1. Aqualisa Quartz Overview & Discussion Topic Topic : Aqualisa Quartz
Type : Shower
Owner : Aqualisa
Country of origin : U.K.
Market share : Number three in the overall U.K shower market

2. Aqualisa’s type of shower
Electric Shower
Used the cold water supply
Electronic heating element heated the water to require temperature
Convenient for small bathroom
A bulky white box in the shower wall
The poor water flow of many showers
Aqualisa sold electric showers mostly under the “Gainsborough” brand
Mixer Shower
Came in two types: manual and thermostatic
Both type blended hot and cold water to create comfortable temperature
It was Aqualisa’s top selling shower
Aqua valve 609 was the company’s core product in the mixer-shower-valve
Was regarded by plumber as being a high-quality, reliability, reliable mixer shower with state-of-the-art technology
Power Shower
A single compact that combined a thermostatic mixer valve and booster
The presence of a bulky box on wall
Provide up to 18 liters of blended water per unit
Aqualisa’s strongest selling shower in the power shower category

3. Pricing segment of Aqualisa’s core product
Premium
Typically shopped in showroom
Look for high performance and service
Style determined the customers selection pattern
Standard
Emphasis on performance and service
Usually relied on an individual plumber to recommended or select a product
Value
Primarily concerned with convenience and price
Tended to rely on an independent plumber to select a product

4. Aqualisa’s Core Product Offerings
Types of Shower Valve Standard Premium
Electronic Shower Gainsborough Gainsborough Aquastyle
Mixer Shower Aquavalve Aquavalve
Power Shower Aquastream Aquastream
Manual Thermostatic
These all are retail prices
ShowerMax was available with high pressure shower-with Aquavalve technology-at a significant lower cost

5. The initial situation………
Initially, when Rawlinson joined Aqualisa, the situation of the company was
highly profitable
quite comfortable with its niche in the market
had 25% net return on sales
was enjoying 5% to 10% growth in a mature market
After joining the Aqualisa, Rawlinson was very worried:
other companies were catching up to Aqualisa in terms of product quality
the market was beginning to perceive Aqualisa product as being overpriced
actual service had slipped over the past few years
10% of Aqualisa showers hadn’t improved in many years

6. The development of the Quartz Shower Valve
At first, the company built a research and development (R & D) team.The findings of the researches was:
consumers wanted a shower that looked great
delivered good pressure at stable temperatures
easy to use
showers should not break down or require servicing

7. The development of the Quartz Shower Valve
Second, locate the mechanism remotely – away from the shower. The breakthrough idea actually came from the brainstorming of the research team.
Third, they started using electronics to control the valve remotely. They came up with the idea because the controlling of a mechanism which is located remotely was a problem of users.
Fourth, once the product started to take shape, they took the field test. Rawlinson took consumer field test sites, installing showers in the homes, company personnel and friends to friends.
Finally, after three years of development Aqualisa successfully able to provide a radically different kind of shower that called Quartz.

8. Aqualisa Quartz : A Breakthrough
Aqualisa brought a new kind of shower after three years of research & development which cost 5.8 million
Time consuming
User friendly
Space flexibility

9. Marketing Strategy Targeting Customer Directly
Targeting Do-it-Yourselfers ( DIY)
Targeting Developers

10. Q.1. What is the Quartz value proposition to plumbers? To customers?
Quartz is not creating enough values to plumbers as Rawlinson approaching to target consumers directly instead of plumbers.
It’s creating values to customers as they are approaching DIY approach though it’s expensive.
Q.2 Why is the Quartz shower not selling?
Low pressure & Fluctuation in Temperature
Showers often broken or went wrong
Brand awareness was low

11. Q-3. Aqulisa spent three years and 5
Q-3. Aqulisa spent three years and 5.8 million euro developing the Quartz. Was the product worth the investment? Is Quartz a niche product or a mainstream product?
The company invested in a new state-of-the-art testing facility
Had acquired nine patent
Had grown its engineering team from 6 to 20
Several additional products were in advanced stages of development
Quartz is a niche product. Because Quartz is targeting a specific group of people. As Quartz provide the facilities to use without plumber. Still there are 54% people of U.K market are using plumber. So Quartz is targeting those people who don’t want to use plumber

12. Q.4. Aqualisa currently has three brands: Aqualisa, Gainsborough, and ShowerMax. What is the rationale behind this multiple brand strategy? Does it make sense?
According to my point of view it is not rational behind this multiple brand strategy
Price premium high of Aqualisa
Discount
So, It doesn’t make sense
Q.5. What should Rawlinson do to generate sales momentum for the Quartz product ? Should he change his marketing to target consumers directly , target DIY market, or target developers ? Should he lower the price of Quartz ? Or Should he do something different altogether ?
Rawlinson should generate sales momentum for the Quartz by creating a
sales force
Yes Rawlinson should lower the price
H should change his marketing to target consumers directly, target DIY market, target developers through branding, restructuring sales force ,Offering commission to plumbers

13. THANK YOU

14. Appendix

15. Reasons behind Aqualisa shower’s failure
Poor pressure and varying temperature
Showers often broken or went wrong
Hard-to-turn valves leaky seals and worn-out showers
Consumers were uninformed and they had little of understanding of product options
Brand awareness was low
“Triton” the competitor brand had managed to build brand awareness among customer.

16. Continue…… Showrooms-
Process of selection and designing a bathroom “solution”
various showers and bath options were displayed.
Offers installation services by “subcontracting”
consultants

17. Distribution Channels
Trade Shops – primary customer
PLUMBER
Customers
contractors
Developer

18. DIY (do-it-yourself) ShowerMax
Do-it-yourself generally shopped at large retail outlets.
this customer were primarily interested in inexpensive models that were easy to install, though the products were unattractive and bulky.
ShowerMax
Aqualisa sold to developers under its ShowerMax brand
Was available only through special outlets
Elements of Aquavalve had been redesigned and rebranded for the ShowerMax product line.
ShowerMax could deliver a high-pressure shower-with Aquavalve technology at a significant lower cost