CLIQUE PENS CASE

ANALYSIS
S U B M I T T E D BY
T W I N K A L PA R I K H - P G P 0 9 0 5 7
S H W E TA V E R M A - P G P 0 9 0 4 3
R U C H I YA D AV - P G P 0 9 0 2 5
SHASHANK RANA-PGP09035
M AYA N K K U M A R - P G P 0 9 1 3 8
 5C FRAMEWORK
Company
US Home was founded in
1978 by Bob Utley,a stock
trader for smith barney
Clique pens was formed in
1922 by two Mennonite
cousins in kannas city
The company originally
made fountain pens and in
1960s it quickly adopted
the ballpoint design
Clique pens were known
for their utilitarian design
that depicted founder”s
core values
Customer Collaborators
The main customers Operating in international markets can expose
were the businesses and Clique Pens to theft of Patents, Copyrights and
households other Intellectual Property Rights. Any
Should Clique Pens go marketing and diversification decision should be
for a broader segment or taken after evaluating these risks.
position its product in If there are too many suppliers then it will
niche segment.It should
become expensive for Clique Pens to manage
focus on the niche them but if the number of suppliers is too few
segment as it is highly then it will expose the company to supply chain
profitable. disruption risks.
 5c FRAMEWORK
Competitors
The competition for clique
pens is high and the threat of
substitutes is also high
There were already big names
in the market such as BIC,
sripto, Pntel, pilot, Sharpie
There was a hyper competitive
battle for shelf space among
mass brands
Context
The consumer behavior during boom
time and recession time is often totally
different so marketing managers at
Clique Pens has to decide how the
consumers will behave in the present
economic situation
International operations not only bring
risks of marketing strategies that are not
relevant to specific market but also risk
of foreign exchange exposure.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The major problem is to satisfy customer needs, retailers and increase both revenues and gross
profit margins by implementing new strategy
Also it was on of the primary goals to stop the declining gross profit margin percentage
 ALTERNATIVES
1. Using customer-oriented MDF (Market Development Funds) as suggested by Logan Chen,
division VP of marketing, is one way to increase profit with higher sales.
2. consumer-directed marketing and co-op advertising campaigns, such as instant coupons,
brand awareness advertisements
3. Focus the strategy on selling Ball point pens
EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES
Since manufacturers and suppliers do not have enough bargaining power. If Clique Pens decide
to cut off some discounts and attempt to bargain with retailers, in this case, buyers(retailers) can
easily move to another suppliers.
Retailers know that offering the same products from different manufacturers is not a big
difference for consumers, who do not have strong brand loyalty and are not price-sensitive. In
this case only loser will be Clique pens
RECOMMENDATIONS
"secret sauce"formula can be used as a unique advertising slogan by Clique Pens to launch new
brand awareness advertisements in order to increase sales, it must be considered that the fight
for shelf space among the biggest retail companies, such as Wal-Mart, Kroger, CVS etc.requires
sophisticated allocation of funds in a way that is retailer-oriented rather than consumer oriented
If the strategy suggested by Logan Chen implemented the sales and profits may increase,
however this consumer-based strategy may result in losing of considerable shelf space and sales
to competitors as a result of ignoring additional allowances and discounts to retailers.
THANKYOU