A comprehensive report on the strategic analysis of Colgate.

1. N. R. Institute of Business Management (NRIBM-PGDM)
Project
On
A comprehensive report on strategy analysis of Colgate.
Competitive Strategy
Submitted to
Prof. Maulik Shah
Submitted by
Sachin Dubey P 1817
Jeena Patel P 1840
Vatsal Patel P 1846
Shail Rami P1848
Term V
Batch -2018-20

2. TOOTHPASTE INDUSTRY: AN OVERVIEW
The toothpaste history in India can be tracked back from 1975 with 1200 tonnes of toothpaste
produced by the toothpaste industry. Prior to the toothpastes Oral Hygiene was the domain of
local homemade powders and Ayurveda practitioners. With the entry of Colgate in Indian
marketplace the awareness about Oral care and the importance of oral care. In recent years the
Industry has shown impressive growth rate of 18.6% (this growth is calculated in terms of value
growth in Rs.
The growth in the Urban market has been largely by the Gel Segment. Presently, a large chunk
of the Market is still held by Colgate. The major players in the toothpaste Industry being
Colgate Palmolive and Hindustan Lever Limited and several minor players like Balsara
hygiene, Dabur etc.
Presently Colgate Dental Cream holds 52% of market share. HLL’s Close up lies far behind
with 23% of the existing market share. The third player in the marketplace in terms of market
share is Colgate Gel with 10.5% of the market share. That leaves 14.5% market share for other
Brands like Pepsodent, Babool, Sensofoam, Forhans, Cibaca, Neem etc. The toothpaste market
is presently valued at Rs. 750 crores out of which the Gel segment has already bagged 1/3rd
portion of it. The Gel segment presently stands at Rs. 248 crores and is growing at a rate much
faster than Cream. In India toothpaste usage as compared to other countries is very low which
signifies about the potential of the market. In Urban India the usage of toothpaste per person
per year is just 190gms. Where as it is 200gms of toothpaste per person per year in developing
countries as Indonesia and Thailand. In developed countries as USA and other European
countries the toothpaste usage is 375 gms per person year. In India the toothpastes companies
are going in for advertising on a heavy note, on an average the companies managing this FMCG
category are spending 6.15% of their sales on development. Colgate Palmolive had shelled out
15% of their sales on ads in the year 1994. Dabur had an ad expenditure of 5.07% for the year
1993. Whereas balsara Hygiene spend a huge 10.17% of their sales.

3. LEADERS
Colgate (toothpaste)
Colgate is an umbrella brand principally used for oral hygiene products such
as toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes and dental floss. Manufactured by Colgate-
Palmolive, Colgate oral hygiene products were first sold by the company in 1873, sixteen years
after the death of the founder, William Colgate. The company originally sold soap.
According to a 2015 report by market research Company Kantar World panel, Colgate is the
only brand in the world purchased by more than half of all households. Colgate has a

4. global market penetration of 67.7% and a global market share of 45%. Despite this, it
maintained the highest growth rate of all brands in the survey, with 40 million new households
purchasing Colgate-branded products in 2014. Its global market penetration is nearly 50%;
higher than the second-placed brand in the study, Coca-Cola with 43.3% penetration.
Colgate was the first toothpaste in a collapsible tube, introduced in 1896 in New York City. It
had been sold in glass jars since 1873.
It has been in Malaysia since the 1920s. It is in Nepal and India, with manufacturing units based
in India and exported to Nepal. While in the Philippines, it was introduced in 1926 under The
Palmolive Company Philippines before it changed its name to Colgate-Palmolive Philippines
in 1949.
In 1957, Colgate established its first factory in India to produce toothpaste for the domestic
market, and by 1999 became the highest selling brand in the world. Colgate products are
marketed in China under its Chinese Brand name 高露洁 (Pinyin: Gāolùjié), which means
"high-quality cleaning gel". As of 2002, Colgate occupied 20% of the market share for
toothpastes in China. As of 2015, it also commanded approximately 70% of the oral care
market in Brazil.
In 2007, the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK told Colgate that it could no longer
make the claim that 4 out of 5 dentists recommended Colgate. Investigation had showed that
the study had telephone surveyed dentists to list toothpastes they recommended, and their
competitors were recommended at similar rates. The claim was deemed deceptive.
As of 2015, oral care products (principally produced under the Colgate brand) were
the Colgate-Palmolive company's largest source of income, making up around US$7.5 billion,
or 47% of net sales globally (with personal care products such as shampoos making up 20%,

5. home care products such as laundry detergents 19% and pet nutrition products making up the
remaining 14%).
Marketing strategy of Colgate – Colgate marketing strategy
One of the top brands of the world and the leading brand in Oral hygiene, Colgate is known for
its dominance for the past few decades when it concerns tooth paste, tooth brush or even dental
hygiene. Colgate has implemented fantastic marketing strategies over time, including roping
in dentists to brand the product, which has resulted in Colgate being the leader in the oral
hygiene industry. Here is the marketing strategy of Colgate analysed for our readers.
Segmentation, targeting, positioning in the Marketing strategy of Colgate
Colgate segments its offerings across Oral, personal & Home care product categories based
on demographics, psychographics & behavioural factors. Such as different Deo’s for men &
women, Oral care products for different age & income groups meant to satisfy different needs.
Although Colgate products are targeted to mass population but Middle class is where most of
its sales comes from. Also Colgate-Palmolive usage & benefit based positioning helped them
to make the Colgate & its sub brands across the product categories a household name.
Mission - “To become a fast growing consumer goods industry by developing and delivering
innovative new products to consumers and marketing them more efficiently”.
Vision - “Colgate’s vision is to become the best truly global products company.”
Tagline-“Colgate-world of care”
Competitive advantage in the Marketing strategy of Colgate
Their broad product portfolio & apt differentiation based on the benefits provided by Colgate
is the driving force for them to be competitive. Different segmentation of their products set an
edge for them; moreover, their healthy communication with competitors had contributed
positively to the competition.

6. The other competitive advantage that Colgate has is its extensive distribution network in rural
& urban markets. It is making the product available as product availability is the major concern
in the highly competitive market. Due to having such large product line it is helping the
company to occupy large shelf space resulting into high visibility & organic promotions.
BCG Matrix in the Marketing strategy of Colgate
With the advent of technology & rising awareness about the hygiene & sanitation, the personal
& Home care products of Colgate are stars but the oral care is sub categorised into Stars &
Cash Cows.
The toothbrush segment is cash cows as the popularity of Colgate tooth brush as well as its
availability is massive. There are lots of locals & national players competing in the segment
but the distribution power of Coca cola gives tough competition to unbranded products.
With so many product offerings in toothpaste category & differentiating benefits Colgate
toothpaste is star. It has emerged as a market leader and it has become household name in many
developing nations even synonymous for toothpaste. However, there are many competitors for
the product as well
Strategies
Flank defence

7. Distribution strategy in the Marketing strategy of Colgate
Colgate Palmolive has its own separate distribution company, called Colgate Palmolive Co
Distributors, a subsidiary of Colgate Palmolive. Being a FMCG company it has market access
to nearly the whole world. There isn’t one single distributor for the whole business, but a few
key important subsidiaries for each region of operation.
But just because the company has their channels of distribution set, there is still the dirty work
of the actual transportation that also goes on. Colgate Palmolive cooperates with a global
shipping company called Magellan Transport Logistics. In order to make their products
available to not only grocery/departmental stores but also to the Medical stores it work in 3 tier
distribution system i.e. from manufacturer –regional distributor –sub regional distributor-
Retailer-to Customer.
Brand equity in the Marketing strategy of Colgate
Colgate is Ranked No.1 in Kantar World panel’s 2014 Brand Footprint report. Colgate retained
its position as the second most chosen brand globally in a list of the top 50 brands. Colgate
has become household name, brand’s toothpaste category under Colgate brand name was so
successful that the name itself has been commoditized over the period of time.
Competitive analysis in the Marketing strategy of Colgate
Colgate is surrounded by giant competitors. FMCG giants like HUL, P&G & many others local
players have extensive products in the Oral, personal & Home care category but some
companies are dominant in some category whereas some in others. HUL and P&G are more
known for their detergents and soaps as well as other FMCG products. Whereas, in all of them,
for oral hygiene, Colgate is the leader.
Market analysis in the Marketing strategy of Colgate
In the highly competitive FMCG market, oral care & personal care product categories are over-
crowded by large number of international & national players. The key factor towards success
in this segment is the right branding strategy as well as the distribution and product quality. In
all these points, Colgate has maintained its lead and hence it is the market leader.

8. Reasons behind success
Sometime around 1892, a Connecticut dentist named Washington Sheffield—who'd introduced
toothpaste to America in 1850—received a letter from his son, Lucius. While studying art in
Paris, Lucius had watched realist painters squeezing their oils out of tin tubes and thought the
container would be a novel way for his father to package his own product. The dentist agreed
and began selling his Doctor Sheffield's Crème Dentifrice in tubes.
It's a great story of American innovation, and the reason nobody much remembers it is because,
four years after Sheffield's dispenser debuted, a more established brand of toothpaste out of
New York adopted the tube. That brand was Colgate.

9. While Procter & Gamble's Crest is the category leader—with a 34.2 percent share of the
market, per Euro monitor—Colgate toothpaste, from Colgate-Palmolive, is the brand that has
stood the test of time.
As New York dentist and media personality Thomas Connelly points out, toothpaste isn't much
of a differentiated category. "It's a staple, it's habitual, and there are not a whole lot of benefits
to changing," he noted. So why do people keep reaching for that red and white tube—to the
tune of $314 million last year?
It's part timing, part marketing. Though challenger brands have chipped away at its dominance,
Colgate has never surrendered the advantages that come with being first to market. (Samuel
Colgate began selling his toothpaste in jars in 1873.) "It's the law of first in," said Adam Padilla,
founder of consultancy BrandFire. "Colgate was the first, and they originated the tube. Once
you have that foothold, you are the immovable piece that everyone else reacts to." Colgate
didn't just popularize the tube—in 1908, it also added a rectangular opening that forced the
paste out in a ribbon shape, a simple innovation that let Colgate position itself as the "ribbon
dental cream" for years.
But innovation has also hurt Colgate. In 1955, when P&G introduced Crest—fortified with a
magical ingredient called fluoride—it immediately bit off 10 percent of the market and, starting
in 1960, would lead the category for the next three decades. (Colgate would finally add fluoride
in 1968.)
Still, Colgate is seen as the stalwart brand, the inevitable brand, the family brand of toothpaste.
And that's no accident. Because parents tend to introduce their kids to toothpaste and because
adults usually buy the brands they remember from childhood, Colgate continues to enjoy a kind
of pass-down popularity that's difficult to efface, Padilla pointed out.
"When you teach your kids, 'Daddy says use Colgate,' they'll stay with the brand," he said.
"Once you're in there, you have that recognition. Attach 100 years of longevity to that and
you're immovable."

10. Situations of Colgate
Colgate was found in the United States 200 years ago. For the half of the years its business was
focused only the. It is marketing its products in more than 200 countries and territories under
some internationally recognized brand names as Colgate, Ajax, Palmolive, Softsoap, Some
Hill’s Science diet products. Colgate Palmolive is leading product consumer Product Company
focused on Oral care, Household care, Personal care and many more. Today Colgate-Palmolive
is $9 billion Company.
Colgate is famous for having a long history of strong relationship with its retail trade partners.
This Company delights consumers around there world with an array of Oral Care, Home Care,
Personal Care, and Pet Nutrition products. Small stores around the world are just important to
Colgate as large ones. Behind the success of Colgate’s brands are carefully developed business
and marketing strategies. Based on consumer and shopper insights, the Company works closely
with local merchandisers and shop owners to offer a relevant assortment of products and
merchandising services to get high visibility in each store.
Overview:-
1806
Colgate was originated with a small business of starch, Soap and candles form Dutch street,
New York by William Colgate.
1817
The first Colgate advertisement was appeared in US newspaper.
1820
Colgate establishes a starch factory in New Jersey.
1866-1873
Colgate introduced perfumed soap and toothpaste in jars.
1896
Colgate introduced toothpaste in collapsible tube.

11. 1900
In the world fair of Paris, Colgate won top honors for its products like soaps and perfumes.
1902
Stylish Palmolive Advertisement begins. Emphasizing ingredient purity and product benefits
1906
Colgate & Company celebrates its 100thanniversary. Product line includes over 800 different
products.
1908
Colgate is incorporated by the five sons of Samuel Colgate.
1911
Colgate distributes two million tubes of toothpaste and toothbrushes to schools, and provides
hygienists to demonstrate tooth brushing.
1912
William Mennen introduces the first American shaving cream tube
1914
Colgate established its first international subsidiary in Canada
1920
Colgate establishes in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa.
1928
Colgate merge with Palmolive -Peet and became Colgate- Palmolive- Peet Company.
1930
On March 13, Colgate is first listed on the New York Stock Exchange

12. 1939
Dr. Mark L. Morris develops a pet food to help save a guide dog named Buddy from kidney.
1947
Ajax cleanser is launched, establishing powerful now-global brand equity for cleaning
products.
1953
Colgate -Palmolive Company becomes an official name for the company.
1956
Colgate opens research center in Piscataway, NJ. Fabric conditioner is launched in France as
Soupline. Today, fabric conditioners are sold in over 54 countries around the world.
1966
Palmolive dishwashing liquid is introduced and today it is sold in over 35 countries.
1968
Colgate toothpaste adds MFP Fluoride, clinically proven to reduce cavities.
1970
Irish Spring launches in Germany as Irische Frühling and in Europe as Nordic Spring. In1972,
Irish Spring is introduced in North America.
1972
Colgate acquires Hoyt Laboratories, which later becomes Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals.
1975
Caprice hair care launches in Mexico. Today, hair care products are sold in over 70 countries,
with variants to suit every type of hair need.

13. 1976
Colgate-Palmolive acquires Hill’s Pet Nutrition. Today Hill’s is the global leader in pet
nutrition and veterinary recommendations.
1983
Colgate Plus toothbrush is introduced. Today over 1.6 billion Colgate toothbrushes are sold
annually worldwide. If you lined them up end to end, they would circle the globe 16 times.
1985
Protex bar soap is introduced, and today offers all-family antibacterial protection in over 56
countries. Colgate-Palmolive enters into a joint venture with Hong Kong-based Hawley &
Hazel, a leading oral care company, which adds strength in key Asian markets.
1986
The Chairman’s You Can Make A Difference Program is launched, recognizing innovation
and exceptional excellence by Colgate people.
1987
Colgate acquires Soft-soap liquid soap business from the Minnetonka Corporation. Today,
Colgate is the global leader in liquid hand soap.
1989
Annual company sale surpassed the $ 5 million mark.
2006
Colgate purchased Tom’s of maine and entered fast growing naturals segment.
Today
Colgate with sales Surpasses $ 15 million, focuses on all Oral Care, Personal Care, Home Care,
Pet Nutrition.

14. Customer analysis in the Marketing strategy of Colgate
The typical customer of Colgate differs based on the product category as in oral care Colgate
have products to serve every segment of the society while in personal care & home care their
typical customer is the middle class families.
Challengers
Pepsodent is an American brand of toothpaste with the minty flavour derived from sassafras.
It has been owned by Unilever since 1942, except in the United States and Canada, where since
2003, it has been owned by Church & Dwight.
Pepsodent toothpaste was introduced in the United States in 1915 by the Pepsodent Company
of Chicago. The original formula for the paste contained pepsin, a digestive agent designed to
break down and digest food deposits on the teeth, hence the brand and company name.
From 1930 to late 1933 a massive animated neon advertising sign, featuring a young girl on a
swing, hung on West 47th Street in Times Square in New York City. (This ad was re-created
for the climax of the 2005 film King Kong and was featured in the original film in an
establishing shot of Times Square itself.)
Following the acquisition of the Pepsodent Company by Unilever in 1944, sales of Pepsodent
in the UK increased rapidly, more than doubling between 1944 and 1950. The company
outgrew its original factory in Park Royal, and the manufacture of the product was moved to
the factory of another Unilever-owned toiletry manufacturer, Joseph Watson and Sons of
Whitehall Road, Leeds, in 1951.

15. Pepsodent was a very popular brand before the mid-1950s, but its makers were slow to
add fluoride to its formula to counter the rise of other highly promoted brands such
as Crest and Gleem toothpaste by Procter & Gamble, and Colgate's eponymous product; sales
of Pepsodent plummeted. Today Pepsodent is a “value brand” marketed primarily in discount
stores and retails for roughly half the price of similarly sized tubes of Crest or of Colgate. Its
best-known slogan was “You'll wonder where the yellow went / when you brush your teeth
with Pepsodent!”
The product was discontinued in South Africa in 1974 but was revived in 1976 with a new ad
slogan "Gets Your Teeth Their Whitest" featuring celebrity endorsers Rita Moreno, Steve
Lawrence, and others. The popular slogan was also changed in South Africa to "You'll wonder
where the dullness went / when you polish your teeth with Pepsodent".
Pepsodent is still sold as a Unilever property in all markets except the United States and
Canada. In Vietnam, Pepsodent is called P/S. In 2013, Pepsodent was ranked 201st
among India's most trusted brands according to the Brand Trust Report 2013 India study, a
research conducted by Trust Research Advisory. According to the Brand trust Report 2014,
Pepsodent moved up to 71st position among India's most trusted brands. Pepsodent's parent
company Hindustan Unilever was ranked 47th in the Trust Report 2014.

16. Strategies