he battle for control of the Rs 5,000-crore Indian laundry market has taken a new turn with Procter & Gamble (P&G;) introducing a detergent bar version of its mass-market detergent powder, Tide. Launched nationwide last month, the new Tide bar is clearly aimed at taking the battle into the camp of traditional rival Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), which not only dominates the domestic laundry market, but also the Rs 2,100-crore detergent bar market, with its Rin and Wheel franchises.

The launch of the new Tide bar comes within four years of Tide�s debut in India. Extensive research by P&G; confirmed intuitive logic: that 95 per cent of the consumers use a combination of powder and bar to wash clothes. "The research also showed that �superior whiteness� and �whiteness maintenance� are a homemaker�s most important laundry needs, and are however, unmet by the current bars in the market," says Chester Twigg, director, sales and marketing, P&G; India. "This led us to develop and launch the new Tide bar with Whiteons (a P&G; proprietary technology that purportedly delivers superior whiteness)." ... more