Team Torpedo (UK) Strategy Reflection Blog/Vlog - 1

The company began its first year on a position of relative strength. It marketed two brands, controlling
21% of the market by volume and 26% by value. These brands, TONE and TOPS, were thus targeted
at the high earners and professionals, as well as the explorers, who are seeking convenience and above
all, performance. This segmentation allows the brands to command a premium, increasing value to the
company, despite lackluster sales for TOPS. The products were marketed mainly through the specialty
stores in both cases.
The team performed a situation analysis, first looking internally, at the company and its performance,
then at consumers it serves, identifying their perception, needs and the gap. Then we looked at the
competition and the industry, identifying the drivers, opportunities and threats. This analysis formed
the basis of our decisions, as detailed below:

Situation Analysis Company and its productsThe company makes approximately 14.7 million Markstrat dollars on sales of 52 million. This is
driven by TONE, with sales of 38 million and a contribution of almost 14 million itself. The brand
enjoys 14% share in the market and is present in 46% of specialty stores, through which 62% of sales
are derived. TOPS, despite equivalent marketing spend, enjoys only 7% share in the market. While
TONE was able to sell 121 thousand units (compared to a prediction of 140 thousand and production
of 121 thousand) TOPS could sell only 58 thousand units (compared to predicted 100 thousand and 80
thousand produced), incurring further holding costs.
The features of the brands are as given below:

Customer Insights
TONE and TOPS both lag in brand awareness, with less than 50% awareness for both. While TONE
makes up for this in terms of significant purchase intention (17%), TOPS lags here as well. In terms of
distribution and availability, the purchase from mass merchandisers looks to be significant in the near
future and needs to be improved.
Competitors
The company is the market leader by revenue and second in terms of retail volume. However, other
companies seem to have a much better return on investment and contribution margin. These figures
are understandably driven by TONE, as expected from previous inputs. MOST is the most valuable
brand in terms of sales and future growth.
Industry
The savers and shoppers with similar needs are the largest segment in the market. While high growth
rates will be seen in high-earners, where the companys brand TONE is targeted, the company has no

offering targeted to these segments which will be the largest after 5 years. The brand TOPS is targeted
at explorers who will experience shrinking and become even more niche than before.
Based on these inputs, the decisions we wanted to make were:
1. R&D to develop characteristics of TOPS such as design, and change its targeting to Shoppers,
not just explorers
2. R&D into the new VODITE market
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As R&D was not an option, the decisions were slightly altered

Increase in Ad Spend so as to improve awareness and purchase intention
Increase in size of commercial team that would sell to mass merchandizers
Change in focus of TOPS to include Shoppers
No change in price of either brand
Decreased production of TOPS to avoid inventory holding or disposal
Purchase of VODITE market report so as to be able to invest in research