FREE ESSAY ON INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

International Marketing
Proctor & Gamble originated in 1837, when William Proctor and James Gamble formed a
partnership in Cincinnati, Ohio. The partnership flourished making the company a gaining
name as principled manufacturer of high quality consumer goods sold at competitive
prices. By 1992 Proctor & Gamble was a multinational company with annual sales of almost
$30 billion profits exceeding $1.8 billion, and a reputation for quality products, high
integrity, strong marketing, and conservative management. When P&G grew they became more
and more interested in foreign markets. In 1992 they had sold their products in more than
140 countries around the world. 
In 1991 P&G after being satisfied with their success with Charmin Bounty and Puffs they
decided they wanted to expand their business to foreign lands. They decided that Canada
was the best and most logical choice to make that first step because of its location and
free trade between Canada and the U.S. In 1991 P&G found that Canadian Pacific Product
Company, a large paper company was prepared to see Facelle Paper Products, it's tissue
division. Facelle was a medium sized manufacturer and marketer of tissue, towel and
sanitary products. So for 185 million P&G bought the Facelle Co.
Proctor & Gamble had to consider many things when entering the market in Canada. Tissue
products were inexpensive, widely used and were frequently purchased (on average once
every two weeks.) Brand switching was high and the risks with product failure were low.
The only thing that manufacturers had to worry about was to differentiate their products
on performance to build loyalty. Retailers felt that the paper was a low profit, low
loyalty category. They used it primarily to draw consumers into their stores. 
Royale had been the only 3ply tissue on the market, and was viewed as the traditional
strong, premium quality facial tissue. Florelle was a 2ply tissue that had received
little promotional attention. It lost most of its market share in 1991 and was down 5.8%
at the beginning of 92. Other competing brands of tissue were Kimberly Clark with their
Kleenex brand, which had a very good year in 1991. Scott tissue who at first fell a few
shares due to loss of trade support, but relaunched their brand in September 1991,
positioning it as a product with high content of recycle material, and supporting it with
heavy advertising. Irving and all others had average an average year. 
Brand Image for Royale based upon it's premium positioning, historically unique 3ply
product design and its softness claim, and had built the leading brand image in the
product category. Brand users gave Royale an overall score of 85 on a scale of 100,
marginally superior to Kleenex. Even though Royal enjoyed a very favorable overall brand
image, they were lacking on thing that would make their product do even better. Knowledge
about the brand was not as high as they would have liked. Many people who used it didn't
even know that it was a 3ply tissue rather than a 2ply. This brand image did not
translate to market share. Royale was used as a part-time brand that was bought on
feature or specifically for cold care, but seldom for regular usage around the household.
Also Royale's price exceeded Kleenex's by more than $.20 when Kleenex dropped to $0.79
after the introduction of Kleenex's 150's. 
Florelle a standard 2ply tissue brand offered specialty sizes (pocket packs, man-size,
and cube format). P&G felt the need to upgrade the softness of Facelle tissue by adding
eucalyptus fibre and sacrificing some tissue strength since Facelle was one of the
strongest tissues on the market. The one problem with the upgrade was deciding whether to
keep the product name of Facelle and just say it is better, or change it to Royal some
how distinguishing the 3ply from the 2ply. They decided to introduce the product under
the name Puffs. Puffs, which had been successfully launched in the U.S twenty years ago,
not yet introduced in Canada, would still do well due to 
Advertising spills from the U.S. 
Proctor and Gambles results to the research regarding consumer perception of Royale and
Facelle were not good. Even though Royale was one of the leading brands in quality it was
not the preferred tissue. It was only bought when people were sick or if the product was
on sale. The brand had few loyal customers who would by the product to be used around the
house. Facelle was one of the strongest tissues for just being a 2ply. The only problem
P&G found was that it was not as soft as they would like. They decided to change some
ingredients and take away some of the strength to make the tissue softer. They felt the
need to rename it after a product that had been in the United States for many years,
Puffs. 
The Royale tissue is a good quality tissue. The only problem is getting people to buy it
on a regular basis. P&G may need to rename the product into the Puffs family or find a
better way of getting people to purchase the product more often. Facelle was almost a
no-name brand before they named it into the Puffs family. It was a high quality tissue
but just didn't have the exposure. I think it was as smart move on P&G's part to rename
Facelle Puffs. I think that is what they may need to do for the Royale product if they
can't get more consumers to buy the product on a regular basis. 
Bibliography
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