Discussion questions for case Kingsford Charcoal 1. Describe the main challenges faced by brand managers Marcilie Smith Boyle and Allison Warren. Of what relevant trends should they be aware?
Main challenges specifically relevant to brand managers at Kingsford Charcoal: * A slow down in the growth in the charcoal category from 4% growth to just 2%, which is only predicted to decline further. *Possibly a symptom of weather conditions or changing consumer trends which lend themselves toward gas grilling* * A rise in the use of gas grilling (shown through number of shipments), as opposed to charcoal grilling also may have been a symptom of the underlying problem, that of the competitor’s price increases * The decision of …show more content…

Advertising strategy should be conducive to this and may include: * Spending the proposed minimum allocation of $5 million on TV advertising (that had shown to generate incremental sales in recent years). It may be argued that a campaign should feature some values associated with charcoal grilling (masculinity, family time, relaxed cooking experiences ) derived from exhibit 9. * Such a campaign should run from the beginning of August, as figure 2 details that in CY2000 (which one can assume is a relatively consistent snapshot from year to year) when peak sales start to drop before a second peak. With the desire to extend grilling season into fall, a TV advertising campaign should run till approximately Thanksgiving weekend, in late November.
Justification for this lies in exhibit 1, which suggests that Clorox has decreased its ad spend by approximately 5.3% from 1998 to 2000. Coupled with the specific brand media spend for Kingsford estimated to be in decline by approximately 75% from FY00 to FY01, this signifies that there may be leeway to increase advertising spend. Although not desirable from a profitability standpoint, it is evident that Smith Boyle and Warren were contemplating the revival of advertising, as the brand had not heavily engaged in advertising since 1998.
Promotion: According to exhibit 7, the significant reduction in promotional activity from 1999-2000 by Royal Oak and Private