In a Bind: Peak Sealing Technologies’ Product Line
Extension Dilemma
It was a scorching hot day in July 2013 as Emma Taylor arrived at her office in Peak Sealing
Technologies’ Dallas, Texas corporate headquarters. Taylor had been with Peak Sealing Technologies
(PST) for six years since earning her MBA. She was the product manager for K2-Tape, the company’s premium pressure sensitive carton sealing tape line. Recently, a small regional tape producer had found some success with a cheaper, economy grade version that lacked the patented adhesive technology and high quality materials that K2-Tape products offered. Some members of PST’s
executive…show more content… Taylor had immediately taken notice of this new competition and Tensile’s operations in particular. With only one fulltime sales rep, Tensile had reached what equated to a $2.7 million annual sales rate in the Boston market. A few K2-Tape distributors had already started stocking the Tensile line.
The Adhesive and Sealant Industryi
Adhesive and sealant use was diverse across a wide variety of industries. The industry could be segmented by product type as well as end-user market. Segmentation by product included categories such as natural adhesives, emulsion and dispersion chemistries, hot melt formulations and other reactive and solvent-based adhesives. Although adhesives and sealants were utilized in almost
1 The force required to break a piece of tape by pulling on opposite ends of the piece.
2 The ability of a tape to resist tearing after a tear has been started by cutting or nicking of the edge.
3 Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) is a polypropylene film that has been stretched in two different directions.
2
BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL
This document is authorized for use only by Ankita Zaveri in Marketing Management MBA taught by Jos? Domingo Mora University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth from September 2014 to
December 2014.
For the exclusive use of A. Zaveri
In a Bind: Peak Sealing Technologies’ Line Extension
