Would the World Beat a Path to Trap-Ease's Door?

Would the world beat a path to Trap-Ease's door?

Trap-Ease is a new product designed to remedy household mouse problems avoiding health and safety risks and unpleasantness. The product has won awards including the best new product in the National Hardware Show in Chicago and appeared in an article in People Magazine. The new innovative trap had also been issued in various popular press and trade publications. Trap-Ease has been distinguished in these reports from every other product in its class. Trap-Ease is thought to be an innovative new product.

Early research shows that women would be more willing to buy the new mousetrap. Hence, Trap-Ease primarily targeted women who often stayed at home and took care of their children and positioned its product relatively by delivering benefits such as safety and easy to use. Trap-Ease positions itself as the clean, safe, easy to use mousetrap producer. The new trap reduces the risk of infection from microbes and avoids violence since the mice are trapped painlessly inside the mechanism without the use of springs or poison. The product itself seemed to be very simple and practical.

Martha House, president of Trap-Ease America decided to distribute the product through large retailers, where the traps are available in packages of two for $2.49. Trap-Ease sold each unit for 99 cents to these retailers avoiding any middlemen. Martha is the only sales person as well as being in charge of all marketing. The Trap-Ease has won honorable awards so far and took considerable interest in media, so Martha thought she did not need to do much advertising. She decided to promote the product primarily by visiting trade shows and making direct phone calls with retailers.

Trap-Ease has a great number of advantages over its competitors. The most significant disadvantage is its price which is almost 5-10 times more expensive than traditional mousetraps, since the innovative product has higher manufacturing costs and a fixed royalty fee that is paid to the inventor. Fortunately, consumers did not seem to be irritated by the price margin of the new product.

Martha estimated a high profit figure after introducing the hardware to the market. However, initial sales and revenues were extremely below expectations. Obviously current strategy is not working because people are not buying their product, and the ones who did are not repeat buying. Are they distributing to the right places? Are they pricing their product too expensive? And are they advertising their product by effectively?

Trap-Ease is making three strategic mistakes. The company chooses their main target as women, limits its distribution solely to large retailers and does not have any middle level sales employees to keep tracks of orders. Trap-Ease has to rethink their marketing strategy and seek to create customer awareness concerning the offered product. They need to communicate the value of the product by utilizing sales force and advertising to announce and promote the product. Recently, the product is fresh in the market and most people are unaware of it. Martha should change her mind about the need of advertising. An advertisement for TV, which briefly explains the most powerful features of the new mousetrap, would be very effective to communicate with the vast majority of