Toothpaste Is Toothpaste?

Toothpaste is Toothpaste? Yes, it is. Toothpaste is just a thing you clean your teeth. There is no other purpose of using toothpaste, but all the toothpaste suppliers try to put extra value on their product. They are trying to build good brand image by putting special features on their product. For example, some toothpaste is specialized in whitening while other products are specialized in preventing cavity and so on. Suppliers also try to maintain the price level which they can gain maximum demand of consumers in order to maximize their profit. The reason why they put so much effort on special features and price level is to survive in the competitive market which the Soviet Union had never faced under the condition of the command economy system.

Since toothpaste is normal goods, one of the key to grab attention of consumers is product's price level. The lower price of product is, they get the more demand of consumers. Under the free economy system, people always seek the most valuable thing when they are making economic transaction. “The most valuable” means different to each person, but suppliers try to find something valuable that can satisfy majority of people. One of the valuable thing is low price. Of course people are not only look for low price. Product quality comes first. Nobody buys the cheapest toothpaste with the worst quality. This is a little bit extreme way to say, but “The most valuable” means looking for the cheapest price with the highest product quality which the statement is not realistic. I would say people are looking for the cheapest affordable price with the highest satisfying product quality. That is “the most valuable product” they are looking for in the market. Suppliers cannot survive in the market unless they can provide products that consumers may take it as “the most valuable product”. Also, the company needs to care about maintaining their cost as low as possible so that they may be able to set product price low enough to gain advantage in the market.

In the free economic system, specializing features in product is another key of success. In order to draw consumers' attention, the company needs to come up with the product which fulfills consumers' need. Toothpaste is just a thing to clean teeth, this is true, but it is too broad idea at same time. Condition and circumstance of consumers may vary. The company needs to differentiate their products from competitors' product. In order to do so, they need to understand their customer's needs. For example if a person with