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DB FORUM 6: Disruptive Marketing
Discussion Board Forum 6: Disruptive Marketing Plan
Stephanie Green
School of Business, Liberty University
BUSI 745: Marketing for Competitive Advantage
Dr. Gary Eaton
March 7, 2021
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DB FORUM 6: Disruptive Marketing
Discussion Board Forum 6: Disruptive Marketing Plan
Cetaphil, founded in 1947, is a brand extension under Galderma. Its personal care
products offer a hypoallergenic and lightweight formulas that are gentle to the skin, hydrating,
and do not clog the pores. It has multiple products that target all skin types, age, gender, and
common issues, such as eczema, wrinkles, acne, and skin sensitivity (van Zuuren, 2017).
Cetaphil is highly recommended by dermatologists due to its unique lightweight formula that
offers hydration and hypoallergenic while not clogging pores. With the current COVID-19
pandemic and the expected upcoming baby boom, Cetaphil can implement a disruptive
marketing plan to capture market share in a growing market (Klein & Kennedy, 2020). This
disruptive marketing plan will extend the product line of Cetaphil’s baby products, expand its
market pool, and expand its targeted consumer base.
Disruptive Marketing Plan
Currently, Cetaphil does not offer nighttime lotion for babies. Nighttime baby lotion with
lavender and chamomile will help soothe babies to sleep. This will not only be beneficial to new
parents by helping not only the babies to sleep but also, indirectly, the parents. The new product
line will be promoted through promotional emails, across social media, electronic word-or-mouth
(eWOM), and offering samples, such as in its current baby bundle packages or in baby bags
handed out in the maternity ward. This can help keep costs low while reaching a large variety of
consumers (Erkan & Evans, 2016; Thiel & Santoro, 2016; Rezaei et al., 2018). Furthermore,
Cetaphil can use a price penetration strategy for the first 6 months. This will help it attract
consumers and keep them when it increases the price to a slight premium late in the products
lifecycle. This strategy will help Cetaphil imply superior product formula, since its product
formula is lightweight and non-pore clogging, unlike its top competitors, Johnson and Johnson,
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DB FORUM 6: Disruptive Marketing
Burt’s Bees Baby, and Aveeno, whose products are known to clog pores if used multiple times
within a certain time-period (Johnson & Johnson baby lotion, n.d.; Aveeno baby daily moisture
lotion, n.d.; Burt’s Bees baby nourishing lotion – calming, n.d.).
In addition, Cetaphil will use this disruptive marketing plan to extend its targeted
marketing area and consumer pool. The global personal care market is at $360.9 billion in 2021,
which is expected to reach $488.9 billion in 2025 (Personal care services global market report
2021: COVID 19 impact and recovered to 2030, 2021). With that industry, $7.5 billion can be
contributed to the baby personal care products, which is expected to grow by an additional $0.7
billion by 2026 (The global baby personal care market size is expected to reach $8.2 billion by
2026, rising at a market growth of 7.5% CAGR during the forecast period, 2020). To take
advantage of this growth opportunity, especially with the upcoming COVID-19 baby boom,
Cetaphil will extend into the Asia-Pacific markets, which are expected to be the fastest-growing
market (Baby care products market – growth, trends, COVID-19 impact, and forecasts (2021-
2026), 2020). Furthermore, apart from targeting the new parents of the COVID-19 baby boom,
Cetaphil will also target adults who prefer lightweight hydrating baby lotion. Regular heavy
cream can clog the pores, be greasy, mess up clothing or sheets, and cause the skin to feel
smothered or oily. As a result, some adults prefer baby products, which are more lightweight and
have less additives than normal personal care products (Frame, 2019).
Recommendation
Cetaphil is a well-known brand that encourages consumer loyalty with its unique
lightweight formula, which makes it differ from its competitors. Its unique formula is not as
well-known by new consumers, so Cetaphil should use a proactive advertising approach instead
of its unassertive advertising marketing approach. This will increase its brand recognition,
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DB FORUM 6: Disruptive Marketing
market share, competitive advantage, and consumer base. Furthermore, if Cetaphil does
implement an expansion strategy into the Asia-Pacific markets, it should focus on Russia, since
Cetaphil does not currently have a presence in the Russian market. Russia has a high personal
care usage statistic and is expected grow by 5.09% from 2016 to 2026 (Russia beauty and
personal care market – growth, trends, COVID-19 impact, and forecasts (2021-2026), 2021).
Conclusion
The objective a disruptive marketing plan is to rejuvenate the brand, attract new
consumers, boosts its sales, broadens its market industry and product pool, and strengthen its
competitive advantage. By implementing a product line extension, Cetaphil will be able to meet
the future needs of new parents by offering nighttime lotion that is both hypoallergenic and will
help soothe babies to sleep as well as contains organic ingredients. In addition, the market
expansion strategy and the strategy to target adult consumers with its baby products will Cetaphil
take advantage of the opportunities created by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the increasing
baby personal care market. By implementing the proposed disruptive plan, Cetaphil will not only
attract more consumers and increase its market share but also increase brand recognition,
increase profits, and establish a long-term consumer base.
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DB FORUM 6: Disruptive Marketing
References
Aveeno baby daily moisture lotion. (n.d.). Aveeno. https://www.aveeno.com/products/baby-daily-
moisture-lotion
Baby care products market – growth, trends, COVID-19 impact, and forecasts (2021-2026).
(2020). Mordor Intelligence. https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/baby-
care-products-market
Burt’s Bees baby nourishing lotion – calming. (n.d.). Burt’s Bees.
https://www.burtsbees.com/product/burts-bees-baby-nourishing-lotion---calming/01940-
00.html
Erkan, I., Evans, C. (2016). The influence of eWOM in social media on consumers’ purchase
intentions: An extended approach to information adoption. Computers in Human
Behavior, 61, 47-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.003
Frame, D. (2019). 11 baby products dermatologists recommend to adults. Health.
https://www.health.com/beauty/best-baby-products-adults
Johnson & Johnson baby lotion. (n.d.). Mouth Shut. https://www.mouthshut.com/product-
reviews/Johnson-Johnson-Baby-Lotion-reviews-925005339
Klein, M., Kennedy, D. (2020). COVID-19 baby boom expected to start in January. New York
Post. https://nypost.com/2020/12/26/covid-19-baby-boom-expected-to-start-in-january/
Personal care services global market report 2021: COVID 19 impact and recovery to 2030.
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DB FORUM 6: Disruptive Marketing
Globe Newswire. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-
release/2021/02/11/2174312/0/en/Personal-Care-Services-Global-Market-Report-2021-
COVID-19-Impact-and-Recovery-to-2030.html
Rezaei, S., Emami, M., Ismail, N. (2018). Paid internet advertising (PIA) and frequency of apps-
buying decisions: Insights from the retail enterprises in an emerging market. Journal of
Enterprise Information Management, 31(3), 463-487.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1108/JEIM-08-2017-0113
Russia beauty and personal care market – growth, trends, COVID-19 impact, and forecasts
(2021-2026). (2021). Mordor Intelligence. https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-
reports/russia-cosmetics-products-market-industry
Thiel, B., Santoro, A. F. (2016). Skin cancer prevention messages effectively delivered through
Google online advertising. HemOnc Today, 17(9). http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?
qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fscholarly-journals%2Fskin-cancer-
prevention-messages-effectively%2Fdocview%2F1792207004%2Fse-2%3Faccountid
%3D12085
The global baby personal care market size is expected to reach $8.2 billion by 2026, rising at a
market growth of 7.5% CAGR during the forecast period. (2020). Globe Newswire.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/06/12/2047606/0/en/The-Global-
Baby-Personal-Care-Market-size-is-expected-to-reach-8-2-billion-by-2026-rising-at-a-
market-growth-of-7-5-CAGR-during-the-forecast-period.html
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DB FORUM 6: Disruptive Marketing
van Zuuren, E. J., Fedorowicz, Z., Arents, B. W. M. (2017). Performance and tolerability of the
moisturizers Cetaphil and Exoccipital in Atopic Dermatitis: What is the evidence based
on randomized trials? Dermatology and Therapy, 7(3), 331-347.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1007/s13555-017-0184-3
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