WRIGLEY’S ECLIPSE GUM: MANAGING BRAND ADOLESCENCE Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

WRIGLEY’S ECLIPSE GUM: MANAGING BRAND ADOLESCENCE Case Solution

Case Overview:

This case is about managing the brand adole scence of Wrigley’s Eclipse Gum. Wrigley gum product line was developed in 1914 by William Wrigley Jr.with an iconic brand Doublemint. William’s efforts in product development and promotions successfully expanded chewing gum’s appeal. Wrigley had become the dominant player in the market and expanded in Asia as well however,most of its sales came from outside the US.

However, Wrigley noticed that pallets gums had higher margins as compared tostick gums therefore, the company begun to introduce the new pallet brands into the American market.The company considered launching Eclipse pallet gum in 1996 but due to the lack of money and the competition in the market that launch held back.The company was the second entrant in the pallet gum as the market was already captured by the Dentyne Ice.However, after some time, the decision to launch Eclipse was made based on some market research.

Wrigley’s Eclipse: Key Themes

1. Based on the market research why hasn’t Eclipse been as successful as hoped for?

Wrigley’s Eclipse main competitor was the Dentyne Ice and it had been a first mover in the pallet gum product line and is was a third best-selling gum in the US and were also very famous among teenagers. Therefore, the management of Wrigley was concerned about the success of the new established brand Eclipse. The company decided to add two flavors- Spearmint and Winter fresh in Eclipse in order to compete successfully against the five flavors ofDentyne Ice.The company also tested new favors in the laband found positive result. However, the company decided to launch the Eclipse based on the benefit of eliminating strong mouth odors that were found by the lab testing results and this concept was unique as no other brand was using it.Nonetheless, testing results also showed that the consumers didn’t care if the gum is pellet or stick all they care about the promise of eliminating strong mouth odors.In addition, Wrigley also noticed that Dentyne target teen agers and the Wrigley already had such brands that target teens. Therefore, the marker research data suggested to target the consumers aged 25-54 and the consumers among 12 to 24 aged assumed to be targeted by their own.

The company also used several models to forecast the sales volume of the new brand and the results suggested that the Eclipse would reach its goal. However, after the launch of Eclipse,the sales volumes showed poor performance in themarket.

The company had failed to gain a significant market share due to poor marketing strategy. The company had targeted the old aged consumers rather teenagers and other young consumers as the company was already recognized in the consumer segments. Moreover, the company avoided competing against its own brand products such as Wrigley’s Winter fresh that were popular among teenager and Eclipse brand were in a cannibalize position against the company’s own brand. Furthermore, the company also avoided to target 12 to 24 age group consumers which could be the profitable segment for Wrigley’s Eclipse. The company should have made specific promotional tactics to attract such age group.

2. Is the targeting and positioning originally planned for the brand ideal?

The company’s target market for Eclipse brand was 25 to 54 which was slightly higher for the product like chewing gum which is the most popular product line among teenager and young consumers. In addition, the company already had strong presence among the age group of 12 to 24 which had been neglected.

However, the positioning of Eclipse was surrounded by the promise of providing Icy cool flavor for Icy cool breath which was quite similar from those of competitors and company’s own Winter fresh gum.Therefore, the company should position Eclipse in a new way which could attract the customers..................

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