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 V  is an American
diversified multinational corporation focused on the
production, distribution and provision of household,
health care and personal products, such as soaps,
detergents, and oral hygiene products (including
toothpaste and toothbrushes). Under its "Hill's" brand,
it is also a manufacturer of veterinary products. The
company's corporate offices are on Park Avenue in
New York City, across from the Waldorf Astoria. In
India, it operates under the name as Colgate-
Palmolive (India) Limited and its head office is at
Mumbai.
 A


˜
, William Colgate, himself a soap and candle

maker, opened up a starch, soap, and candle factory
on Dutch Street in New York City under the name of
"William Colgate & Company". After his death, the
company was renamed as ³Colgate & Company´. In
˜ , Palmolive - Peet bought the Colgate Company
to create the Colgate ± Palmolive - Peet Company. In
˜ "Peet" was dropped from the title, leaving only
"Colgate - Palmolive Company", the current name.
 A

Colgate-Palmolive has long been in fierce competition
with Procter & Gamble, the world's largest soap and
detergent maker. In 

, Colgate sold the
underperforming brands Fab, Dynamo, Arctic Power,
ABC, Cold Power and Fresh Start, as well as the
license of the Ajax brand for laundry detergents in the
U.S, Canada and Puerto Rico, to Phoenix Brands, LLC
as part of their plan to focus on their higher margin
oral, personal, and pet care products.
In 

, Colgate-Palmolive announced the intended
acquisition of Tom's of Maine, a leading maker of
natural toothpaste, for US $˜

M. Tom's of Maine was
founded by Tom Chappell in ˜
.
 ›


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Colgate toothpaste products can be divided into segments catering to the
needs of the consumers. The following is the basic way of segmenting the
toothpaste products:

l V  V: It helps cleaning breath and guards teeth

from tooth decay. This is for the general people and for family use.

lV  : This product of Colgate has decay preventing

dentifrice, prevents gingivitis, reduce formation of plaque and tartar above
gum line. This is especially helpful for protecting teeth enamel and all round
protection of teeth. Focus of this product is upon the hygiene conscious
consumers and patients who are suffering from gum problems.

lV : This product prevents nerve ends; provide

effective relief from pain of sensitive teeth and gently whitens the gums.
This product targets the hygiene conscious customers and also the patients
who are suffering from serious teeth and gum problems.
 A


lV  : The gel properties of this product of

Colgate gives freshness along with protection. This product specially
targets the young generation who avoids bad breath and inculcate
the word ³ !"#""´.

lV $ : This product helps to prevent

tooth decay of the kids. This product is specially designed for the
kids.

lV  % : This product of Colgate has the

freshness which gives freshness and energy to the user and helps to
avoid bad breath. This product targets the young generation who
prefers freshness.
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lV &: This product contains herbal ingredients for
white teeth and freshness which removes bad breath and removes
plaque. This product is designed for the people who believe in
ayurvedic products and avoid using strong chemicals.

lV V&V %: This product is designed as a

complete family dental cream. The product targets all age groups and
all types of consumers, basically, the rural and township areas with low
per capita income as well as urban areas.

lV V : This product is popularly known as

everyday family toothpaste, combined with minty taste with a dash of
salt for a unique brushing experience. The product is designed for
individuals who trust natural element like salt as a tooth care
ingredient.




›
Colgate has the whole toothpaste market as its target market.
Being one of the oldest varieties of toothpaste, the V
 

V! has been marketed as a synonym for toothpaste. V

 
 claims to provide a ˜-hour protection from germs. Hence,
this variety of Colgate toothpaste is targeted at the educated, urban
people who brush their teeth twice. V
 ' !"#, with its
multiple flavours, seems to target the youth. It also associate
brands like iPod and sports like Kayaking with it through the means
of gifts / prizes which further enforces the belief that Colgate Max
Fresh is for the youth. V
 $ (" toothpaste is clearly, as even
the name suggests, targeted at kids. The advertisements and
packing of the toothpaste further suggests that it is meant
specifically for the smaller kids.
 A

V
 !"# ! 
is clearly aimed at the youth. Its sleek
toothpaste cover and the picture of a young couple on it
unambiguously emphasize this point. V
 !)
targets the
traditional and the naturalist market which is pretty apparent from
the name as well as the tagline ³›
    
 
 

´ and the use of 

 as the central character in its
advertisements. V
 (
*( +#   specifically targets
people with plague problems as the toothpaste claims to provide
whiter teeth within ˜ days. V
 *
 
 toothpaste targets
customers with orthodox thinking who believe that salt is good for
teeth. V
 V )* is a product for the economy segment. The
target market is basically the rural and township areas with low per
capita income as well as urban areas.
 p›?
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Colgate Dental Cream positions itself as toothpaste that has the necessary
calcium and minerals to provide decay protection, strong teeth, germ
protection and fresher breath. Lately, with competition from indigenous
³vegetarian´ toothpastes, Colgate Dental Cream has also positioned itself as
an ³ 
 ´ toothpaste. The tagline of is advertisements,
³
       ´, clearly aims to position
the Dental Cream as a toothpaste that has been used over generations and
hence creating a kind of emotional attachment with the toothpaste. Colgate
Total ˜ have been projected as the ³ 
 
´ that
provides ˜ hour germ protection even after eating and drinking by building a
protective shield around the teeth. It also tries to position itself higher in terms
of reliability of its claims by telling the consumers that its formula is a patented
one and the toothpaste is the most recommended one by the dentists.
Colgate Max Fresh positions itself on the basis of ³ !"#""´. The tagline ³
    ´ brings home this very point. Colgate Kids
Toothpaste tries to position itself based on emotions which is apparent in its
tagline ³  
 ´.
 A

It also provides the names of familiar *!  *#!*!"
, - (
&." &. to the various flavors that it markets and hence associating
the tastes with the feelings of kids towards these cartoon characters.
Colgate Fresh Energy Gel, as the name itself suggests, basis its marketing
strategy on the toothpaste providing ³ !"#""´. It positions itself as a
³
´ (note that here it tries to differentiate itself from a toothpaste) for fresh
breath and strong / white teeth. The emotional positioning of Colgate Fresh
Energy Gel is implicit by the way of the
   

 on the
toothpaste pack and in the advertisements. It obviously wants to  

           

   
.
Colgate Herbal positions itself based on basically only one attribute, i.e.
 . The Colgate Cibaca Family Protection toothpaste positions
itself in a very standard way by claiming to
   
  . Colgate Advanced Whitening toothpaste has a very 

 as it is very focused on specific attributes like 

  
       

 . The Colgate Active Salt toothpaste positions itself alongside the

other toothpastes that claim to fight gums and result in healthy gums and
teeth.

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ƒarious &!(" of Colgate toothpaste are as follows:

ÚColgate Dental Cream

ÚColgate Total ˜
ÚColgate Sensitive
ÚColgate Max Fresh
ÚColgate Kids Toothpaste
ÚColgate Fresh Energy Gel
ÚColgate Herbal
ÚColgate Cibaca Family Protection
ÚColgate Active Salt
ƒARIOUS TYPES COLGATE TOOTHPASTE
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Colgate is sold over almost all the retail outlets of India
viz., Ô
 stores, supermarkets, medical shops, co-
operative stores, etc. It is well-distributed through the
supply chain of company distributors to wholesalers to
retailers to final consumers. All the products are
available in the all-India market, including semi-urban
and rural markets which are their primary focus areas.

But the various varieties of Colgate are not so easily

available other than in the oral care outlets or super
markets. The small tubes of Colgate are also available in
small road-side shops and from the vendors.
 p
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Colgate normally gives out small product samples at
annual events like ³Oral Health month´ to remind target
consumers, especially kids to take better care of their
teeth after eating sweets. This method does not drive
strong results as most consumers tend to forget the
message, even if they have collected the samples. Now,
instead of giving away product samples, Ice cream and
cotton candy were given out. The stick carrying the ice
cream and cotton candy carries a hidden message.
Once consumers are done the message printed on the
tip of the stick shaped like a toothbrush reveals ³Don¶t
forget´ with the Colgate logo. This simple message
effectively reminded consumers to brush their teeth.
 A

Advertising of Colgate products is basically done through television
commercials. Famous personalities like Sunny Deol, ƒiveik Oberoi,
ƒirendar Sehwag, etc. had been associated with this brand in past
for a quite a long time. Sales promotion is not done at the retailer
level, apart from possible recommendation by the shopkeeper.

The company has backed its products with a very strong distribution
network. The company¶s distribution network covers 
direct
accounts and . million retail outlets. Colgate is the nd most
widely distributed product in the country. The company is tying up
with initiatives like EChoupal and Disha to further strengthen its
distribution network.

Over the years, Colgate has been able to develop strong brand
equity. It has been voted the ³The Most Trusted Brand´ in the country
for  consecutive years in the AC Nielsen Brand Equity Survey.
?
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As per estimates, ˜. of the total world population lives

in rural India. Currently, only a small portion of region has
been tapped. Although, expansion in rural areas requires
huge investments, it is a market that cannot be overlooked
and has huge potential. In India, urban per capita
consumption is ˜ gms whereas rural consumption is a
mere  gms.
V   
The company has been facing immense competition from organised
as well as unorganised players. In the late ˜
s, Hindustan Lever
used the novelty element in gel toothpaste to make steady inroads
into Colgate's dominance in the oral care market. Its gel toothpaste,
Close-Up helped HLL become the second largest paste brand;
posing a stiff challenge to Colgate. However as the novelty of gel
toothpastes wore off, HLL renewed focus on its other brand
Pepsodent to help it protect its turf. Its attempt at offering a low priced
brand Aim was not completed and the brand was subsequently pulled
back after launching it in early 


. Both Close Up and Pepsodent
have a combined market share of 
The current brands offer
distinct propositions; Close Up addresses the youth with new benefits
and value-driven propositions, whereas Pepsodent is firmly
entrenched on the family health platform with variants catering to oral
health.
V *!"
The company has high reliance on a single category (Oral Care),
which accounts for  of its sales and  of its profits. A large
part of the company's product folio consists of premium products,
which do not have a large potential market in India. This is evident
as new launches by the parent in India have been much lower than
other markets. Colgate cut prices of its products. The company has
been able to increase its margins by continuously cutting advertising
expenses, which cannot go below a certain point, owing to its single
product dependence.

In conclusion, the company is likely to see continued bottom line

expansion over the next one year owing to tax benefits and
operating leverage but revenue growth will remain challenging. As
of now, Colgate is not among our top picks in the FMCG space.
  ›?
India is still a nascent country in dental hygiene, with the majority
of the population still not having access to modern dental care
but relying on substances like coal ash and neem sticks. As the
penetration level of the rural segment is at a low of 
percent,
this means that only 

million of our 
million rural
population use toothpaste. In India, per capita toothpaste
consumption stood at g in 

, which is amongst the lowest
in the world, compared to 
g and 

g in Malaysia and
ƒietnam respectively. Toothpaste enjoys a country wide
penetration level of 
. The penetration levels of dentifrice in
the country have been on an upward trend over the last few
years driven by strong improvements in toothpaste penetration.
With the huge consumer base waiting to be tapped and the
expected rise in purchasing power as the economy picks up, oral
hygiene in India may receive a fresh lease of life.

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