Industrial Overview: Toothpaste Industry

There is monopolistic competition in toothpaste industry. Several different brands with several attractive attributes are available to the consumers. Some toothpaste brands give cavity protection to the user, other brands focus on strengthen gums and still others claim whitening of teeth and fresher breath to the user. There are even toothpastes available in the market that ensures protection against bacterial diseases. In short every type of toothpaste is available in the market for the consumer as for as their dental health is concerned.

Substitutes are available to the user in the toothpaste market. Whether they are focusing on cavity protection, tooth decay, shinny and attractive teeth, fresher breath, strengthen gums or also help for sensitive teeth. Because there are so many brands and varieties are available in the market to choose from it and it depends how the brands create their USP in the mind set of the consumer.

The competition present in the market is a consideration for the toothpaste companies. No doubt if a new brand is launched in the market, it would have no market share to affect sales and if the newly launched brand has higher price than the existing brands, it will shrink sales. In order to increase market shares and higher sales, companies must come with the brand that has some features that are not already available in the market and focus on those factors which are not already explored in the existing market. This will help increase in USP of brand.

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Advertising and promotional campaigns of the innovative features of the brand are helpful for a company to enter in the existing market and increase customer base. By promoting a new brand companies focus on USP which gives them competitive edge over other companies in the market and sets the unique features of brand in the mindset of the consumers.

(www.oppapers.com)

Competitive Analysis of Pakistan Toothpaste Industry:

The tooth paste industry of Pakistan is very competitive and 15-20 brands are available in the market. There are also foreign smuggled brands in the market that influence the market share. Major players and the focus of researchers in the Pakistani market are Colgate-Palmolive, Unilever, Procter and Gamble and GlaxoSmithKline. But the market leader is Colgate-Palmolive. There is a fierce competition among these different companies and this result in the continuous growth of the new products with new and innovative features including fresheners, mouth washes and gel toothpaste. This shows how the companies are targeting different market segments and increasing their USP that too in such a harsh competition. In the last few years, promotional activities with innovative campaigns have increased the awareness about the oral care and this has given a chance to the companies to make their innovative features a success, by introducing new and innovative products in the oral care market. Because of this competition in the Pakistani market the companies have shown extensive growth in the oral care and dental health market.

The researcher focuses on different competitors and available segment in the Pakistani toothpaste market and how different brands use these segments to position their products to develop their USP.

(www.oppapers.com)

Toothpaste advertisement in Pakistan:

Pakistani oral care market has seen mushroom growth of various toothpaste bands in recent times. Business expansion, increased customer base and increased profits are the major outcomes of this growth. To increase their sales, Oral care companies are using different tricks like Ads, seminars, campaigns and other promotional activities.

Colgate and Close-Up are renowned for their unique and innovative advertisements. Usually close-up targets youngsters and by launching ads full of excitement and energy. This helps to position the brand among the youth. Colgate targets almost all segments of oral care market.

Some companies use deceptive and unethical advertisements like “Elaj ki kya zaroorat hay” and “Home Dentist”. This disinformation can cause serious health issues to innocent users because some users perceive the toothpaste performing the same functions which are shown in the Ads.

Toothpaste brands are advertised in all over the world after the approval from the National Dental Association. The NDA ensures the companies keeping and maintaining all quality standards related to manufacturing, packaging, ingredients and correct formulation of products which are not harmful for the consumers. But

unluckily, this practice is not being followed in Pakistan. The Pakistan Dental Association is trying its maximum to ensure the implementation of the quality standards.

The researcher emphasizes on the advertisements of the quality products. The oral care products that are not up to the mark of quality standard should not be allowed by the advertising association and the media. Similarly misleading and unethical advertisements should not be allowed. The researcher advises the consumers not to use those brands of toothpaste which are not certified by the Pakistan Dental Association as using them can cause serious health problems to them.

(DR KAMRAN A. VASFY, www.dawn.com)

Potentially harmful ingredients

There are 15-20 local and imported brands in Pakistani oral care market which are being used by millions of people. Consumers don’t have full knowledge about the harmful ingredients present in the product they are using. Misleading and unethical advertisements are the main source of this less awareness. Apart from that there are number of imported brands available in the market which are not properly advertised and consumers have a less knowledge about the quality of those brands. According to a health-conscious consumer before using a typical brand its overall toxicity level and possible effects on oral hygiene and health, must be known to the user.

Federal and provincial health authorities of Pakistan were required to keep an eye on the quality of the consumer products that may cause a threat to consumer health. The authorities were required to make sure that printed ingredients are actually present in the brand. Ingredients printed on the packaging give the idea to the consumer that there are no harmful ingredients present in the brand. This will help consumer to use the brand with satisfaction and on the other hand it will increase customer base as well.

Dr A. Naqvi, A qualified dentist, has suggested to federal government should make ensure that the oral hygiene products doesn’t contain any toxic and harmful ingredients and then they allowed to advertised their brands, because there are few brands which are marketed with false claims. The consumer should aware of all the pharmaceutical properties and active ingredients of the products which are used in oral care health. This practice is already used in developed countries and also need to explore in Pakistan.

(www.dawn.com)

Look at Pakistan Toothpaste Market

The toothpaste market in Pakistan is around 7 billion rupees while the tooth brush and mouth wash markets are 300 million and 85 million rupees respectively. The oral care market in Pakistan has increased between 2002-2007; growth rate is average annual rate of 3.4%.The leading company in 2009 was Colgate-Palmolive Company. The second-largest company was GlaxoSmithKline Plc with Unilever in third place Oral Care. Colgate’s most familiar yield in oral care includes Colgate-brand toothpaste, dental floss, toothbrushes and mouth rinses. By the end of 2008, the company had a 44.8% global market share with its flagship toothpaste product line. Growth in this product line is highly due to innovation and more and extensive use of technology. Pharmaceutical products are also produced by Colgate for dentists and other oral care experts.

(www.scribed.com)

Gillani Research Foundation survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan, more than 72% of all Pakistanis use toothpaste for dental care followed by Miswak (18%) and Manjan Powder(9%). Amongst those who are against the use of tooth paste, majority of them (27%) claim that toothpaste is an expensive product, 25% of them say that there is no specific reason for the use of tooth paste, 17% are of the view that tooth paste does not clean teeth properly. 22% gave their opinion that they use Miswak instead because it is cheaper and 6% said that their teeth cleaning method (i.e Miswak) is a Sunnat (practiced and promoted by the Prophet sws).A sample of men and women from across the country were state formally a list of oral care methods and were asked “Which of these do you use for cleaning your teeth?”

The results showed that majority (72%) like to use toothpaste and the remaining 18% claimed to use Miswak and 9 percent said they use Manjan Powder.It is seen that a relatively higher %age of people in rural area use Manjan Powder and Miswak as compared to those who live in urban areas who mostly prefer using toothpaste. The data also showed that the usage of toothpaste is higher in the higher income groups. Interestingly a higher percentage of men (22%) and women (16%) use Miswak to clean their teeth.

“Which of these do you use for cleaning your teeth?”

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The latest investigation showed that among a sample of 2754 men and women in villages and cities of all four provinces of the Pakistan, during June 2009. Error margin is approximately + 2-3 % at 95% confidence level.

(Gillani Research, www.gallup.com.pk)

A survey of Pakistan’s metropolitan population gives the results that the toothpaste users in Pakistan are 78%. But Gallup Pakistan survey shows that the Miswak users are 12%. There are also people who use Manjan; their percentage is as low as 4 percent. Manjan is actually a powder which is used and applied with fingers. Most of the people clean their teeth once in a day but about 13% say that they clean their teeth twice a day.

Miswak can’t be said as an ordinary tooth-cleaning device yet its gaining the importance. Survey that was held last year showed that only 9% users of Miswak were there but now it has risen by 4% that in the presence of some strong toothpaste brands in the market.

(www.dailytimes.com.pk)