosco Soap is still in
the market, we can recommend that Cosco soap should restart its marketing by advertisement or
changing its logo and packaging. We also think that it should create more color and smell to
emphasize its name and to compete with its competitor like “Lux” or “Dove”. Cosco can rebuild
its Brand reputation with a bit of effort that could be said with certainty as people still uses
Cosco soup as even though there is absolutely no advertisement or marketing of this soap.
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Appendix
Questionnaire:
Dear Correspondent,
We are the MBA students of Jahangirnagar University conducting a survey for ‘identifying the
causes of brand value & sales declination of Cosco Soap’ through Marketing Research
Process for the partial fulfillment of the course MARKETING RESEARCH. The survey will
take only a few minutes of your time. Your response would be of great help in accomplishing the
study. However, this information is only for the academic purpose and will not be disclosed
elsewhere. We heartily thank you for your cooperation.
Gender: Female Male
Age Category: <25 25-35 36-45 46-55 56<
Education: Below secondary Secondary/ Higher secondary Graduate Post Graduate Professional Qualification
Where do you work?
____________________________________________________________
What is your income range?
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 Tk 1000 – Tk 5000 Tk 5000 – Tk 20000 - Above
Area of residence: _________________________________.
Are you familiar with Brand Cosco soap? Yes
(If yes, how many years have you been using it: _____________________ ) No
Do you use any other Glycerin soap? Yes
(Which one? _______________________) No
How often do you use soap? ______________________ .
How many soap do you use per month? One per twice month One per month One in three month Other
Where do you purchase soap from? Grocery Super mart Mall
What is your budget for soap purchasing? > Tk 50 Tk 50 – Tk 150 Tk 150 <
Do you believe that attractive packaging is important if you are deciding amongst brands of any
kind of soap? Yes NO
How often do you change your soap brand? Very often Rarely
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 Moderately
Please point your selection as a Soap purchaser:
Rating index-
(1) Least satisfactory
(2) Average
(3) Most satisfactory
Which Of The Following Promotions Interest You? Buy 1, get 1 free Buy 3, get 2 free Sample selection Money off next purchase
Which statement best describes your view on soap I purchase soap by seeing its medicinal or Ayurveda properties I purchase soap which is within my budget I buy by the scent I will buy anything that’s going to clean me (I don’t care the brand name)
Thinking about the advertisements that you might have seen on television recently for
glycerin/winter care soaps, please recall the first name that comes to your mind.
_____________________________ .
What type of soap will you be purchasing for your hand-wash use? Liquid Bar
What sort of communicational channel would you prefer to inform you about Cosco soap? TV Newspaper Websites ads Facebook Magazines
Would you like if Cosco Brand had liquid Cosco Soaps? Yes No
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Please share your personal thoughts about Cosco Soap!
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