Marketing Mix Analysis of Listerine: Strategies for Product Success

This report provides a comprehensive marketing mix analysis of the Listerine company, focusing on its antiseptic mouthwash product. The analysis begins with an introduction to the company and the four Ps of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion. The product strategy section examines Listerine's product classification, life cycle stage (maturity), and branding strategies, including its differentiation from competitors and brand equity. The pricing strategy explores Listerine's competitive pricing approach. The promotion strategy delves into the various marketing communication methods employed by Listerine, including advertising and packaging. The report highlights Listerine's efforts to adapt to changing market conditions, target diverse consumer groups, and maintain its position in the competitive oral care market. The report references key academic sources to support its analysis.

Running head: MARKETING MIX OF LISTERINE COMPANY
MARKETING MIX OF LISTERINE COMPANY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MARKETING MIX OF LISTERINE COMPANY
Table of Contents
2. Product strategy of Listerine company......................................................................2
3. Pricing strategy of Listerine company.......................................................................5
4. Promotion strategy of Listerine company..................................................................6
References......................................................................................................................9

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2. Product strategy of Listerine company
Listerine antiseptic mouthwash has been considered as the product for the purpose of
analysis. The product will have to go through different stages of product life cycle that
include, Introduction, Growth, Maturity and Decline. The Listerine antiseptic mouthwash is
in the Maturity based stage of the product life cycle. The branding based strategy that has
been developed by the organization is based on the development of its image as a lifestyle
based brand. The health care related image of the organization has been changed in order to
develop a larger share in the mouthwash based market (Chen, 2018).
The product of Listerine has been differentiated by the company from the competitors
is considered to be an important for the equity that has been formed in the industry. The
products are able to offer health care related benefits to the customers with the help of its
products. Listerine is also able to fulfil the daily based needs of the customers with the help
of different parts types of products that are a part of the main product. The variety of products
are considered to be important for the organization in order to develop a sustainable
competitive advantage in comparison to the competitors (Dolnicar, Grün & Leisch, 2018).
Listerine has developed its position as one of the prominent oral care based brands in
the entire world. The products that are developed by Listerine Company and provided to the
customers are based on different issues related to oral hygiene that are effective for them.
The brand offers different types of products to customers in the market. The products that are
a part of the marketing mix based portfolio of Listerine are related to mouth wash and oral
care. Johnson & Johnson is the parent company of Listerine and the company aims at
fulfilling the oral care based needs of the consumer (Listerine.ca. 2019).
The brand has been committed towards the proper improvement of products for the
purpose of developing the social confidence of the customers. The consumers are also able to

3MARKETING MIX OF LISTERINE COMPANY
take control of their oral health with the help of products that are offered by Listerine. The
product based strategy of the organization is related to the ways by which awareness levels
among the consumers can be increased. Listerine has also developed products in such a
manner that are innovative in nature (Evans, 2016).
The mint flavour based products that have been developed by Listerine are able to
fulfil the needs that are related to oral antiseptic. Listerine has aimed at increasing the
profitability and growth levels with the help of products that have been introduced in the
category of mouthwash. The decline that has recently experienced in the mouthwash based
market has affected the profitability levels of the company. This has played a major role in
the ways by which the organization has started increasing the product portfolio (Fan, Lau &
Zhao, 2015).
The germ killing based benefits that are provided by the products are considered to be
the most important part of the unique value that is offered to the consumers. Listermint is the
new product that has been introduced by the company that is mint flavoured and is able to
fulfil the needs of different types of consumers. The alcohol free Listerine Zero is another
major product of the organization that has been able to gain high levels of popularity in the
Muslim countries in which spirits are banned. The product named Green Tea Listerine has
also been developed for the Asian markets in order to attract huge number of customers
towards the organization (Festa et al., 2016).
The Asian markets have been able to provide huge levels of growth based
opportunities to the organization. This has proved to be a major reason behind the
development of specific products for the market and the customers who are a part of the
market as well. The core ingredients that have been used for different products of Listerine
have remained the same from many years. The company has increased variety of products in

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the US since the year 2006 after the brand was acquired from Pfizer. The organization has
also increased different types of mouthwash that are offered to the customers in various
countries of the world. Listerine has aimed rethinking the old brands in order to develop new
and improved products for meeting the demands in changing market conditions (Filbert &
Anthony, 2018).
Recently Listerine has aimed at localizing its products in order to communicate
effectively with the communities that exist in the local areas. The antiseptic advantages that
have been provided by the organization are mainly the most important part of the operations
and products that have been offered by Listerine. However, the other products that the
company has offered to the customers have not been able to gain prominence in the market.
The global market has been dominated by the company for the last few years. However, it has
faced stiff competition from different organizations in the same industry (Grădinaru, Toma &
Marinescu, 2016).
The market shares of Listerine had slipped in the United States from 40.2 percent in
the year 2006 to 36.1 in the year 2013. On the other hand, the major competitors of Listerine
including, Crest and Colgate Palmolive have gained share in the market in an effective
manner. The needs of consumers have been taken into consideration by the organization in
order to gain a larger share in the market (Listerine.ca. 2019). The ways by which the
demands of consumers are fulfilled by the products of Listerine are considered to be the most
important part of the strategies that have been developed by the organization (Harvey &
Sanchez, 2018). The positioning of the company was based on medicinal properties of the
products that are offered by Listerine in the industry. The international markets have been
targeted by the organization in order to increase its shares in various countries. The emerging
markets and different parts of the US have been considered to be the most important target
markets of the organization (Išoraitė, 2016).

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3. Pricing strategy of Listerine company
Listerine Antiseptic Mouthwash is priced at 6.57 Dollars in the United States that is
considered to be lower as compared to the products of Colgate Palmolive. The competitive
pricing based strategy has been implemented by Listerine in order to develop its share in the
industry. The competition that has been developed in the industry has been faced with the
help of low prices of the products. Listerine had faced major levels of competition from the
organization named Plax. The price wars that have taken place in the industry are considered
to be the most important factors that have led to the development of the pricing based
strategy. The company operates in the FMCG based market and the levels of competition in
the industry have increased in the last few years (Jackson & Ahuja, 2016).
The organization thereby needs to form the pricing based strategy in such a manner
that is able to provide support to the organization based on the position that can be
maintained by Listerine in the mouthwash based market. The pricing levels that have been
developed by the company are considered to be quite affordable in nature and the prices are
close to the selling based prices of the competitors that are a part of the industry (Kotler,
Kartajaya & Hooi, 2017).
The control that has been developed by the organization in the ecosystem is
considered to be important for the ways by which Listerine can develop its sustainable
operations. The declining share of the organization in the mouthwash based market is
considered to be important for the development of the strategy related to pricing. The sales of
the company can be maintained effectively by the low prices of products that have been
decided by Listerine even in the times of economic downturn (Lahtinen, Rundle-Thiele &
Dietrich, 2018). The products of Listerine are low priced in comparison to the similar
products that are offered by the other organizations or major competitors like Colgate.

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4. Promotion strategy of Listerine company
The products that are developed by Listerine are promoted and advertised with the
help of different media based channels. The various perks that are taken into consideration
while marketing the products include, strengthening of the gums, tooth decay, oral health
based issues and bad breath. The issues have a major impact on the overall health of the
individuals. This has been able to develop an image of the product with respect to the medical
benefits that are provided. The advertisements had however been targeted towards developing
an image of the organization as products that can be used on daily basis as well (Nuseir &
Madanat, 2015).
The messages related to the proper usage of the products are considered to be
important for the formation of a totally different image of the organization in mouth wash
based market. The bad breath based issues are considered to be quite common for the
individuals who are a part of the customer base of the organization. The portrayal of the
products was a part of the retail based market. Listerina has always taken into consideration
the ways by which its products can be promoted in an aggressive manner. The levels of
advertising spend that have been made by the organization are considered to be important for
the development of its message that are required to be provided to the customers (Resnick et
al., 2016).
The pioneer’s advantage had been gained by Listerine at the time when the
organization had entered the mouthwash based market. The organization is now leveraging in
an effective manner on the reputation and share that has been developed in the market. The
aim of the organization has been towards increasing the shares in the developing markets or
countries. Persuasive advertising has been used by the organization in order to provide the
desired messages to the customers. The differentiation of the organization from its

7MARKETING MIX OF LISTERINE COMPANY
competitors is based on the type of promotion and advertising that has been developed by the
organization (Sam, Li & Chatwin, 2016).
Listerine has aimed persuading the customers in order to use the products in spite of
the taste. Reinforcement advertising is another process that has been implemented by
Listerine in order to the spread the levels of awareness among the customers. The rural areas
of various countries are also targeted by the products that are developed by Listerine. The
packaging based activities that are performed by the organization are also a major part of the
promotional functions of Listerine (Waheed et al., 2017).
The image that gas been developed by the organization in the industry is also based
on the products that are used by Listerine on order to fulfil the demands and needs of the
consumers. The brand attitude of the organization is considered to be an important factor that
has been developed in order to maintain the levels of oral freshness. The advertising
campaign that is developed by Listerine is based on three major steps that include, problem,
message generation and creative development. The problem related to the company is
analysed in the first step (Wu & Li, 2018).
The second step is based on the proper generation of the message that needs to be
provided to the customers with the help of its advertisements. The last step is based on the
development of a creative advertisement. Social media marketing is an important part of the
promotional strategies that have been developed by Listerine. The organization had decided
to sponsor different international events in order to increase the levels of awareness based on
the products that are offered to the customers. Twitter has been chosen as a major social
media based platform that has been used by Listerine in order to reach the consumers within
less amounts of time (Sam, Li & Chatwin, 2016).

8MARKETING MIX OF LISTERINE COMPANY
Direct marketing has also been used by the organization for the purpose of offering
the products to the consumers. Direct mail is considered to be the most important part of the
marketing based channel that has been implemented by the organization. The sports
sponsorship based activities that have been performed by the organization are based on the
presence that has been developed by Listerine in the mouthwash based market. The social
media based strategy of the company in this case is quite innovative and creative in nature
(Kotler, Kartajaya & Hooi, 2017).
The company had developed newsrooms in order to gain reactions from the customers
in an effective way. This has helped the company to develop an effective communication
process with the customers. The posts that were formed by Listerine are made highly social
friendly in nature. The global crowd that is a part of the world cup based event is targeted
effectively by the social media strategy that is formed by Listerine. The reactions that have
been provided by the customers are considered to be highly important by the organization in
order to develop the effective products that are able to fulfil their specific levels of needs
(Grădinaru, Toma & Marinescu, 2016). More than 230 original pieces of content have been
developed by the company in more than 20 countries of the world. The number of
impressions that have been gained by the organization in this case are more than 500 million.
The organization has been able to develop an effective relationship with the customers with
the help of proper development of the social media based strategy (Fan, Lau & Zhao, 2015).

9MARKETING MIX OF LISTERINE COMPANY
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