With oral care proving to be one of the best protected categories in the personal care industry under the current economic conditions, the big players want to take advantage of the situation.
GSK has announced a 3 per cent increase in its 2008 turnover at constant rates to £24.35bn, leaving a net profit after restructuring of £4.71bn – down 15.44 per cent.
Oral care leads the way
One of the driving forces behind the increased sales was the company’s oral healthcare division, with a healthy 6 percent growth to £1.24bn during 2008, highlighted by a 12 percent increase in sales of its Sensodyne brand to £363m.
The company’s leading oral care brand, Aquafresh registered a sales increase of 3 per cent to £452m in 2008, while its dental healthcare category registered growth of 8 per cent to reach £271m.
The company is hoping to further develop its oral care portfolio and the performance of the division in 2009 by focusing on its Sensodyne, Macleans and Aquafresh brands, with specific campaigns that will target individual markets.
Raft of new oral care launches
In the UK, for example, the company is launching a range of new Aquafresh vibrating toothbrushes and extending the brand’s Iso-active toothpaste range, a Macleans gel-to-foam toothpaste and is also bringing the Iso-active technology to the Sensodyne toothpaste range.
“We are looking at new product offerings that focus on volume opportunities,” said GSK CEO Andrew Witty.
“Our strategy is to maintain levels of A&P investment to drive growth in market share and innovate our brands and ensure our value for money proposition remains as strong as ever.
Putting the pressure on Colgate
GSK aims to put the pressure on the leading global oral care player, and in turn its main competitor, Colgate-Palmolive, during the course of 2009.
In 2008 Colgate-Palmolive bucked otherwise gloomy results in the personal sector, announcing that sales grew by 11 per cent to $15.32bn, backed by an increase in net profits of 13 per cent to $1.95bn – a result that was mainly driven by the company’s oral care division.
Although Colgate-Palmolive remains the undisputed market leader in the oral care category, in recent years GSK has been successful at growing its oral care revenues at a faster pace than its competitor.