Jones Blair Company

JONES BLAIR COMPANY-

BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM DEFINITION: US paint industry can be categorized into three segments a)Architectural coating- consists of general purpose paints and varnishes used on residential and institutional structures b) Original equipment manufacturing (OEM) coatings- produced as per to industrial buyer's specification and applied to original equipment during manufacturing. c) Special purpose coatings - used for special applications or extreme conditions.

This Company produces and markets architectural paints as well as OEM throughout US and worldwide. Due to strict regulations of Environmental Protection Agency in US, paints manufacturing companies had to invest a lot in research and development (R&D) to find the new solutions which will reduce Volatile Organic Compounds that effects nature. JB mainly targets the customers seeking high end product. Because of increasing R&D costs JB have to keep their product's prices high. They cater mainly to do-it-yourself customers which is approximately 50% of sales and to professional painters which comes near to 25% of sales. Another effect of rising R&D costs is that their sales volume remained same during past year although sales has increased. Southwestern America is the potential market for architectural paints. But now JB Company is facing the stiff competition in this region and is currently looking for viable solutions for marketing their architectural coatings and sundries. So should they target professionals or do it yourself and should the go for competitors area (Dallas-fort Worth) or not.

MARKET AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS: Do-it-yourself customers comprises major portion of market in southwestern America, so their behavior must be analyzed. Advertising and brand image should be are the area of attention in such market. They distribute paints and sundries through around 200 stores. Company spends around 3% of net sales on advertising and sale