Environments

Micro environment vs Macro environment
Micro environment- The E.T. Browne Company is the name of the company that owns Palmer's. It is a very small company that is based out of New Jersey and, as mentioned in an earlier blog, has approx. 220 employees. This is a company that stays small, even though they have expanded their market to other countries (Australia, England, etc). Staying small and not merging with other companies has done this company good because they are able to not lose focus of their target audience and can keep a better "eye" on the competition. They are more in tune with what their core audience is looking for in a product and care about how their image is viewed by the public, especially their customers.
Macro environment- Now when it comes to their macro environment, E.T. Browne was just involved in a legal dispute with another company by the name of Cocoacare Products of the right to use "cocoa butter formula". E.T. Browne sued stating that it was copyright infringement. They lost because the ruling was that this particular phrase is a "generic" term. It is understandable how E.T. Browne company would want to protect the name of their product against other companies who are not of the same quality as them. Another two macro environments that heavily influences their marketing is the cultural and demographic environments.Their target audience is women in their late teens to forties and sometimes beyond. But they have a huge following among pregnant women for their stretch mark formula (it can even be bought at Motherhood Maternity stores), While the economy currently is in a state of chaos, this company probably wouldn't be dramatically effected unless the cost of cocoa butter went through the roof. They are a pretty inexpensive beauty regimen that many love. There are no influences from either technological or natural environments worth mentioning.

Below are some websites worth mentioning.

In regards to how they value customer opinions:
http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/food-stores/4466649-1.html

In regards to how they handle legal matters:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/3rd/064543p.pdf

http://www.finnegan.com/files/upload/Incontestable_Oct08_2.html

In regards to their cultural and demographic influences:
http://www.palmersfrance.fr/

http://www.motherhood.com/mastercategory.asp?MasterCategory_Id=28&ViewAll=true

Product Positioning

What is the product positioning for Palmer's Cocoa Butter? Palmer's is a low cost but high quality lotion. While they have many different competitors out there trying to mimic the product, Palmer's has done an exceptional job at keeping the brand's integrity intact. Their prices range any where from $3.00 to $7.00, which is about average for other brands of cocoa butter lotions. What distinguishes them from their competitors is they stay true to their product. They know cocoa butter and they make it well. For a company that has approx. 220 employees and makes a little over $25 million dollars in annual sales, they must be doing something right.

http://premium.hoovers.com/subscribe/basic/factsheet.xhtml?ID=ktkfstyr

http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/search/shop_all_results.jsp?pageSize=20&removeFacet=&trail=&pageNum=1&addFacet=SRCH%3Acocoa+butter

Core Competency

What is Palmer's core competency? Their PRODUCT! This is a very small company that was founded well over 100 years ago and has remained small by todays standards. Rarely, do you see advertising for this product on television or even magazines. They rely solely on their devoted followers and word of mouth. They know their product is awesome and know that anyone who uses it will be instantly impressed with how soft and supple their skin is after using it. With all of that said, why would they have to advertise?

Mission Statement

The mission behind E. T. Brown Drug Co., Inc., the company that owns Palmer's, is to provide the users with healthy, beautiful skin and hair. They have a sincere dedication to provided the customers with "highest quality, natural skin care products". As a faithful user of Palmer's, I would have to wholeheartly agree. Their lotion is great for all skin types, especially those that are prone to dryness and cracking. It may not work great on stretch marks during and after pregnancy, but this product provides my skin with exactly what it needs.


http://www.etbrowne.com/about/Default.aspx
http://www.etbrowne.com/legal/legalnotice.html