Price cuts lop £50m off P&G household brands

by Melanie Godsell, Marketing 15-Aug-06, 08:30

LONDON - Fierce price competition in the household goods sector has wiped £50m off the combined value of leading Procter & Gamble brands Pampers, Ariel, Fairy and Gillette, according to TNS Worldpanel research for Marketing's Biggest Brands.

Of P&G brands in the UK's 50 bestselling brands, only Fairy added sales, of 9%. In the year to 23 April, sales of Unilever brands were static, while Kimberly-Clark's Huggies and Andrex brands added a combined £10m.

Pampers and Ariel lost the greatest ground for P&G, with sales down 13% and 12% respectively; Huggies conceded just 1% in sales for the same period. Unilever also suffered in the detergent sector, with Persil falling 9%.

The nappies market has been hit by a fall in the birth rate and rise in price promotions. Pampers lost out to Tesco's own-label range, which also offers nappies tailored by growth stage. The retailer's sales of own-label baby products grew 12%.

Ariel was relaunched last November, backed by a TV ad campaign through Saatchi & Saatchi.

A P&G spokesman said it had innovation plans that would help both Ariel and Pampers return to growth.

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