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Running head: U03A2 PROJECT PRODUCT ANALYSIS
u03a2 Project Product Analysis
Fundamentals of Marketing & Sales
COMPANY
Wooster Rubber Company, a toy balloon maker, was founded in 1920 and through them, Rubbermaid introduced the first rubber dustpan in 1934 (Newell Rubbermaid, 2010). Rubbermaid, acquired by Newell in 1999, was combined with multiple companies to become Newell Rubbermaid and today is present in 90% of homes in America (Newell Rubbermaid, 2010). Newell Rubbermaid owns approximately 38 different top brand names such as Graco, Goody, Calphalon, Sharpie, Papermate, Parker, Dymo, Expo, Rolodex, Uni-Ball, Liquid Paper, Bernzomatic, Shur-Line, and Levolar, in addition to their Rubbermaid brand of products.
Product Items
The Rubbermaid brand offers beverage storage and accessories, closets & shelving, coolers, food storage, garage organization, kitchen accessories, laundry baskets and organization, outdoor storage, general storage products, products for storing/carrying utility and cleaning items, and waste/trash cans and buckets (Rubbermaid, 2010). Rubbermaid’s products are shopping products because they are usually more expensive than a convenience product, like small hardware items, and are found in fewer stores so customers tend to compare several brands on style, practicality, price, and lifestyle compatibility (Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel, 2010). Rubbermaid’s shopping products are homogenous because consumers perceive their products as basically similar to other storage and organization products so consumers typically look for the lowest-priced brand that has the desired features (Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel, 2010).
Product Line & Mixes
Rubbermaid’s storage and organization product mix contains different groups of closely related products that fall into product lines such as closet and shelving, beverage, garage organization, etc. They have 11 product lines in their storage and organization product mix (see Table 1 below). Rubbermaid’s products lines have allowed them advertising economies, package uniformity, standardized components, efficient sales and distribution, and equivalent quality.
Table 1
Rubbermaid’s Product Lines and Product MixBeverage / Closets & Shelving / Coolers / Food Storage / Garage Organization / Kitchen Accessories / Laundry / Outdoor / Storage / Utility & Cleaning / Waste & Trash
Refill/ Reuse Bottles / HomeFree Customiz-able Closet / BlueIce Wheeled Coolers / Take Alongs / Fast Track Garage Organization System / Cabinet Organiza-tion / Baskets / Rough-neck Sheds / Rough-neck / Spray Mopping / Indoor Waste Cans - Covered
Beverage Storage / Configur-ations Customiz-able Closet Kits / Marine Coolers / Bulk Storage / Tool & Sport Storage / Drawer & Silverware Organizers / Hampers / Vertical Sheds / Clever Store / Micro-fiber / Indoor Waste Baskets - Open
Ice Cub Trays & Bins / FastTrack Adjustable Closet Kits / Personal Coolers / Special-ty Storage / Resin Shelves / Enhanced Sinkware / Discon-tinued Laundry / Big Max Sheds / Special-ty Storage / Wet Mopping / Outdoor Trash Cans
Litterless Juice Boxes / Non-Adjustable Closet Kits / Everyday Coolers / Discon-tinued Food Storage Products / Resin Cabinets / Basic Sinkware / Ironing Organizer / Deck Boxes & Patio Benches / Action-Packer / Discon-tinued Utility & Cleaning Products / Discon-tinued Waste & Trash
Closet Accessories / Value Packs / Easy Find Lids / Discontinued Garage Products / Pantry Organiza-tion / Horizon-tal Sheds / Rough-neck Clear / Ladders & Step Stools
Single Shelf Kits / Water Jugs / Produce Saver / Discon-tinued Kitchen Products / Mailbox & Post Combos / Clever Store Totes / Kitchen Cleaning
Wood Shelves / Water Coolers / Lock-Its / Mailbox Posts / Sweep-ing
Wire Shelving & Hardware / Water Cooler Accessor-ies / Curbside Mailbox-es / Dusting Tools
Discon-tinued Outdoor Products / Bath-room Cleaning
Handles
Stools
Utility Brushes
Applica-tors
Vacuum Bags
Buckets
Product Features
These product features of Rubbermaid’s products are what the customer requires of this brand. They demand that Rubbermaid meet their needs or they will take their business elsewhere. Rubbermaid works hard to provide the following product features to their customers:
ü Appearance
ü BPA-Free[1] (Food, Beverage, & Cooler Storage)
ü Dishwasher Safe
ü Durability
ü Ease of Use
ü Easy to Install
ü Odor Resistant
ü Quality
ü Stain Resistant
Branding
The Rubbermaid brand incorporates their brand name (Rubbermaid) and their symbol (see Figure 1 below). Many customers will purchase Rubbermaid products based simply on their reputation instead of opting for a cheaper or more expensive version of similar products. This type of consumer behavior is quintessential brand loyalty, which is a consistent preference for one brand over all others and a brand’s identity is essential to developing brand loyalty (Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel, 2010). This gives Rubbermaid its high awareness, perceived quality, and brand loyalty among customers, which gives them their high brand equity (Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel, 2010).
As a manufacturer’s brand, Rubbermaid is a family brand that markets several different products under the same brand name (Lamb, Hair & McDaniel, 2010). For instance, they make not only beverage and food storage products under their brand name but they also make closet shelving and storage products. Two different kinds of products but both are still under the Rubbermaid brand name that aims for innovative and durable products.
Packaging
Rubbermaid’s packaging usually includes labeling on the product itself, with a removable sticker, for items such as beverage containers, coolers, kitchen accessories, waste and trash containers, stools, buckets, ladders and other bulky items. Food storage containers are a good example of when Rubbermaid uses packaging to contain products that come in multiple quantities, such as package of 4 containers with 4 lids. Normally the packaging is made from cardboard or paper material that can be recycled after removing the package contents.
Labeling
The packaging also includes information how to clean the product properly, where it was made, the brand name, and pictures of uses with suggestions for alternative uses for the product as well. The packaging also includes the size or count of the products within. It also lists the features of the product that the consumer may find important to make their purchase decision. Rubbermaid uses a combination of persuasive and informational labeling. Whenever labeling uses the words, “New” or “Improved” such as the “NEW Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop” they are using persuasive labeling. When they provide information, such as color, durability, features, and care instructions they are utilizing informational labeling.
Additionally, all of Rubbermaid’s produce use universal product codes (UPC’s) to make it easy for retailers to match the codes with brand names, package sizes, and prices so the customer can also receive this information on their register receipt. This tracking system helps retailers to control inventories and track sales. They also include their written warranty on select products using an express warranty for products that have a lifetime warranty or money-back guarantees on items like chair mats.
COMPETITION
According to Sterilite Corporation, they are the world's largest independent manufacturer of plastic housewares and they make products ranging from food storage containers and laundry / utility products to home storage and organization products in every shape, size and color (Steriilite Corporation, 2010). This makes Sterilite one of Rubbermaid’s biggest competitors. Sterilite offers products in the following lines – storage, laundry, wastebaskets, food storage, kitchen, and garage and their products can be purchased online or in-store in the same type of fashion as Rubbermaid products, although Sterilite does not have its own store at its website where you can purchase the items directly through them. They have their products available in a large number of stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens, Aldi’s, Shopko, Fleet Farm, The Dollar Tree, Amazon, The Home Depot, and The Container Store. Sterilite products and the brand name are not as well known as Rubbermaid and that is due to the powerhouse that Rubbermaid employs in their marketing program, their parent company Newell Rubbermaid. I think that Rubbermaid has the market share on the storage and organization market due to their reputation, brand loyalty, and total brand equity.
Their branding is not as strong as Rubbermaid but they do make use of a logo (see Figure 2 below). Sterilite is a cheaper alternative to the Rubbermaid products and therefore could easily take customers who are not satisfied with Rubbermaid products. Rubbermaid needs to be very aware of this possibility for Sterilite to capture larger and larger portions of the market.
Figure 2
Rubbermaid needs to pay close attention to negative reviews of their products on their web site and assist customers to maintain high levels of satisfaction. I saw that there were a few products that received very low ratings and although customer service from Rubbermaid had responded to a few of them, the product itself should be looked closely at and tested before putting a poor quality item on the market. These types of problems can send customers to Sterilite very quickly when they are looking for quality products and if they have a lower price point, it will be very easy to change the customer’s mind. Their brand loyalty could be in danger if they do not handle poor product reviews in a better fashion. Specifically, Rubbermaid has a drinking bottle with a lid that has an attached cover that constantly breaks off. There were customers complaining that it was a design flaw and that even with replacement parts, which were offered by customer service, the problem was not resolved because the replacements would break as well. If customers do not feel like their reviews make a difference or that the company cares enough to change the product to meet customer concerns, they will look elsewhere.
References
Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F., & McDaniel, C. (2010). MKTG 4 (4th ed.). New York: Cengage. ISBN: 9780538468244.
Newell Rubbermaid. (2010). Rubbermaid. Retrieved on October 22, 2010, from http://www.newellrubbermaid.com/public/Our-Brands/Home--Family/Rubbermaid.aspx
Rubbermaid. (2010). Rubbermaid Home Organization Products & Solutions. Retrieved on October 22, 2010, from http://www.rubbermaid.com
Sterilite Corporation. (2010). About Sterilite - Sterilite Corporation. Retrieved on October 31, 2010 from http://www.sterilite.com/about_sterilite.html
[1] The majority of their products are now BPA (Bisphenol-A) free after consumer concerns and health/medical reports concerning BPA showed the possible dangers of using this chemical in the making of plastic products.