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P&G CEO Touts 'The Biggest Toilet Paper Innovation In 100 Years'

Speaking to analysts after Procter & Gamble reported Q2 fiscal year sales of $21.9 billion, up 2% year-over-year, President-CEO John Moller provided a rundown of recent and upcoming brand innovations in the company’s U.S. business.

Among the highlights:

The new Oral B io2, P&G’s first product “designed to help consumers trade up from a manual toothbrush to a power brush,” has shown “very encouraging” early results, Moller said, and will be expanding “across major markets over the next several months.”

“We have a very strong marketing campaign building on the insight that power oral care removes 100% of plaque, while manual brushing only removes 50% of plaque,” added CFO Andre Scholten. “That seems to resonate well with consumers.”

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Also in oral care, Moller called Crest 3d White deep stain remover that brand’s “best-ever whitening toothpaste,” saying it’s “off to a great start” in its early trial period. The product, he explained, “works in just one day to dissolve the bonds that lock stains to your teeth and better prevent stains from occurring.”

Turning to toilet paper, Moller called the “patented scalloped edge” of Charmin Smooth Tear, “the biggest innovation in toilet paper in 100 years.” 

First introduced in October 2023 and available in Charmin “Ultra Soft” iterations, Charmin Smooth Tear replaces the traditional perforation line that separates tissue sections with a wavy line.

“Consumers’ #1 complaint to our call centers over the years has been the uneven tears from the square shape,” said P&G Senior Scientist Gregg Weaver upon the product’s launch, explaining that “the uneven tear is a result of straight perforations that don’t match the direction that consumers pull sheets and where the toilet paper is hung in the bathroom. The new Charmin wavy perforation ensures that you’re able to tear smoothly no matter where and how you tear.”

Swiffer Power Mop, meanwhile, has become the “largest innovation” in Swiffer’s history, Moller said, contributing to 40% growth of the brand and driving a “remarkable 35% growth in the category.”

Whole body deodorant sprays, now available in the Old Spice, Secret and Native brands, helped drive total deodorant volume and value share to growth of nearly a point, Moller said.  In dish cleaning, meanwhile, three-year-old Dawn Powerwash “continues to drive market share up more than a point.”

Moller revealed that the  recent launch of Tide Ultra Oxi Boost Power Pods will be followed up “quickly with additional innovations in laundry detergents and fabric enhancers,” mentioning specifically Gain and Downy.

And Tide EVO, “a new laundry detergent developed on our breakthrough functional fibers platform, continues to exceed expectations in our Colorado test market, surpassing our year one performance goals in just the first12 weeks after launch.”  

Moller also cited expansion of P&G’s natural insect-fighting Xevo brand, and upcoming innovations [over the next six months] for Febreze, Dawn, Cascade, Mr.Clean, Pampers, Luvs, Tampax, Always Discrete, Bounty, Gillette and Venus.

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