Rank Xerox Case Analysis
In 1992, Rank Xerox decided to launch a new line of copiers made from refurbished or recycled parts. In spite of this reclaimed content, the company intends to position the machines as "new." This move can offer a response to the growing environmental pressures in Western Europe and throughout the world. But the company has to overcome a challenge: how to bring the new line to market, especially considering pricing, promotion, guarantees, and national regulations?
The marketing of its "environmentally responsible" has to be done wisely. The company has to be very careful with its product positioning and overall management of the marketing mix. The fact that little market data existed about the new market made the task even more difficult.
Strengths
• Leadership Trough Quality process as core of Xerox’s business strategy
• Awarded many quality awards
• Asset Recovery Operation (ARO): local initiative to rebalance the asset pool of returned copiers
• Obtaining of the industry-first ISO-9002 Quality System Assessment and Certification award
• Implementation of a special Environmental Marketing Team (EMT)
• The high levels of reuse of raw materials and individual parts give ability to go public with tangible proof
• European manufacturing base allows to exploit the benefits from the reuse of parts and subassemblies
• The three product categorization addressed the problem of marketing terminology
• Implementation of the Total Satisfaction Guarantee program Weaknesses
• Refurbishing copiers added little benefit to the company’s product lines
• Insufficient data on Rank XEROX customers
• No business is 100% environmentally friendly, copiers produce visible paper waste, malodorous ozone, noise, heat, dust
• Not yet able to determine the exact manufacturing cost of individual Green class machines
• The concept of the separate line with high reprocessed content was too revolutionary that no market-based examples existed concerning how to deal with customer guarantees