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P&G Overhauls Pantene Inside and Out
Procter & Gamble Co. is throwing a life preserver to the floundering hair care category with the May overhaul of its $3 billion global Pantene brand.
As the world's largest hair care brand, Pantene accounts for 13.1 percent of the food, drug and mass market dollar share (excluding Wal-Mart), making it the industry driver. Retailers and competitors alike are counting on the P&G powerhouse to drive some excitement into the flat-to-down category.
The planned reinvention of Pantene is part of P&G's previously announced crusade to boost innovation by 30 percent in core corporate categories and markets. The overhaul aims to yield more colorful shampoo and conditioner containers and metallic styling bottles, and will slash the stockkeeping unit count by 25 percent (165 pieces to 120) and product collections by 61 percent (14 collections to eight) to make shopping the cluttered hair care aisle and the brand more simple. Also of note is Pantene's change in approach to developing products, from one that for the past 10 years was based on helping women achieve a desired end look to one that will target four distinct hair types (medium-thick, fine, color-treated and curly). Styling products will for the first time be merchandised alongside hair care, too.
The result, said Bob McDonald, chief executive officer of P&G at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference Feb. 18, is a new line of Pantene products not only much better than before, but also cheaper. New formulas include 13 new ingredients never used before by Pantene, including several new, what we call, smart polymers created in partnership with our external suppliers and academic institutions. We've cut the cost of the polymers roughly in half, saving over $50 million a year. The savings were reinvested to improve other product attributes including perfumes and packaging.
The project reflects P&G's commitment to boost innovation in core brands and that for Pantene, better and cheaper is an innovation strategy. Consumers demand value and value comes in product performance and price, said Craig Bahner, P&G's vice president and general manager, North America Hair Care and Color.
Perhaps most important is how the overhaul looks to impact the shopping experience.