What is the size of the market size in which Kailan MW competes,

what is the market outlooklike and what is the current market

share of Kailan MW?
A4: 300,000 commercial pools.1,000 water parks.$ 30 Million in
revenue.Market is projected to grow by 7% to $32.1 Million in 2007.$
6.1 M / $ 30 M = 20% market share in 2006
hy is Soren Chemical struggling to sell Coracle?
a. What are the implications of the channel structure for pool chemicals?
b. How would you describe the selling process for Kailan MW vs Coracle?
Ans. Soren Chemical launched Coracle only in September 2006, which is the last
busy and most suitable month for swimming. The sales team for Coracle did not
consider following effects, which will impact the sales revenue extremely for the first
year:
1. Consumers, wholesale distributors, pool service professionals, pool specialty
retailers, mass retailers need to take time to know the new Coracle brand and the
value they can get from Coracle if they buy it.
2. The stocks in the consumers sides, pool service professionals sides, pool specialty
retailers sides, and mass retailers sides will also impact the sales of Coracle,
especially in the last busy maintenance month of a year. Especially till the end of
September, if the consumers decide not to use the pool until next May, they may not
maintain the pools because in the beginning of next May, they need to clean again
for the pools for swimming after a long time of non-use.
3. Soren Chemical did not position the good product Coracle in the most appropriate
position to its customers. Consumer market of residential pools emphasized more on
aesthetics and perceived cleanliness. This is a risk for Soren Chemical to bring
Coracle to the market without a suitable emphasis focusing on what the consumers
concern more.
4. As indicated in the case, 30% of the respondents recalled receiving the Coracle
materials that Soren Chemical had sent in response to their inquiries. Furthermore,
70% of the respondents stated that their distributors had not offered Coracle. All
these suggest that Coracles sales team did not do sufficient work before they bring
the Coracle clarifier to the market and this also weakened their sales revenue.
5. There is unclear gap between Kailan MW and Coracle even though Kailan MW
targets at the segment of commercial pool and water parks, while Coracle targets at
the segment of residential pools. There are still at least two formulators who dilute
Kailan MW with a private label and sell to distributors for consumer market and this
will compete with Coracle clarifier.

The difference in the selling process for Kailan MW versus Coracle boils down to the different
end users. Kailan MW is used primarily for large recreational water park facilities while Coracle is
used as a water clarifier for use in small recreational and household swimming pools. Someone
purchasing cleaning supplies for a large recreational water park facility does so in a much more
structured process. They will review their current inventory, forecast future need, and will purchase

accordingly (generally in large quantities). This individual will choose the product that offers him the
most value as he is in fact running a business.
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The majority of individuals purchasing cleaning supplies for a household swimming pool will not
follow this same process. When Paul Q. PoolOwner is running low on water clarifier for his pool, he
will either add it to his to-do list and purchase at a future date, or he will go out at that point to
purchase the product. At this point, the purchasing decision will differ between Paul Q. PoolOwner,
Sally C. SwimsAlot, and even Cannonball Krisstopherson. This is where Soren needs to do their
homework in order to understand what these individuals are looking for.

With tens of thousands of cleaning products lining their shelves, its no wonder so few of the
service professionals contacted remembered receiving any information about Coracle. In order to get
back on the right track, Soren Chemical needs to employ a Pull Strategy to try and establish a strong
customer base that will demand Coracle on the shelves of the pool contractors and service
companies. Most survey respondents had asked for the product but 70% of distributors were not
selling Coracle. Creating demand from the consumer side will force wholesalers and distributors to
provide the product.

Coracle has strong PODs, and they need to get the word out to the 80% of consumers that buy
the products and clean their own pools about clarifiers (that clarifiers will make their pools look clearer
and be cleaner/safe by combating organic debris). In Coracles case, their product is cheaper in the
long run and requires less man-hours than the competition because it is used every other day
(compared to the competitors product which requires daily use). As the demand for clarifiers rises,
and customers start to ask for Coracle from their pool cleaner suppliers, it will force the pool
retailers/contractors to remember the name Coracle, which they found rather easy to overlook in the
past.

Channel Structure
One of the reasons Soren Chemical is struggling to sell Coracle is because it is
new todeveloping a brand and relatively inexperienced with marketing to
wholesalers, retailers, poolservices and consumers. This inexperience has led to
miscommunication in its marketingchannels, causing only 30% of consumers
who inquired about Coracle to actually receive theinformation regarding the
product. In addition, 70% of consumers stated that Coracle was noteven offered
by their distributers. Soren Chemical launched the product in September,

which isthe last busy and most suitable month for swimming. The sales team
did not consider the effectsof doing so, which will impact the sales revenue
extremely for the first year. First off,consumers, wholesale distributors, pool
service professionals, pool specialty retailers and massretailers need time to
know the new brand and its value. Second, the stocks of those groups
willimpact the sales, especially since it was launched in the last busy
maintenance month. If at theend of September, consumers decide not to use the
pool until May, they may not maintain the pools at the end of that month since
in May, they will need to clean again after a long time ofnon-use. Third, Soren
did not position their product correctly. The consumer market ofresidential
pools is focused more on aesthetics and perceived cleanliness. It is risky for
Soren to bring Coracle into the market without a suitable emphasis, focusing on
what the consumers wantmore. Finally, there is an unclear gap between Kailan
MW and Coracle even though Kailan MWtargets commercial pools and water
parks, while Coracle targets residential pools. There are stillat least two
formulators who dilute Kailan MW with a private label and sell to distributors
for
consumer markets. This will contribute to Coracles competition too