Kathon - Microbicide for Water-based Cutting Fluids

The following sample essay on Kathon – Microbicide for Water-based Cutting Fluids on the effectiveness of Kathon against bacteria and fungi.

Rohm and Haas, a leader in the maintenance based market for large capacity reservoirs, found a unique opportunity to meet the needs of small capacity metal reservoirs via Kathon MWX. In spite of being a superior and cost effective product, the sales of Kathon MWX barely touched 6% of its annual plan in the first five months. Part of the issue was a lack of awareness of the product’s ability to resolve rancidity problems and potential cost benefits.

The sales of the product were further impacted due to channel conflicts, such as the lack of coordination between the channel partners. This led to customers not receiving product samples from the distributors, who had little incentive to push the product due to lower margins. R&H’s marketing strategy should focus on educating end-users, growing the market, and creating partnerships with Formulators, while continuing to use them as the primary distribution channel.

The market underdeveloped due to a lack of knowledge pertaining to the uses, benefits, and substitutes of biocide.

The key to growing this market and educating end-users is an R&H-owned direct-to-end-user print marketing campaign including new pamphlets and magazine ads. R&H will no longer rely on distributors to capitalize on customer leads generated from the advertising campaign. The campaign should focus on the monetary and quality benefits of using MWX compared to both using no biocides, and using competitor brands.

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R&H must not only capture brand loyalty from existing bases users, but must also develop this loyalty among end-users that previously did not even realize a need. If R&H is successful, Kathon brand awareness will be strengthened. This brand awareness, in turn, will generate demand from the bottom up. End-users create a demand for the industrial supply houses and machine tool shops (SH&TS) to carry MWX specifically.

Educated end-users will be able to insist that their industrial supply houses and machine tool shops carry MWX specifically, who will then seek it from the Formulators. R&H should create “partnerships” with the Formulators and seek co-operative co-branding agreements with them. With a successful direct marketing campaign, these partners will see the added value of including the Kathon name on their offerings. With co-branding, partners will become more dedicated to the success of Kathon MWX, and will dedicate more of their sales resources to educating buyers at SH&TS’, who will then be able to educate end-users not already educated by the print campaign. For Kathon 886 MW, R&H should create these partnerships with existing distributors that already brand the booked privately. Ideally, costs of co-branding for these companies will be minimal. Most of them will simply have to tout the ‘R&H Kathon’ name, as different packing will not be required.

If end-users can become keenly aware that they use Kathon 886 MW and that it’s the best in the market, the brand awareness should trickle down to Kathon MWX. Finally, R&H should allow distributors to add their brand to the MWX booked under the stipulation of co-branding.R&H must convince distributors that it is in their best interest to co-brand, given the newfound Kathon brand awareness and strength. If end-users recognize the superiority of the Kathon brand, it will strengthen the distributors’ private brands as well. The price formulators charge to SH&TSs can exceed $5. 68 per packet, that way they will not feel the pinch due to the lesser volume sale of metal fluid, which can be an added incentive apart from co-branding. This price increase can be justified, as the true value of MWX (from the end user perspective) ranges from $20 (Conservative approach) to $32.

The key to MWX’s success is simultaneous growth in the market demand for biocides and brand awareness. We firmly believe that if end-users are educated on MWX, and R&H works together co-operatively with Formulators to solidify the positive image of the Kathon brand, then not only will the sale of MWX increase, but the general based market for biocides will as well.