Toothpaste brands battle for market share

•Local products play second fiddle

By ADEBAYO OBAJEMU

Looking good in shining white teeth is without doubt one of the paraphernalia of personal branding. Keeping healthy teeth has thus become a kind of monomania for today’s working class and maintaining some physical wellness. This explains why satisfying this yearning has become a big business for toothpaste brands. With over 32 brands battling for market share in the country, the game has become upended.

Oral hygiene has never lost its appeal. The brands that flood the market today are the most effective in preventing oral disease and consumers can find pastes that do much more than just fight cavities. The toothpastes are many, as are their brand names.

There are pastes that are natural, and there are others that are not. Some brands that have been in the market over the years include Pepsodent and Close Up from Unilever Nigeria Plc, Macleans by Glaxosmithkline Nigeria Plc, MyMy from Daraju, Colgate from Colgate Palmolive, Oral-B from Procter and Gamble and Dabur from African Consumer Care Limited, AFCC, to mention but a few.

Each boasts of a strong war chest of operating brand assets (strong pedigree, good products, strong distribution network and heavy advertising and marketing support). What singles each out is the level of marketing creativity deployed to outwit each other in the market place. BusinessHallmark’s findings reveal that toothpastes are essentially the same thing, comparing ingredients in 15 toothpastes from brands such as Oral-B, Colgate, Macleans, Sensodyne etc.

The 13 adult toothpastes looked at showed little difference in their active ingredients. Even though many products over time have since altered their formulations or names slightly, the same principles apply.

“Regrettably, only 33 percent of Nigerians brush twice daily, 46 percent brush once, while 15 percent do not brush, and that was one of the unique campaign methods deployed by some of the brands to warm themselves into the heart of consumers”, Patrick Adeyanju, a brand expert with specialty in pharmaceuticals told this newspaper.

In this guise, toothpaste manufacturers have been trapped in a rivalry that has seen them at each other’s throat across Nigeria. According to Philip Kotler, a marketing professor, the challenger should not challenge the leader, but the threat by Oral-B has shown in the last eight years that the postulation by Kotler is no longer relevant, particularly where the challenger has the financial muscle, and required finesse to fight the leader.

“Dogs now eat the bone hung on their necks.” The new kid on the block, Oral-B, which barely launched into the Nigerian market in 2011 has been riding high in the market, while troubling its older and more established rivals. The brand is threatening dominance of the market with its popularity and wide acceptance.

Three years ago, Oral B celebrated its fifth anniversary in Nigeria, a promo that saw the brand give out N70million cash and recharge cards to consumers. In addition to the consumer promotion, the brand visited various communities in Nigeria to provide free dental checks to people through its Mobile Dental Clinic Programme, which currently reaches more than two million Nigerians annually.

According to the Brand Marketing Director, P&G Nigeria, Tolulope Adedeji, “over the past five years the brand has sponsored and partnered with government and private institutions to support oral hygiene for the average Nigerian.” In addition, she said, the brand has also received awards and recognition for quality toothpaste in Nigeria.

Toothpaste brands have similar Unique Selling Points, USP, but what sets them apart is the important strategic and tactical activity they must constantly engage in. BusinessHallmark investigations reveal that the gap between Oral-B and other toothpaste brands show a slim leadership margin, particularly for the leading brand. Of the 254 respondents interviewed, 90 used Oral-B daily, Close-up had 97 respondents, while 67 respondents switched between other brands and Oral-B depending on which was available for purchase at various points of sale.

The survey also showed that within the space of four years, Oral–B has achieved what other brands have built on overtime, reason being that it has built up affinity with consumers. The respondents, which included marketing researchers, believed that the other brand handlers need to dust up their advertising kits and introduce new campaigns to sustain top-of-the-mind awareness, just like Oral-B has pushed cavity fights forward to advance its cause.

According to them, P&G’s campaign to get consumers to increase their brushing frequency to twice a day gives the impression that the toothpaste market is saturated. Executive Director, Andre Marketing, Ozigwo Emmanuel, recommends that companies should do better to feature campaigns that would strengthen emotional bonds with consumers who despite their strong purchasing power lack emotional product attachments.

Close-Up vs. Oral-B

Many adult Nigerians today would remember that the choice of toothpaste some 20 years age was between Close up and Macleans. But things have since changed. In Nigeria, millions of people brush their teeth with different brands of toothpaste every day. The country’s large population size provides immense potentials for toothpaste manufacturers hoping to take their shares of the market. This explains why there are at least 30 different toothpaste brands available in the Nigerian market.

Out of the lot, we have chosen to compare Close-Up and Oral-B in this week’s battle of the substitutes.

History of Close-Up

Close-Up has had a long and successful history in Nigeria ever since its introduction in 1975 by Unilever, then Lever Brothers. Being the only brand in the market for many years – after Macleans beat a retreat as a result of SAP policy in the 1980s – enabled it to garner millions of loyal consumers. Today, the brand is still one of the biggest in the country, thanks to good marketing strategies and widespread distribution channels.

Also, Close-Up is constantly being enhanced through innovation in quality, even as it is given needful visibility through creative advertisements. All these have helped to sustain its success.

Close-Up Nigeria is part of a global, very successful brand of gel toothpaste available in North America (USA and Canada), as well as India, Sri Lanka, etc. In Nigeria, the toothpaste brand is still manufactured by Unilever Nigeria Plc.

Oral-B

Oral-B is relatively new in the market, having just been introduced in 2011. This makes it more than thirty years younger than Close-Up. Judging by its relative popularity and success however, it is almost difficult to believe that it has existed for barely a few years. Apparently, Oral-B is leveraging its quality standard and the impeccable track records of Procter & Gamble (its manufacturer) to ensure success.

Much like Close-Up, Oral-B is a global brand. In Nigeria, it is constantly undergoing modification and offering variants to consumers even as strategic advertisement is used to keep it visible.

Similarities

Virtually all toothpaste are composed of the same ingredients. What makes them unique, therefore, is the formulation, the packaging, and the marketing strategy utilised to sell the products’ benefits to the target audience. In this vein, both Close-Up and Oral-B are quality brands. According to Nneka Emmanuel who uses Oral-B and Close-Up;

“Both are good in terms of quality. Before the introduction of Oral-B, I used to only brush my teeth with Close-Up toothpaste. When Oral-B came and I tried it, I liked it immediately, just as much as I like Close-Up. So, I’ve been using both alternately ever since.”

Both brands are also manufactured by very reputable companies with good pedigrees. Procter & Gamble and Unilever are two of the biggest consumer goods producers in Nigeria, and indeed the world. For many years, they have been producing essential products that are used every day by Nigerians.

The products are also well-marketed. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons why Close-Up has remained relevant till date is because of the effective marketing strategy adopted by its manufacturer. Similarly, Oral-B was able to achieve astronomical growth, thanks in part to effective marketing.

Oral-B Pro health

Both Close-Up and Oral-B engage in relevant corporate social responsibility. Unilever is known to sponsor several youth programmes on university campuses during which it shares its products, specifically the different variants of Close-Up. Likewise, P&G regularly embarks on CSR missions, providing free dental checks to Nigerians.

Finally, both brands offer different tube sizes such as 140g, 140g x2, 140g x3, etc. All of these go for similar prices. In the same vein, the brands offer variants such as herbal, deep action, etc.

Differences

Aside from the fact that Close-Up is over thirty years older than Oral-B, other factors help to differentiate between them. These factors include taste, colour, and packaging. For instance, while Close-Up products are predominantly red (as the herbals), Oral-B is mostly turquoise blue. Same goes for their packaging.

Another difference between them is the fact that Close-Up has a 30g X2, sachet-packed product in the market. This helps Close-Up to reach consumers of different financial capacities. Oral-B currently does not have such an offering in the market.

Survey

From BusinessHallmark interactions with some toothpaste users in Lagos, it is obvious that not only is Close-Up still popular in the country, it is also widely used. Most of the respondents noted that they have literarily used Close-Up all their lives.

“Close-Up is the only toothpaste brand I’ve used all my life. I like the smell, the taste, the colour and the effect it has in my mouth. I also like the fact that the prices have remained consistently affordable. Also, they now offer variants of herbal and what-not. I like it.” said Tunde, a teacher resident in Lagos.

Others like Nneka Emmanuel said that they use Close-Up most of the time, but also alternate it with Oral-B, especially when they cannot easily access Close-Up.

Also, some others said that they switched completely from Close-Up to Oral-B because they think that the latter has more to offer.

“For many years, I used Close-Up. But after I came across Oral-B and tried it, I had to ditch Close-Up immediately. Today, my family and I use Oral-B. To be frank, Oral-B offers a greater advantage. That’s the only reason why it has done so well within the short time it’s been around” said Mrs Ajao, a banker.

Meanwhile, Mama Lateef, a neighbourhood convenient store owner in Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos said that although her customers buy both Close-Up and Oral-B, she typically runs out of the former first. Speaking further, she said that the reason for this is “…because Close-Up has been around for a long, long time and attracted a lot of fans, and also cheaper. I myself use only Close-Up, especially the herbal type.” From our investigation across many sales points in Lagos, Ilorin, Abuja and Ibadan, Close Up is still the market leader, closely followed by Oral B.