Product details

P&G was the largest consumer products company in China with annual revenue of around US$ 68.2 billion. In 1985, P&G made its entry into the Chinese market. Initially, the company rolled out products with no prior knowledge of cultural and regional disparities obtaining in the country. As a result, the initial product launches were not welcomed by the consumers. P&G researched on the reasons for failure and came up with products that suited the needs of the local consumers. Thereafter, over the years, P&G launched new products and held marketing campaigns to promote the newly launched brands. P&G’s brands like Pampers, Head & Shoulders, Crest etc, started becoming popular among the Chinese consumers. Over the years, China witnessed changing dynamics in the marketplace. The marketers in China observed that a new category of upper middle class consumers had emerged, which had higher disposable incomes and were ready to spend money on online purchases. In order to fulfil the emerging needs of such customers, P&G established a manufacturing unit in China. Setting up a new unit was like creating an edge over the rival Unilever. With the new set up, P&G would be able to roll out new products and also reduce cost per unit. P&G had designed products which suited the needs of local Chinese consumers. But brands like Unilever and L’Oreal still gave stiff competition to P&G. With well designed marketing strategies, it remained to be seen whether P&G would be able to overcome the competition and maintain its market share in the long run.