Colgate Palmolive Essay

1986 Words8 Pages
Problem Statement Colgate-Palmolive (CP) has spent the past three years developing a technologically superior toothbrush called the Colgate Precision. The market is now highly competitive, with very similar entrants from their closest competitors. It seems that suddenly everyone is ready to offer a product with different bristle lengths that could reach between the teeth. The Law of Exclusivity proclaims this launch will be a battle from the start, since Johnson & Johnson (J&J) already owns the word reach through their Reach brand toothbrush. It may be difficult to convince consumers otherwise. Reach Between was scheduled for launch within a month—10 months before CP’s Precision. Procter & Gamble (P&G) was poised to launch a new toothbrush also designed to reach between the teeth, called Crest Complete. Crest Complete claimed to have “the ability to reach between the teeth up to 37% farther than leading flat brushes.” This is also an unfortunate percentage for CP, since their initial clinical tests showed comparative performance of 35% improvement—good, but clearly second place. Crest planned to launch their new toothbrush at the same time as J&J’s Reach Between. These two competitors will have 10 months to secure their market shares before CP’s new product even hits the stores. While both J&J and P&G are the closest competitors to CP, other major competitors were aggressively pursuing alternative products through diversification within their oral care line. This surge of new products and improvements of existing products increased the frequency and value of consumer promotion events. Usage of coupons and the value of the coupons has tripled within the past 2 years, further squeezing profit margins. With more and more new products entering the market advertising media expenditures have risen as well. This will make new product launches much

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