Learning Launch in the emerging battery toothbrush segment 

 Challenge 

 I am working as a regional marketing manager in a personal care company in APAC area . I am   responsible to the oral care category ( Toothpaste , Toothbrush & Mouthwash products ) . For our   toothbrush business , we are specialized in manual toothbrush with distinct market leadership and used   to have a lot of innovation to build the category . 

 While in recent years , we found some changes in the toothbrush category across APAC markets . There   are quite a few new entry brands that focusing on battery toothbrush ( pricing index 1000 vs manual   toothbrush ) . With such a high price products , surprisingly retailers and consumers are showing interest   on these and we see a trend switching from manual to battery ( volume growth in battery toothbrush >   volume growth in manual toothbrush ) . As a result , the company designed to invest in developing our   own battery toothbrush portfolio , while it comes to my team for qualifying the new product innovation   and launch activation ideas . 

 We were facing some challenges on launching our first battery toothbrush such as , 

 1 ) As a brand with strong consumer perception on manual toothbrush , we worry our brand can not 

 carry battery toothbrush which has a pricing index 1000 vs manual 

 2 ) As a relatively late comer , we need to build our own distinctiveness in order to compete with 

 brands that already entered the category 

 Selection 

 In the early stage , the team has already used Storytelling and Prototype to engage our potential   consumers . The design of our battery toothbrush was influenced by observation of the households ’   usage frequency , moment , duration ; as well as the buyers ’ ( usually the Mum / Wife ) purchase decision   making process , shopping journey . After understanding the targets , we then develop a prototype and   test it out with competitive products , which enable further optimization on the design and product   usage experience . 

 With the final product is out , we believe we need a learning launch in a small but representative APAC   country before massive roll - out to multiple countries in the region . 

 Application 

 We selected Singapore as the learning launch country given its multi - cultural population , higher income   and sophisticated household , and the supportiveness from retailer . To make the learning launch even   more specific so we can grab more learnings and insights , we chose to launch our battery toothbrush in   one retailer customer only . The customer is a chained pharmacy with shopper profile very match with   our target consumers . 

 To start with , we engage the management team of the retailer customer and align the expectation /   objective of the learning launch . Then we form a task force with participation from retailer ’s team in   formulating the launch program , supporting model , pricing , distribution and in - store advertising plan .   Most importantly is to set challenging but achievable KPI as action standard for further launch . 

 For our first few months of learning launch , we picked only a 10 % of the retailer ’s shops to launch our   battery toothbrush . Those shops are NOT necessary the highest turnover but are shops that with high   traffic . This allowed us to make our battery toothbrush visible to more shoppers and hence potentially   increase the conversation rate . 

 After some early success in the first few months , we then fine - tuned our launch materials such as   communication message , trial program , and placement on shelf ; then roll - out to all stores of this   exclusive retailer . With the bigger distribution coverage , we had also activated some media support   ( mainly digital ) to further spread out awareness . 

 The final result was satisfied and the learning launch did provide us some good learning . We are   planning to launch our battery toothbrush in other APAC countries in next year . 

 Insight 

 A few learning in the whole process , 

 1 ) At the establishment of the innovation project , it is good to have a clear timeline and a clear 

 indication on when to use various design thinking tools . 

 2 ) It is also good to have senior management endorsement on the approach earlier , and keep the 

 management aware of key stages . Transparency and regular update are essential for   sustainability . 

 3 ) For the business I am in , it involves retailer support as well . It is a good reminder to engage 

 them and also other important stakeholders in your business operation . For example as battery   toothbrush involving electronics and is quite different experience versus manual toothbrush , we   shall have engaged our internal customer service team earlier as well because they also need to   learn about the new innovation and be prepared for consumers ’ enquiries . Earlier the   competency is built across the organization , lesser hiccups or mistakes would happen . 

 Approach 

 The combination of Storytelling , Prototype and Learning Launch seems to be good for a consumer goods   company when launching a new idea / innovation . While for next time , when we are launching the   second product of battery toothbrush , we might able to skip or shorten the storytelling part given we   already got the learning in our first launch . 

 Moreover as stated on the “ Insight ” session , early engagement to senior management , stakeholders ,   retailer partners , multi - function teams are something we would take it more upfront next time . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Learning Launch in the emerging battery toothbrush segment 

 Challenge 

 I am working as a regional marketing manager in a personal care company in APAC area . I am   responsible to the oral care category ( Toothpaste , Toothbrush & Mouthwash products ) . For our   toothbrush business , we are specialized in manual toothbrush with distinct market leadership and used   to have a lot of innovation to build the category . 

 While in recent years , we found some changes in the toothbrush category across APAC markets . There   are quite a few new entry brands that focusing on battery toothbrush ( pricing index 1000 vs manual   toothbrush ) . With such a high price products , surprisingly retailers and consumers are showing interest   on these and we see a trend switching from manual to battery ( volume growth in battery toothbrush >   volume growth in manual toothbrush ) . As a result , the company designed to invest in developing our   own battery toothbrush portfolio , while it comes to my team for qualifying the new product innovation   and launch activation ideas . 

 We were facing some challenges on launching our first battery toothbrush such as , 

 1 ) As a brand with strong consumer perception on manual toothbrush , we worry our brand can not 

 carry battery toothbrush which has a pricing index 1000 vs manual 

 2 ) As a relatively late comer , we need to build our own distinctiveness in order to compete with 

 brands that already entered the category 

 Selection 

 In the early stage , the team has already used Storytelling and Prototype to engage our potential   consumers . The design of our battery toothbrush was influenced by observation of the households ’   usage frequency , moment , duration ; as well as the buyers ’ ( usually the Mum / Wife ) purchase decision   making process , shopping journey . After understanding the targets , we then develop a prototype and   test it out with competitive products , which enable further optimization on the design and product   usage experience . 

 With the final product is out , we believe we need a learning launch in a small but representative APAC   country before massive roll - out to multiple countries in the region . 

 Application 

 We selected Singapore as the learning launch country given its multi - cultural population , higher income   and sophisticated household , and the supportiveness from retailer . To make the learning launch even   more specific so we can grab more learnings and insights , we chose to launch our battery toothbrush in   one retailer customer only . The customer is a chained pharmacy with shopper profile very match with   our target consumers . 

 To start with , we engage the management team of the retailer customer and align the expectation /   objective of the learning launch . Then we form a task force with participation from retailer ’s team in   formulating the launch program , supporting model , pricing , distribution and in - store advertising plan .   Most importantly is to set challenging but achievable KPI as action standard for further launch . 

 For our first few months of learning launch , we picked only a 10 % of the retailer ’s shops to launch our   battery toothbrush . Those shops are NOT necessary the highest turnover but are shops that with high   traffic . This allowed us to make our battery toothbrush visible to more shoppers and hence potentially   increase the conversation rate . 

 After some early success in the first few months , we then fine - tuned our launch materials such as   communication message , trial program , and placement on shelf ; then roll - out to all stores of this   exclusive retailer . With the bigger distribution coverage , we had also activated some media support   ( mainly digital ) to further spread out awareness . 

 The final result was satisfied and the learning launch did provide us some good learning . We are   planning to launch our battery toothbrush in other APAC countries in next year . 

 Insight 

 A few learning in the whole process , 

 1 ) At the establishment of the innovation project , it is good to have a clear timeline and a clear 

 indication on when to use various design thinking tools . 

 2 ) It is also good to have senior management endorsement on the approach earlier , and keep the 

 management aware of key stages . Transparency and regular update are essential for   sustainability . 

 3 ) For the business I am in , it involves retailer support as well . It is a good reminder to engage 

 them and also other important stakeholders in your business operation . For example as battery   toothbrush involving electronics and is quite different experience versus manual toothbrush , we   shall have engaged our internal customer service team earlier as well because they also need to   learn about the new innovation and be prepared for consumers ’ enquiries . Earlier the   competency is built across the organization , lesser hiccups or mistakes would happen . 

 Approach 

 The combination of Storytelling , Prototype and Learning Launch seems to be good for a consumer goods   company when launching a new idea / innovation . While for next time , when we are launching the   second product of battery toothbrush , we might able to skip or shorten the storytelling part given we   already got the learning in our first launch . 

 Moreover as stated on the “ Insight ” session , early engagement to senior management , stakeholders ,   retailer partners , multi - function teams are something we would take it more upfront next time .
### Output: 