• Wall Street Journal, Friday, February 19, 2010 10:24 AM

Procter & Gamble is placing a bet on a raft of new products -- 30% more than last year in its main product categories -- to lift it from the sales doldrums, CEO Robert McDonald told investors yesterday.

Pantene will be reinvented, McDonald points out, with new formulations, packaging and marketing starting in June. He also promises new Crest whitening products and a Crest Pro-Health Sensitive line of toothbrushes, floss and toothpaste, Ellen Byron and Anjali Cordeiro report. A new premium detergent called Sarasa will roll out in Japan; a bargain-priced detergent called Tide Naturals is slated for India, and a mid-price line of Ace detergent will debut in Colombia.

In a sense, P&G is keeping up with the Colgates, Cloroxes and Church & Dwights, all of which touted forthcoming new products this week. Church & Dwight, in fact, says it is in the midst of one of the most robust new-product rollouts in its history despite CEO Jim Craigie's prediction that "2010 is going to be uglier than hell" because of the faltering economy.

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