Seal Air Case
SEAL AIR CORPORATION • Decision: - This case is about defense of market leadership. - Launching an inferior product (uncoated bubbles): timing, marketing plan, making adjustments in policies for AirCap cushioning (since Seal Air has been the historic champion of barrier-coating bubbles). • Context: - B2B - Reaction to GAFCEL’s success with uncoated bubbles ($1M annual sales rate, products carried by some of the same distributors with AirCap) - Barrier to entry: Seal Air’s patent protection, licensing of only one competitor (Astro) • Diagnostic: Company - AirCap bubbles: served the flexible wrap and void fill markets. Offered in many grades. - Leader in the air buble market in the US. Key factors: Seal Air’s patent protection, licensing of only one competitor (Astro), extensive market education, and packaging mentality in the US. However, total sales were decreasing in first 6 months of 1980. - Narrow distribution (370 distributors in 1980), because of Seal Air’s selective distribution policy. Distributors often carry a broad range of products. - Selling efforts: customer-oriented approach, best trained and most knowledgeable salespeople.