Cleopatra at a Cross Roads

Since the case doesn't present a conclusion to what the Colgate-Palmolive company did in the aftermath of the Cleopatra launch, I will make the conclusion that the launch was not a success. If the next step decision was up to me, I would acknowledge that there were missteps in launching Cleopatra in Canada. You can only make a first impression once and unfortunately, by not analyzing the needs and wants of the Canadian skin care soap market, the company wasted an opportunity for success. Jeff Bezos mentioned in the video that launched this course that you should have the courage to push through criticism, but if you did make a wrong choice you need to face that fact and remedy it.

There is no sense in trying to revive the Cleopatra soap when it is already being pulled from the shelves. Retailers are unlikely to get back on board. Also, the target customers who tried the brand and didn't like it are probably unlikely to try it again. Some consumers who were originally exposed to the Cleopatra brand and didn't try it might be unwilling to accept the same soap with a repositioning strategy. More advertising impressions of the current Cleopatra campaign might not lift trial rates without a stronger call to action and that trial opportunity might have already passed for a large segment of the target market especially noting the volume of media that started the campaign.

If the company is committed to penetrating this market with a new product offering, then some tweaks need to be made to the soap formulation. They also need to do more research on what type of promotional program would be successful for their targeted customers (i.e. a "pure" message, cleaner & fresher packaging and advertising look, appropriate price point, bundling, etc.) With this additional information, Colgate-Palmolive would be able to tailor their new offering to mesh with the needs, wants and expectations of consumers and then relaunch into this space. It might also be best to change the name of the product and start fresh. Of course, this plan would take quite a bit of internal coalition building and selling to senior leadership. A well thought out marketing plan with high levels of detail and market analysis might be one way to start down the relaunch path with senior management.