Monday, May 10, 2010 1

Watkins has been around since the late 1800ʼs, the community was established through independent Watkins distributors, or
“the Watkins man” during a time when variety was novelty in everyday products. The products were sold door to door.
Monday, May 10, 2010 2

The current market positioning of Watkins is as an affordable comfort brand. In economic hardship consumers are trading
down in price and Watkins offers a natural and organic based product line at a lower price point then their competitors.
Monday, May 10, 2010 3

In 2009, Watkins decided to push their products into the retail arena, starting with Target and has expanded to other major
retailers. Since 2005 the company has gone from a $70 million dollar company to $95 Million with expected 2010 revenue
projected at $110 million this year and up to $500 million in the next five. The goal in introducing the product to retailers was to
expand brand awareness and in turn boost direct sales. Watkins has seen a 15% revenue increase since going into retailers
last year.
 OBJECTIVE

4
Monday, May 10, 2010 4

Position the established Watkins brand to compete in multiple market places and appeal to a larger audience while maintaining
a consistency in the way the brand is presented over all platforms.
 INSIGHTS

Monday, May 10, 2010 5

My insight for Watkins do not have so much to do with who is buying the product, how much they use the internet
or how much money they make. I did look into all of this but I found the more compelling information to be
around the MLM aspect of the company, the current business strategy, their online presence and the multiple ways
the brand is being presented to the consumer on different platforms and the systems they have and do not have in
place.
Monday, May 10, 2010 6

The Watkins homepage serves as information about Watkins, Press, PR, online catalog and store. Anything and
everything you want to know about Watkins is here.
Monday, May 10, 2010 7

They have a separate page to sign up for a home based business exclusive from this site but you can link
to it from the main site.
Monday, May 10, 2010 8

On the main site the business opportunity is not at the forefront, it is subtly located on the bottom of the page. In
a google search for Watkins Home Business you are directed to the separate business site to sign up.
Monday, May 10, 2010 9

To order products off the main site, you need to sign up and at this point you can search for and enter your
independent associates ID #. There is no general search on Google or on the Watkins site to find a associate in
your area.
Monday, May 10, 2010 10

You can also link to an associates page, through their independent website to a Watkins branded order page for
the associate.
Monday, May 10, 2010 11

But, this is the independent distributors home page which is touting the independent business aspect more so
than
the product. The product is really being used to encourage people to sign up under this distributor which is part of
a larger distributorship, The Summit Group which provides non-watkins brand tools to help distributors in their
group to build their business.
Monday, May 10, 2010 12
There are 25,000 direct sales associates for Watkins. Some are independent distributors because they are loyal to the brand and love the product. Otherʼs are involved because of the money
making potential, signing up as many people as possible to sell the product underneath their umbrella to generate revenue for themselves, this is a classic multi level marketing plan. Typically
for these independent sellers, the product is not the focus.

Statistically 70% of people who buy into a multil level marketing based business quit within a year. A tiny percent of the independent distributors make the most revenue and that money is
made from signing up the people that will quit the business within one year. MLMʼs true constituency is not of the consuming public but of the hopeful investors. MLMʼs are a thing of the past
so Watkinʼs is smart to branch out and it makes me wonder if they are trying to gain entry into the retail marketplace rather than just boost direct sales.

Where ever this fits into their plan, the MLM aspect of Watkins could potentially make the brand, on the whole, appear disingenuous or inauthentic in comparison to itʼs competitors, when in
fact it is the oldest, existing natural brand still on the market today amongst the similar and younger product lines. Watkins as a corporation will need to review this component in relation to the
overall business plan of retailing while maintaining the independent distributorship relationships or eventually phasing them out once their retail sales can compensate for the loss of revenue
from direct sales.

During this attempt to develop brand awareness and attract a wider audience of consumers, The Watkins community has become disjointed due to the lack of control the corporation
maintains over the where and how their products are sold by independent distributors. Watkins has a strong brand presence and history as a natural, organic and sustainable company but is
not competing with their competitors in the real and virtual marketplaces to the level that they could be.
Monday, May 10, 2010 13

On Amazon.com people who bought Caldrea, Mrs. Meyers, Method and Seventh Generation natural cleaning products did not
buy Watkins products but cross purchased between the brands.

People who bought Burts Bees products did buy some Watkins body care products but a majority purchased other products
from Method, Mrs. Meyers, Caldrea and Seventh Generation.
Monday, May 10, 2010 14

Out of 30 pages on a Google shopping search of Natural Cleaning Products, Watkinʼs showed up once, the other competitors
dominated the search and were also featured in the filter to narrow by brand, Watkins did not. In a search of Organic Spices,
Watkins had a better showing but did not dominate over the Simply Organic, Cascadian Farm and tsp brands.
For Natural body care products brands like Jason, Avalon, Boots and Burts Bees dominated the search results, Watkins did not
come up at all. A search for liniments proved s bit more successful with two Watkins products at the top of the search result list.
Monday, May 10, 2010 15

Watkins products are being talked about on blogs and there is a clear correlation between people who are buying other natural
products are also buying Watkins. Many of the blogs that I read the blogger had bought their Watkins products at the same
retailers that they had bought the competitors products but they are not purchasing as much through independent associates
or through the Watkins site.
 STRATEGERY

Monday, May 10, 2010 16

Create a consistent message and identity for all channels of marketing and retailing for Watkins Products.

Increase brand awareness through multiple channels to boost direct sales as well as increase retail and online buying.

Use the established Watkins story and history to create a virtual community where sellers, users and fans of Watkins can
interact as part of the brand identity.
 TACTICS

17
Monday, May 10, 2010 17
Monday, May 10, 2010 18
5 days ago J.R. Watkins announced their Clear Conscience communications campaign. Clear Conscience will leverage social
media, traditional media and online outlets to provide lighthearted, easy-to-follow, helpful advice and solutions to consumers
who want to embrace a more eco-friendly lifestyle.
 Organic Natural
Spices

Certified

Lotion Liniment
Lemon
Cleaning
Food Salve
Lavender
Environmentally Safe
Monday, May 10, 2010 19

Increase Keyword searches for jrwatkins.com, the official site for Watkins. As it stands right now Watkins products
and website are not coming up under key word searches where there competitors are. This will increase traffic to
the site and generate direct revenue for the company through their online store.
Monday, May 10, 2010 20

Partner with local and boutique hotel chains to provide guest rooms with toiletries.
 Your house was cleaned today
using
Watkins Natural Cleaning
Products.

www.jrwatkins.com

Monday, May 10, 2010 21

Wholesale, bulk sizes of cleaning products to independent and corporate house cleaning companies. Provide
calling cards notifying the homeowner that their house was cleaned with all natural Watkins cleaning products.
Monday, May 10, 2010 22

Open up business opportunities to small business owners. Boutiques, salons, coffee shops, yoga studios, day
cares, cooking schools, small grocery stores and apothecaries.
Offer wholesale, bulk products for cleaning the business as well as a retail opportunity for the business owner
should they decide to carry the watkins product lines and become independent Watkins associates.
Monday, May 10, 2010 23
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