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Sealed Air Corporation
Marketing Management, 45-720, Section A, Group 2

Arnab Basu Malcolm Johnson Douglas Meislahn Nicholas Reid Robert Schmidt

02/17/05

Marketing Management, 45-720, Section A Sealed Air Corporation

A. Basu, M. Johnson, D. Meislahn, N. Reid, R. Schmidt

Executive Summary By 1980, Sealed Air Corporation had built its company culture as a market leader. As the first developer of closed-cell, lightweight cushioning materials, foam-in-place packaging systems and complete solar heating systems for swimming pools, Sealed Air had become very profitable as the market leader, and the firm encouraged technological innovation to maintain that positioning. AirCap cushioning, a coated bubble wrap product sold in the protective packaging market, was Sealed Air’s most profitable product. However, due to new and unexpected competition, the company was forced to consider the prospect of manufacturing and distributing an uncoated bubble packaging product as well. In order to maintain its current level of profitability, Sealed Air must begin production of uncoated bubble wrap in the European market because of its large size and potentially high profit margins. These two enticements do not exist in the US uncoated bubble wrap market; therefore, Sealed Air should forego entering the US market with an uncoated bubble wrap product. Problem Statement With $25.35M in 1980 sales, Sealed Air’s AirCap product line revenue represented approximately 38% of total sales generated in the US. The key advantage of AirCap cushioning products was a coating on the inside of the bubble with saran that offered better protection than uncoated bubbles during shipping. Sealed Air had done a good job of educating customers about the advantages of coated bubbles and enjoyed a dominant market position in this industry. However, the recent successful market penetration of new

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