AQUALISA

QUARTZ
Simply a Better Shower
CASE SUMMARY
Showers in UK were plagued with problems :

 Everyone had a bathtub, only about 60% UK homes had showers

 Archaic plumbing (Victorian era) was still common in many

homes

 Gravity Fed

 a cold-water tank or cistern sat somewhere in the roof

separate boiler & cylinder were needed to store hot water in a
nearby airing cupboard

 poor-to-low water pressure

 created frequent fluctuations in pressure
 temperature to noticeably vary from minute to minute
Electric Showers
• doesn’t require hot water supply
• results in bulky box in the wall
• low flow rate

Mixer Shower Valves

• requires both hot & cold water supply
• requires additional pump to address pressure
problems
• installation typically requires excavation of
bathroom

Integral Power Showers

• requires both hot & cold water supply
• results in bulky box on the wall
• regarded as less reliable than a mixer-shower &
pump combination
U.K. Market Share Data
U.K. Market Share Data:Unit Sold (2000)

Others
15%
Hansgrohe
1%
Grohe
1%
Bristan
1%
Heatrae Sadia Triton
2% 30%

Ideal Standard
3%

Masco
7%
Aqualisa
7%
Gainsborough Mira
11% 22%
 THE QUARTZ

• The are 2 versions:

The Quartz Standard Shower & The Quartz Pumped Shower

• To install the Quartz shower:

– the plumber had to identify a physical space to accommodate the remote processor
– The processor contained the thermostatic mixing valve and pump
– The device could be mounted horizontally, vertically, or on its side, depending on
space constraints

• With Quartz technology:

– Installation time of a half-day
– Plumbers were finding that the install was so straightforward
– The Quartz shower provided efficient and reliable water pressure and temperature –
“one touch” control
– the temperature control is automatic
 DIY : Do-It-Yourself
shopped at large retail outlets that catered them, interested in inexpensive models that were easy to install (DIY
products were bulky & attractive), popular among landlords & apartment dwellers.

Property Developer
need to worry about pressure problems because new homes were almost exclusively built with high-pressure
systems, preferring reliable while nice-looking products that could work in multiple settings, price sensitive
(exception of luxury builders), didn’t feel the need to invest in premium valves, usually had relationship with
independent plumbers .

SegmentingTargetingPositioning
Targeting Customer
Directly

PROS CONS

 Build a consumer brand   Tough to justify high-risk &

TRITON has proven ! high-reward strategy

 Costly (large-scale consumer

campaign cost €3 million-€4
million over 2 years)

SegmentingTargetingPositioning
Targeting Do-It-
Yourselfers

PROS CONS

 Quartz is easy to install   Once show-up in the DIY

everyone can do it ! sheds  can’t climb back-out

 Partnership with B&Q = less  Careful about associating

need for expensive consumer premium brand with discount
advertising channel

SegmentingTargetingPositioning
Targeting Developers
(aggressively)
PROS
 Could conceivably be a large-
volume channel  high-sales
 Force plumbers to get familiar
with the Quartz products
SegmentingTargetingPositioning
CONS
 Significant time lag before
showers would reach
consumers
 Developers had already shown
a reluctance to spend money
spend money on premium
brands  though way
 Positioning Strategies

1. Positioning by attributes
2. Positioning by benefit
3. Positioning by use
4. Positioning by user
5. Positioning by competitor
6. Positioning by product category

SegmentingTargetingPositioning
PROBLEM!

HIGH AWARENESS
resulted-in

LOW SALES
ANALY S I S
Consider of these behaviors of
shower customer in UK :

 Have a NEGATIVE initial reaction of any

innovation involving electronics !

 DISLIKE shower with poor pressure, hard-to-turn

valves, leaky seals & worn-out look

Consider of these facts of

shower customer in UK :

 Consumers were generally uninformed & little understanding of

product options

 Quartz is a breakthrough technology  Aqualisa was

RELUCTANT to discount the price
Aqualisa’s Products & Price
Quartz value proposition
Aqualisa Distribution
Current
Condition

Plumbers
strong influence
to consumers
Plumbers did not like
innovation especially In order to
electric expand their
market
Aqualisa
Promising Condition need to sell
Quartz
product
directly to
consumer to
reduce their
dependency
to plumbers

Through brand Plumbers

awareness and selling influence
to direct consumer slowly
eliminated
R E C O M M E N DAT I O N

 The cause of quartz failure is the resistance from

plumbers. With the analysis of circumference,
they should : ‘Targeting Consumers Directly’.

 Bring the Brand experience to customer through

its marketing activities, so that customer can feel
the simplicity of Quartz shower.
1. What is the Quartz value proposition to plumbers? To customers?
2. Why is the Quartz shower not selling?
3. Aqualisa spent three years and €5.8 million developing the Quartz. Was
the product worth the investment? Is Quartz a niche product or a
mainstream product?
4. Aqualisa currently has three brands: Aqualisa, Gainsborough, and
ShowerMax. What is the rationale behind this multiple brand strategy?
Does it make sense?
5. What should Rawlinson do to generate sales momentum for the Quartz
product? Should he change his marketing strategy to target consumers
directly, target the DIY market, or target developers? Should he lower the
price of the Quartz? Or, should he do something different altogether?