Case Analysis Belle CouleurBelle Couleur, Garnier's line of permanent hair dyes, has been on the market for over two decades and is currently the market leader in France. The Belle Couleur line offers twenty-two hair color shades consisting mainly of natural, dark shades. The product is positioned as reliably capable of providing natural colors and is advertised as "natural colors, covers all grey". SWOT Analysis Strengths: Belle Couleur's biggest strength lies in one of its marketing mixes, price. Belle Couleur will be the only mid-priced product in the Dutch hair dye market and will compete with higher and lower priced brands. Furthermore, price-sensitive Dutch women are value buyers and so this aspect of the product will appeal to them. Market research has shown that women's purchase intentions increased after the price was revealed during the test. The price of the product combined with the price sensitive nature of Dutch women will be the main selling point of Belle Couleur. Belle Couleur's recognition of distribution channel constraints and ability to respond to them would be another major strength. The main constraint of the distribution system would be the limited retail shelf space available to the many competing brands. Retailers' recent increased preference as the primary distribution choice for numerous competing hair color brands has resulted in limited shelf space. So, to accommodate limited shelf space, Belle Couleur will only introduce fifteen shades of hair color in the Netherlands compared to twenty in France. Weaknesses: The most significant weakness for Belle Couleur would be the undifferentiated product that will be introduced to the market. Dutch market. Although the number of hair color shades will be reduced to accommodate limited space on store shelves, the colors offered will not be reformulated to suit Dutch preferences. The colors available for the Dutch market will be those specifically formulated for the French market. The problem lies in the differences in color preferences of Dutch and French women. While the French prefer darker, more traditional colors, Dutch preferences are at the opposite end of the color spectrum, preferring lighter shades. Market research indicated that Dutch women's purchase intentions decreased after trial use because the color "did not cover the grey" or "was too dark". Furthermore, local and international brands competing in the hair dye market formulate their products based on the preferences of the Dutch market.