Overview Grilling is an American pastime, and since the 1920’s charcoal has been a large piece of that pastime. Kingsford Charcoal owned by the Clorox companyhas been the leader of the Charcoal industry for many years. Kingsford represents 9 percent of Clorox’s revenues. Recently Kingsford has been experiencing a downturn. From 1998 to 1999 Kingsford had a 4 percent growth. From 1999 to 2000 Kingsford had only a 2 percent growth and forecasts project an even lower number for 2001. Kingsford turned to their brand managers to discuss the decreasing numbers and to try to come up with a solution to their unknown problem. Problems The two main methods of grilling in this country are with charcoal and electric grills. It is safe to say that gas grilling is Kingsford’s biggest competitor. Other major competitors of Kingsford areRoyal Oak, a larger national brand, and private brands. Recently there has been a narrowing price gap between Kingsford and its competitors. The Price of private label brands had increased 10 percent between 1999 and 2000. Royal Oak had also increased its price during that period. The price increases in the charcoal industry could be causing some negative reactions from consumers and thus driving them to other alternatives like gas grills. Kingsford has also never been a big advocate for media advertising. While Kingsford had decreased it’s advertising budget by 5 million dollars from 1998 to 2000, gas grilling increased its advertising by 6 million dollars during that time. This tiesinto a reduction in promotional strategy from the charcoal industry. The industry used to contribute many funds to merchandising opportunities to retailers liketemporary price reductions, features and displays. These strategies were pulled back in 1999 and 2000. The final problem diagnosed to the drop in profits is the un-consistent weather patterns. Rainfall had risen slightly from years before and average temperatures were lower. The experience of being...