Colgate Herbal Whitening Leads Product Lineup For New Year

Colgate Herbal Whitening toothpaste will headline several new oral and personal care products slated to debut in the U.S. by early 2003.

The brand extension, described by Colgate-Palmolive as the first herbal toothpaste to launch stateside by a "major manufacturer," is expected to begin shipping to food, drug and mass outlets at the end of December.

Various product forms have been introduced over the past two years in most of the firm's overseas markets. Oral care volume growth in each of these regions during the third quarter partly reflected favorable market responses to the herbal extension, the firm noted during a Q3 analysts conference call Oct. 17.

Colgate Herbal has been "extremely successful in Eastern and Western Europe, as well as throughout Asia," VP-Investor Relations Bina Thompson noted.

Formulation has varied by region. Although C-P declined to provide further details, the U.S. version will include a whitening component, unlike formulas available in other countries.

For example, the version sold in India does not emphasize a whitening benefit, but instead claims to "soothe oral ailments like toothaches, mouth ulcers and gum sores." Labeling for the product, which contains chamomile, sage, eucalyptus and myrrh, carries the statement, "Strong teeth, healthy gums - naturally."

In the U.S., Colgate Herbal Whitening will combine two niche qualities popular in oral care: a whitening agent and the "natural" positioning intimated by the inclusion of herbal ingredients.

The concept is not necessarily novel as both Tom's of Maine and Den-Mat sell similar products, but C-P's lofty advertising spend, coupled with the name recognition enjoyed by the category leader, likely will help catapult the product into a healthy market position.

Tom's of Maine Homeopathic-Style Whitening Toothpaste and Natural Tartar Control & Whitening began hitting shelves in late May, while Rembrandt Extra Whitening Toothpaste Natural has been available since mid-1999 (¹ (Also see "Tom’s Of Maine Revamps Labeling, Adds Five Toothpaste Extensions" - HBW Insight, 25 Mar, 2002.), p. 7).

Joining the herbal toothpaste in C-P's on-deck circle are Irish Spring Icy Blast deodorant soap, Softsoap Floral Essentials body wash and Mennen Speed Stick 24/7 deodorant/antiperspirant, all of which are expected to start shipping in late 2002 or early 2003.

The Irish Spring item is a "new variant with an invigorating scent," Thompson told analysts. "Its crisp, cool fragrance, ice-blue marble look and high impact packaging capitalize on the fast-growing ice trend with consumers," she added.

C-P first delved into the "icy" theme just over a year ago with the launch of Colgate 2in1 Icy Blast Plus Whitening, an extension to the toothpaste/mouthwash combination (² (Also see "Colgate Softsoap Vitamins To Boost Personal Care Sales In Second Half" - HBW Insight, 30 Jul, 2001.), p. 5).

Mennen Speed Stick 24/7 will be positioned as a "high efficacy" antiperspirant/deodorant offering "non-stop protection" for younger men, Thompson reported.

Thompson also highlighted the introduction of Softsoap Foam Works, a foaming hand soap for children that began hitting shelves in September (³ (Also see "Colgate-Palmolive Moves Softsoap Into Aromatherapy Niche" - HBW Insight, 22 Jul, 2002.), p. 6).

The launch of Colgate Simply White gel helped drive North American volume and sales growth in the quarter. Unit volume jumped 10% in the U.S. and 8.5% in North America. Dollar sales rose a lower 5%, reflecting the "growth-oriented" promotional efforts in the period, and operating profit increased 11%.

According to Thompson, Simply White, which began shipping in late August, achieved 76% distribution by the end of Q3 and a 32.9% dollar share in the whitening category for September, based on A.C. Nielsen data. "For the last two weeks," the brand "posted a 48.1% share, establishing leadership in the segment," she added (⁴ (Also see "Colgate Enters Whitening Treatment Market With Lower-Priced Alternative" - HBW Insight, 13 May, 2002.), p. 5).

However, the North American volume growth was not solely due to Simply White, CEO Reuben Mark stressed, noting "good growth" of 6% in the personal care business and 3% in oral care during the period.

Colgate enjoyed strong unit volume progress in basically all its regions in Q3, including Europe (up 7%), Latin America (3.5%) and Asia/Africa (4.5%). Dollar sales rose 14% and 6% in Europe and Asia/Africa, respectively, and fell 10% in Latin America due to currency translation.

Net sales increased 3.5% to $2.38 bil. in the quarter, while gross profit margin gained 120 basis points to 54.7% and operating profit margin increased to 21.6%. Net income jumped 12% to $330.7 mil.