Brand Failures

Extension failures 85
‘No toothpaste should have more stock-keeping units than teeth in
one’s mouth,’ we responded.
Although for some time Procter & Gamble kept on repeating the misguided
Crest strategy – launch more brands, lose more market share – the company
eventually decided to tackle the problem it had created.
An article entitled, ‘Make it Simple’, Business Week magazine (9 September
1996) summed up the decisive shift within Procter & Gamble: ‘After decades
of spinning out new-and-improved this, lemon-freshened that, and extrajumbo-size
the other thing, Procter & Gamble has decided that it sells too
many different kinds of stuff. Now it has started to do the unthinkable: it’s
cutting back. Procter’s product roster is a third shorter today than it was at
the start of the decade.’
Before it cut the number of Crest products, Procter & Gamble trimmed
back on hair care. Having slashed the number of its hair care items in half it
saw an increase in sales. However, according to Procter & Gamble’s chief
executive of hair care Robert S Matteucci, the strategy was unpopular at first:
‘The moves met some resistance from Procter & Gamble’s brand honchos who
thought, “Oh my God, we’re going to lose sales because we’re going to have
fewer items,”’ he said at the time the decision to trim back was made. ‘There’s
a huge scepticism that this is the right thing to do, and that it’s doable.’
As well as reducing the number of Crest toothpaste varieties, Procter &
Gamble also altered the Crest package design to make it simpler to find your
favourite version of the product. The move was considered an intelligent one
among marketing experts. In a 1998 Ithaca American Demographics survey,
Marcia Mogelonsky applauded the new strategy: ‘This reduces the number
of extraneous sizes, flavours, and other variants, making it easier for consumers
to find what they want. At the same time, the manufacturer can have
more of its allotted space in the store filled with its best-selling products.
Shoppers have less choice, but they are less confused, and the manufacturer
makes more money.’
However, competition remains tough. Not only from Colgate, but also
Aquafresh, Mentadent, Arm and Hammer, Sensodyne and own-brand ranges
such as those produced by the UK chemist Boots.
Although Procter & Gamble has simplified the Crest range to some degree,
and although sales have improved, some believe it isn’t enough to usurp
Colgate. Furthermore, although Procter & Gamble has honed its range,
some critics claim that Crest’s brand identity is still not sharp enough and