This presentation is a case analysis on Colgate-Palmolive Company: The Precision Toothbrush. It was made for a marketing internship under Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow.

1. C
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2. ACASEANALYSIS
by:
Ishan Chourey

3. OBJECTIVE OF CASE STUDY
 To study consumer behaviour towards toothbrush
market
 To study market competition faced by the Colgate
Precision Toothbrush
 To study marketing strategies that can be used to
position Precision Toothbrush.
 To study profits gained from adopting these strategies.

4. COLGATE-PALMOLIVE
Fact File
1. Started in 1804 by William, Colgate Palmolive is an international
consumer product such as household, health care and personal
products. Brands like Colgate, Palmolive Naturals, Brite etc.
2. In 1896, it sold the first toothpaste in tube – Colgate Ribbon Dental
Cream.
3. In 1991, Colgate-Palmolive had over $6 Bn sales, net profit of $2.76
Bn, making it a global leader in household and personal care
products .
4. Today, it spread across 190+ countries across the globe with public
listing in USA and India. Under the leadership of Ian M. Cook, it is
one of the global leaders in oral health products, with over 46%

5. 46%
21%
20%
13%
Global Market Share
Oral Care
Personal Care
Home Care
Pet Nutrition
Source: http://marketrealist.com/2015/07/much-market-share-colgates-leading-brands/

6. TheTaleofColgatePrecisionToothbrush
In 1992, Colgate-Palmolive introduced the Colgate Precision toothbrush. They were poised to launch this
new toothbrush
Triple Action
Brush Effect
Provide Gum
Protection
More Effective
Plaque
Removal

7. 1992ORALCAREMARKET
Toothbrush accounted for 15.5% of total Oral
health Market
Growth rate 9.3%/Annum

8. 1992
Value Segment
Super-Premium Segment
Professional Segment
• 24% of unit volume
• 12% of total sales
• Average price $1.29
• 35% of unit volume
• 46% of total sales
• Average price $2.29-$2.89
• 41% of unit volume
• 42% of total sales
• Average price $1.59-$2.09

10. STARPLAYERS-PRECISION TOOTHBRUSH
SUSAN STEINBURG – PRODUCT MANAGER
NIGEL BURTON - DIVISIONAL
GENERAL MANAGER
RUBEN MARK – CEO,
COLGATE-PALMOLIVE

11. WHYTHEDEMAND?
 US population is increasing on awe 1.23% annually
 Media Support and coupon promotions are increasing
rapidly
 Baby boomers becoming more health conscious and willing
to pay more for a toothbrush
 Increasing frequency of replacing a toothbrush over last few
years

12. CONSUMERBEHAVIOUR
To study the varying consumer behaviour, they were studied on three
activities
Types of Brushes consumed – Cosmetic, Therapeutic, Normal
Factors Considered Before
Purchasing New Toothbrush
Factors For Choice Of Brand

13. CONSUMERSEGMENTATION

14. FACTORSCONSIDEREDBEFOREPURCHASINGNEW
TOOTHBRUSH

15. FACTORSAFFECTINGCHOICEOFBRAND
FEATURES – BRISTLE TYPE, PLAQUE REMOVAL, SENSITIVE
GUM CLEANING
COMFORT – SOFT BRISTLES, EASY GRIP
PROFESSIONAL
RECOMMENDATION – DENTIST,
ORAL CARE EXPERT

16. MAKINGOFTHEPRECISION
In 1989, Colgate-Palmolive assembled a team to develop a new cutting
edge toothbrush to compete with the likes of Oral-B Indicator and P&G
Crescent
Team comprised of:
 Dental Professionals
 Marketing Experts
 Consultants and Focus Groups
To measure the success rate, 5 goals were established.

17. 5 Goals
1. Understanding the varying techniques consumers used when brushing their teeth.
• CONCLUSION :
Brushing was often ineffective at removing plaque from the gum line and between the teeth.
2. Testing the between-teeth access of different toothbrush designs.
• CONCLUSION:
CP’s new design was superior to both Oral-B and Reach in accessing front and back teeth,
using either horizontal or vertical brushing.
3. Establishing an index to score clinical plaque-removal efficacy at the gum line and between teeth.
• CONCLUSION:
Measured presence of plaque on each of the nine tooth areas. Then Calculation of percentages
of tooth areas affected by plaque pre- and post-usage of different brushes.
4. Creating a bristle configuration and handle design offering maximum plaque- removing efficacy.
• CONCLUSION:
Clinical trials established that the 3 similar newly designed products removed an average 35%
more plaque than other leading brushes and therefore helped to reduce the probability of
gum disease.
5. Determining, through clinical and consumer research, the efficacy and acceptance of the new
toothbrush design.
• CONCLUSION:
Product design and characteristics, marketing concept, and competitive strengths were tested.

18. COLGATE
PRECISION
DESIGN
BLUEPRINTS

19. LAUNCHINGSTRATEGY
TARGETING CONSUMERS
ENTERING MARKET
DISTRIBUTION

20. CONSUMERTARGETING
# Analysis Of Factors Affecting Brand Choice
Recommendation By Dentists
Comfort
Features
# Conclusion Of Analysis
Recommendation By Dentists
Comfort
Features

21. BRANDPOSITIONING
Colgate Precision Was Developed To Provide A High Quality
Toothbrush And To Capture Top Market Position.
POSITIONING
NICHE PRODUCT MAINSTREAM PRODUCT
To introduce Colgate Precision
as specialised product for gum
diseases
To introduce toothbrush as a
regular product for a larger
consumer appeal

22. NICHE POSITIONING
Increase In Volume Share From
3% To 5%
MAINSTREAM POSITIONING
Increase In Volume Share From
10% To
14.7%

23. PRODUCTIONCOST&PRICING
o Production contract was given to Anchor Brush, including the
manufacturing, warehousing and transportation.
o Precision’s manufacturing required three types of equipment’s:
o Steinberg decided that CP would establish a factory list price to the trade
of $2.13, a premium over Oral-B regular and at parity with Oral-B
Indicator.
o The mainstream strategy price would be $1.85, at parity with Oral-B
regular.

24. STINEBERG ESTIMATION OF COST AND PRICE DATA

25. BRANDING
Branding Colgate Precision was targeted in five steps:
Primary Strategic Target
Superiority Display
Budget
Advertisement Channel
Print Ads.

26. PRIMARY STRATEGIC TARGET
Segmentation
 Colgate Precision was targeted to Therapeutic users(46%) of
adults who searched functionally effective products
Demographical
 Approx. 76 million US citizen, baby bloomers and young adults.
Geographical
 23.3% Volume share across USA

27. BUDGET
An overall increase in 3:1, overall investment was $14.6 Million was
invested on Advertising, while $17.5 Million was consumer and trade
product budget.

28. Advertising and Promotion Expenditures for Colgate-Palmolive Toothbrushes:
1989-1992E ($ in thousands)

29. SUPERIORITY DISPLAY
“New Colgate Precision” provides 35%
more plaque removal than Oral-B &
Reach
Emphasise on statistical
superiority over other
brands

30. Product display
Point-of-sale
Display Racks
Increase product
visual to
customers

31. ADVERTISING CHANNEL
27%
19%
18%
18%
18%
ADVETISING CHANNEL
TV COMMERCIALS
MAGAZINE AD
RADIO
DENTIST
BILL BOARD

32. ADVERTISING TECHNIQUES INVOLVED
Free 5 Oz. tube
of Colgate
toothpaste with
every Colgate
Precision

33. COLGATE-PALMOLIVE TV ADS.

34. PRINT ADS.

36. After product development, four concept tests, conducted among 400 adult
professional brush users (Colgate Plus, Reach, and Oral-B users) 18 to 54
years of age, were run during 1990-1991.

37. Consumers were
exposed to various
product claims in
prototype print
advertisements and
then asked about the
likelihood that they
would purchase the
product.

38. DISTRIBUTION
SHORT TERM CHANNELS
• DRUGSTORES:
Increase in sales of mass
merchandises. More In-Store
promotion
• Food Stores:
43% of whole sales is gained from
here. A home for user it gradually
accept the product.
• Dentists ad Professionals:
Dentists promote and distribute
more Colgate Precision
toothbrushes
LONG TERM CHANNELS
• DRUGSTORES:
Attracts consumers with gum
diseases, Precision is most effective
for these
• Food Stores:
43% of whole sales is gained from
here. A home for user it gradually
accept the product.
• Dentists ad Professionals:
Dentists promote and distribute
more Colgate Precision
toothbrushes

39. SALESPERFORMANCE1989-1992E

40. Colgate-Palmolive Vs Other Major Brands 1991-1992E

41. ANALYSISOFCASE
• Results indicate that a claim that the toothbrush would prevent
gum disease motivated the greatest purchase intent among test
consumers.
• Additional consumer research, including in-home usage tests,
revealed that 55% of test consumers found Precision to be very
different from their current toothbrushes, and 77% claimed that
Precision was much more effective than their current toothbrush.
• Consumer research revealed that the more test consumers were
told about Precision and how it worked, the greater their
enthusiasm for the product.

42. PROBLEMSWITHCOLGATE-PRECISION
• The brush looked unusual and test participants sometimes had
mixed first impressions.
• A further problem was that the benefit of reduced gum disease
from extra plaque removal was difficult to translate into a
message with broad consumer appeal, since few consumers
acknowledged that they might have gum disease.

43. CASECONCLUSION
• Launching Precision tooth brush as a niche market product seems to yield
more benefits, hence it should also be priced accordingly.
• Initially, it should be priced at par with Oral-B’s Indicator toothbrush.
Considering the claims that the company makes for the Precision
toothbrush and also that it falls in the super-premium segment, this pricing
is optimal.
• Afterwards, when the company opts to convert it into a mainstream product,
then the price should be made at par with regular Oral-B product.
• Cannibalization of Colgate Plus should be taken care of.

50. Disclaimer
This Marketing Study is created by of
SRM University, Chennai, during a marketing internship
under IIM
Lucknow.
Ishan Chourey
Ishan Chourey
Prof. Sameer Mathur
Prof. Sameer Mathur