Crayola SWOT
Crayola (Binney & Smith), a subsidiary of Hallmark, Inc.
Corporate History
Crayola Manufacturing is a 120 year old company that makes safe, dependable art supplies for children. Because most consumers have never heard of Binney & Smith, the Crayola maker changed its name in 2007 to reflect its brand name. Crayola has many different lines of products; as well as services, which vary from just crayons and markers. They produce 3 billion crayons a year, plus craft and character licensed activities..
Crayola began as Binney & Smith back in 1885 when Joseph Binney partnered with his son and nephew. Binney and Smith sold their first Crayola crayons in 1903, when a box of ...view middle of the document...
Strengths
• Crayola is a recognized and highly trusted brand name and logo. In fact, 98 out of every 100 Americans recognize it. Children age 2-10, their target market, love Crayola products and have selective demand for it. Children demand the products and then influence their parents to purchase them. The Crayola brand name is synonymous with high quality and high brand loyalty.
• They are a global company, with a wide spectrum of individuals who use Crayola products all over the world.
• Crayola has built up a highly successful distribution system. Their products are available everywhere, including grocery stores, drug stores, Internet sales, hospitals, doctor's offices, schools, gas stations, airports, theme parks, hotels and restaurants. They sell retail and also in bulk to organizational buyers at a lower cost. Schools all over the US and in other countries like The UK, Canada, Australia, and Mexico all utilize Crayola art materials.
• Crayola's website is geared for children, parents, and educators. They provide free ideas for crafts and printable coloring pages. The website is used for booking, ordering, promotional information, marketing, and more. Crayola even provides advice on how to remove stains on their official website.
• Crayola is well-established due to their innovation (keeping the company out of saturation and decline). Crayola has been in service for many years and knows how to cater to the needs of the consumer. Crayola is constantly building new products and the growth targets many individual needs. Crayola also developed art products that emphasized international diversity by launching Crayola My World multicultural crayons. The company hoped that by using crayons, markers, paints, and modeling compounds that reflected the variety of skin tones, children would build a positive sense of self as well as respect for cultural diversity.
• Crayola's price range is reflective of their core target market, middle and lower upper class Americans; and their products are priced competitively with their major competitor, Rose Art. The consumer feels that the price reflects the quality.
• Crayola uses all non-toxic, child-safe materials that are cost effective and efficient. They use a variety of colors with fun memorable names, which appeal to children and adults. Crayola is environmentally friendly as well. They have scented products for sensory skills. They have easy grip products for motor skills.
• They have licensing deals with major children's characters, including all Disney characters, and Nickelodeon characters, which increases their appeal to children.
• The majority of their retail promotion consists of television commercials, magazine ads, and point of purchase displays. Their promotion impacts and targets children primarily and foremost, however, it is a pull strategy to create an influence purchase by the parents. In most large retail stores, Crayola has their own...
