1. Grill shipments in 1996-2000- Charcoal and Gas (000s)
Charcoal category will continue to decline in competition to gas grills due to changes in consumer consumption pattern
Grill shipments in Charcoal and Gas (000s)
Charcoal category has shown a declining trend:
4% decline from
2% decline from
A forecasted 5.7% decline in the second quarter of 2000
The charcoal shipment has dropped by 3% in 2000 compared to 1999
In addition to this, the Gas grill shipment grew by 8% in 2000 compared to 1999
In 2000, approx. 54% of gas grills were in US HH’s in comparison to 49% of charcoal grills
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2. Charcoal grill users are similar to Gas grill users; but seek different experiences
Common reasons for Barbequing:
Flavor
Desire to be outdoors
Spending time with family and friends
Change of pace
Easy cleanup
Informality
Charcoal User
Gas Grill User
Hands- on experience
Convenience and Ease of Cleanup
Real BBQ Flavor
Greater control over cooking temperature and time
Charcoal users inevitably make up for the “Die- Hard” grillers who take pride in the art of grilling; whereas gas grill users prefer convenience over the “real BBQ experience”
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3. Reduced advertising and promotions in the Charcoal industry has resulted in reduced demand and visibility
Kingsford had kept their merchandising in consistent with that of 1999 strategy.
Royal Oak had pulled back their funds for temporary price reductions, features and displays in 2000.
Although, Private Labels had temporary price reductions, they had considerably reduced their features and promotions.
MMA’s analysis of Kingsford’s spending indicated that TV advertising drove a volume increase of 7% in 1998; and a 3%- 4% in 1999 from the previous years residual impact.
BHAVANA DUTT

4. Enhance advertising and promotions
Increase in prices will continue to shift our customer base to gas grill
Criterion
Enhance advertising and promotions
Increase price
To increase awareness and visibility
Activities relating to building efforts to advertise more with ad campaigns, in-store promotions and using product display as a technique will increase Kingsford's awareness and visibility.
A price increase will risk in decreasing merchandising support such as features and special displays.
Handling gas grill competition
Advertising routed towards “true BBQ flavor” can elicit customers in switching from gas to charcoal.
Worst case scenario, can lead to charcoal customers switching to Royal Oak and PL brands and also gas grills.
Increase charcoal usage
Creating advertisements alongside promotions around new occasions and events will increase charcoal usage
If the price increase, people will tend to switch to gas grillers.
Since Kingsford’s advertising efforts in the previous years ha, it is recommended to go ahead with the same strategy
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5. Kingsford should maintain the same price and focus more on increasing visibility
A constant price will:-
Help customers switch from competitors to Kingsford
Prevent existing charcoal users from moving to gas grillers
Able to maintain good relationships with retailers; who can also provide us additional trade support
An increase in price will make Kingsford incur merchandising loss.(**see figure)
Price Elasticity Data
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6. A mix of advertising and sales promotions tactics are required to handle the changing consumption pattern
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