Argumentative Essay about Procter and Gamble

Procter & Gamble: Competing with Itself – and Winning Procter & Gamble is one of the world’s [premier consumer-goods companies. Some 99 percent of all U. S.

households use at least one of P&G’s over 300 brands, and the typical household regularly buys and uses from one to two dozen P&G brands. P&G sells multiple brands of laundry detergent, bath soap, shampoo, dishwashing detergent, tissues and paper towels, deodorant, fabric softener, cosmetics, and disposable diapers worldwide. Moreover, P&G has many additional brands in each category for different international markets.For example, brands unique to Asia include Attento, Bonus, Cutie, Muse, Perla, Rejoice, and Whisper. A touch of Sun, Hairpainting, Inner Science, and Ultress are offered in North America and Asia, while Loreto is marketed in Asia and Latin America. (see P&G’s Web site at www.

pg. com for a full glimpse of the company’s impressive line-up of brands. ) These P&G brands compete with one another on the same supermarket shelves. Why would P&G introduce several brands in one category instead of concentrating its resources on a single leading brand?The answer lies in the fact that different people want different mixes of benefits from the products they buy. Take laundry detergents as an example.

People use laundry detergents to get their clothes clean. But they also want other things from their detergents – such as economy, strength or mildness, bleaching power, fabric softening, fresh smell, and lots of suds or only a few. We all want some of every one of these benefits from our detergent, but we may have different priorities for each benefit.To some people, cleaning and bleaching power are most important; to others, fabric softening matters most; still others want a mild, fresh scented detergent. Thus, each segment of laundry detergent buyers seeks a special combination of benefits.

In Asia, Procter & Gamble has identified at least four important laundry detergent segments, along with numerous subsegments, and has developed a different brand designed to meet the special needs of each. The four brands are positioned for different segments as follows: • Tide provides “fabric cleaning and care at its best. It’s the all-purpose family detergent that “gets to the bottom of dirt and stains to help keep your whites white and your colors bright. ” • Cheers is the “color expert. ” It helps protect against fading, color transfer, and fabric wear, with or without bleach.

• Gain, originally P&G’s “enzyme” detergent, was repositioned as the detergent that gives you “great cleaning power and the smell that says clean. ” It “cleans and freshens like sunshine. ” • Dreft is especially formulated “to help clean tough baby and toddler stains. It “rinses out thoroughly, leaving clothes soft next to a baby’s delicate skin.

” Within each segment, P&G has identified even narrower niches. For example, you can buy regular Tide (in powder or liquid form) or any or several formulations: • Tide Powder helps keep everyday laundry clean and new. It comes in regular and such special scents as Tide Tropical Clean (a fresh tropical scent) and Tide Free (“has no scent at all leaves out the dyes or perfumes”). • Tide Liquid combines the great stain fighting qualities in Tide powder with the pretreating ease of a liquid detergent in various scents. Tide with Bleach helps to “clean even the dirtiest laundry without the damaging effects of chlorine bleach.

” Keeps “your family’s whites white and colors bright. ” • Tide Liquid with Bleach Alternative is the “smart alternative to chlorine bleach. ” It uses active enzymes in pretreating and washing to break down and remove the toughest stains while whitening whites. • Tide with a Touch Downy provides “outstanding Tide clean with a touch of Downy softness and freshness. ” • Tide Coldwater is specially formulated to help reduce your energy bills by delivering outstanding cleaning, even on the toughest stains, in cold water.

Available in both liquid and powder formulas and in two scents. • Tide HE is specially formulated to unlock the cleaning potential of high-efficiency washers and provides excellent cleaning with the right level of sudsing. By segmenting the market and having several detergent brands, P&G has an attractive offering for consumers in all important preference groups. As a result, P&G is a major player in the global laundry detergent market.

More generally, P&G is a dominant force among consumer goods businesses.Despite its late entry into several Asian markets, the company now holds leadership positions in various products categories. For example, P&G entered Taiwan in 1985 when it launched Pampers as the market’s first disposable diaper, and Head and Shoulders shampoo. Oil of Olay is now Taiwan’s leading skin care series, while Pringles heads the potato chip category. P&G Taiwan was also the first to introduce worldwide such shampoo brands as B-5 Pantene Pro-V and Inner Science. The company was voted Commonwealth’s most admired company in Taiwan for five consecutive years.