Case Analysis of Trap-Ease America
A group of investors had formed Trap-Ease America after obtaining the worldwide rights to sell a patented and innovative mousetrap from an inventor. The group hired Martha as president to develop and manage the company. Trap-Ease America regarded housewives as the best target market. Because the company believed that women will be attracted to the safety and cleanliness that the traps offer. Unlike traditional spring-loaded traps or poisons, the tarp lures the mouse into a square tube in which it will be trapped alive. There is no danger in baiting and setting trap. It can also avoid the “mess” resulted by the traditional trap’s operation. Martha sold the trap directly to large retailers such as Safeway, Kmart, and CB Drug. The traps sold in packages of two, with a suggested price of $ 2.49, about five to ten times more expensive than the traditional trap. Martha promoted the mousetrap mainly through trade show and personal selling. Despite the innovativeness of the trap and its success at gaining public attention, sales are disappointingly slow. Following are analysis of the problem Trap-Ease faced and some suggestions.
Martha and the investors believe they face an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that the patented mousetrap will bring huge profits. But things were not going on well in the start-off. We know that in order to evaluate any investment opportunity investors need to conduct a detailed analysis concerning a variety of different issues. The first question to address is the size of potential market: evaluation of demand for a new product and estimation of company’s potential market share. The second crucial issue to address is the analysis of all elements of product’s marketing mix i.e. product, price, promotion and place. From the case, we can learn that the investors and Martha are so confident in the product’s advantages that they neglect the necessity to do a market research in depth to obtain available...