Marketing professionals emphasize on creating, maintaining, protecting, and enhancing brands. There are four stages in life of any product i. e. Introduction, Growth, Maturity and Decline. The same stages also faced by COLGATE Toothpaste brand. This research is an endeavor in the direction to find out what business strategies did Colgate adopted and how has it reached and maintained its brand name and market share till date. For the study secondary data has been used which was collected by other researchers and data collecting firms and from company itself.
In 1806, William Colgate introduced starch, soap and candle factory on Dutch Street in New York City under the name of “William Colgate & Company”. In 1857, William Colgate died and the company was reorganized as “Colgate & Company” under the management of Samuel Colgate, his son. In 1873, the firm introduced its first toothpaste, aromatic toothpaste sold in jars. His company sold the first toothpaste in a tube, Colgate Ribbon Dental Cream, in 1896. In 1928, Palmolive-Peet bought the Colgate Company to create the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company.
In 1953 “Peet” was dropped from the title, leaving only “Colgate-Palmolive Company”, the current name. Today Colgate has numerous subsidiary organizations spanning 200 countries, but it is publicly listed in only two, the United States and India. Colgate has been ranked as India’s #1 Most Trusted Brand across all categories for four consecutive years from 2003 to 2007. It has 51% market share in the toothpaste segment, 48% market share in the toothpowder market, 30% share in the toothbrush market. Presently it is facing competition from no. 2 player HUL.
E. g. Pepsodant. Colgate is the world market leader in oral hygiene products. The toothpaste product line consists of strong brands. This is due to a very successful marketing strategy of the company in the past. But especially in a competitive environment like the personal care industry it is essential for Colgate that it upgrades its organizational as well as marketing strategies in order to meet the customers’ needs and strengthening the leadership. Furthermore now a day a wide range of different toothpaste products is offered to the customers.
This in particular means for Colgate that they must differentiate their products from the competitor’s products by being innovative and unique. Moreover the toothpaste market is growing constantly which means that more different needs and expectations of the customers will rise. Therefore Colgate must make use of marketing tools such as market segmentation to better identify their needs in order to supply them with the right products. The Scope of the study has been the Indian consumer’s preference for Colgate products.
This includes consumers of all age group, income groups, and people residing both in rural areas and urban areas. The various data collection been previously done has been used here to analyze the branding strategies of Colgate, which has been done by various magazines and newspaper analyst. The main objective of this study is to analyze Colgate product life cycle. This is to find out what strategies it has implemented to increase and maintain its market share in India. How has it positioned its brand name in minds of consumers? To study its’ marketing mix.
And last but not the least what strategies helped it to rise again after losing its no. 1 position in Indian market. Personal Biasness: The following research has been made from secondary data which might be affected from researcher’s biasness. Authenticity: Further the data and analysis has no valid authentification. As there is no valid identity of the analysts. The aim is a complete and detailed description of what has been observed and analyzed from marketing mix of Colgate. And effect of its sales in the overall growth of the company. Fig. 1. ten year sales Fig. . current market share of Colgate in India * 51% market share in the toothpaste segment. * 48% market share in the toothpowder market. * 30% share in the toothbrush market. MARKETING MIX OF COLGATE 1. PRODUCT: * They try to position some innovative toothpaste with a brand name other than Colgate but under the umbrella of Colgate Palmolive. * Focusing toward rural rich and consuming class by endorsing the development of ‘Colgate Ayurvedic Toothpowder‘.
* They would come up sachets of these tooth powder and position toward rural population who buy in smaller lots. For Urban population, they would come up with the products suiting to young generation. * For Urban rich and consuming class, they would come up with the products on the basis of functional benefits. 2. PRICE: * Based on the competitor’s price. * Charging higher premium which focused on consuming and lower income classes. * Pricing done on the basis of price points * Packaging would be customized on the basis of price points. 3. PROMOTION: * They positioning Colgate dental white creme and toothpowder towards rural rich segment. * For rural consuming class they endorsing Cibaca toothpaste. Advertisement through T. V. media, Print media. * FM Radio for Urban population & MW and SW radio for Rural population. * Hoarding on National highways. 4. PLACE: * They would try to increase product penetration to rural population. * They would try to increase the wholesalers to smaller towns. * They would track the distribution path so that they are covering all the village areas around the town Colgate has developed a powerful Branding Strategy which has significantly helped the Brand in acquiring substantial amount of share in the oral care market of India.
In order to strengthen its’ Brand Identity, Colgate is still restructuring its Branding Strategy. Colgate Branding Strategy was strong enough to position the company as a major brand in the oral care market of India. The brand Colgate emerged as a market leader as it bagged considerable amount of market share in all the segments of oral care market like toothpaste segment, tooth powder segment and toothpaste segment. Colgate has succeeded in establishing its Brand Image and gaining substantial market share in spite of facing tough competition from the brands like Hindustan Liver, Babool and Anchor.
Still the Brand Colgate is continuously updating and improving its’ strategy in order to strengthen its’ Brand Name and Identity. In 2008 when this toothpaste brand lost its place at the very top of the charts that too after four years of absolute domination. . But four years is a long time – time during which Colgate never once relinquished the No 2 spot. And with the right moves and thanks to a few mistakes by the other contender, it has led to the opportunity of a new reign for brand Colgate. But how do they do it?
The initiatives like Oral Health Month which started in 2004 in partnership with the Indian Dental Association (IDA). And to programmes like Colgate’s Bright Smiles, Bright Futures initiative that has reached over 95 million school children. Its goal is to educate kids about basic oral care; for instance, why it is important to brush twice daily. But for now, the biggest challenge of course has been and will be the task of making Colgate products available in millions of outlets across the length and breadth of the country and that is absolutely critical.
Therefore, the company works closely with thousands of small shop owners and local wholesalers to ensure greater availability of its products everywhere. Colgate is one of the most widely distributed brands in India and is accessible across all price points. ” So, there’s Colgate Total at a little over Rs 70 for a 150gm tube which is positioned as the most advanced toothpaste for consumers. And then there’s Colgate dental cream that’s available in packs of Rs 5 and `10, and one rupee toothpowder sachets.
Furthermore, constant innovation in products and communication has been at the heart of their growth strategy. For instance, Colgate Active Salt toothpaste is built on the traditional insight that salt is good for oral care. Over the years the company has refined its communication strategy making it a multiple pronged approach too. Some of the significant mass media initiatives were the recently featured 1947 reprint of The Times of India on Independence Day advertising Colgate Sensitive Pro-relief, and a limited edition night newspaper in Andhra Pradesh to spread awareness about night brushing.
Thus from this study it can be concluded that Colgate has been overall successful in reaching to top position and capable to maintain its market share and gaining its position back from its’ competitors. With its strong branding strategies it has emerged as the strongest brand in India. With heavy advertisement and promotional expenditures it has developed a strong withhold in consumer’s mind i. e. 33% familiarity of its product in the market. And better distribution of its products has made it available to all rural and urban areas.
In order to maintain it the company may comprise the following strategies: * For maintaining the Brand Equity in the market, which requires new product development, it may give emphasis on R&D projects. * To reach to the rich and consuming customers of rural India by introducing some ayurvedic Oral Care products. * It should launch specific oral care products for different age groups. * It should also plan to customize its packaging techniques,based on price points. This in a way will establish a new pricing strategy. 1. Google search engine 2. Colgate website 3. Times of India-article
