Soap giants set to battle over tablets

Just as Lever celebrates the first anniversary of its solid detergent tablet launch and claims great success in rolling them out across 15 European countries, Pamp;G is lumbering into action with its own tablets 8211; more expensive and almost inevitably claimed to be superior.

But Lever, the soap detergents division of Anglo-Dutch consumer products group Unilever Plc/NV, has built up quite a lead in winning over British households, who use their washing machines more than five times a week.

Lever launched its flagship British brand Persil in tablet form a year ago, and the product already accounts for nearly one in 10 of the nation8217;s washes. Tablet forms of Lever8217;s other European brands Omo and Skip soon followed.

Retailers8217; own brands entered the British tablets market nine months later, not a particular surprise given the strength of supermarket brands in Britain. The surprise was that the world8217;s largest soap maker is still to enter the market.

Pamp;G is now moving into action, saying its product may be late but it will be better and hence more expensive. Its tablets will flow into Britain with a marketing launch costing 17.5 million pounds 28 million, and then roll out across Europe.

Lever stole a march on its rival by persuading households be mused by the choice of standard bulk powders, liquids and concentrated powders that what they really needed was another product that would take the hassle out of wash day.

Since Lever says that most washing machine users overdose with detergent, what could be more simple than tablets. Two for a normal load, three if it8217;s extra dirty.

The move worked a treat in Europe8217;s 5.5 billion pound soap detergent market, and tablets soon gobbled up a five per cent share with Lever holding 60 per cent of that, or some 25 million weekly washes in Europe conducted with Lever tablets.

Lever8217;s European fabric brands development director Sebastian Lazell forecasts tablets will account for 20 per cent of the European market soon, and so far the only challenge comes in continental Europe from German Henkel which sells more tablets in Germany and Italy, while Lever leads elsewhere.

In Britain, the impact is more dramatic. Tablets take 10 per cent of the 900 million pound annual market, and Unilever holds 90 per cent of that with the remainder made up by own-label brands.

It was not always that rosy. Back in the mid-1990s Lever suffered the ultimate setback when its Power range was found to damage clothing in the wash. Lever was forced to withdraw a new Power formulation for its Persil, Omo and Skip brands after a patented quot;acceleratorquot; ingredient was found to weaken fabrics and leave colours faded.

Lever is determined to put the Power fiasco behind it, buildup its lead in tablets and stay there. But its record on innovations is not good.

In the early 1980s, Lever pipped Pamp;G by a few months to launch the first liquid detergent, but the US giant bounced back to pinch first place. Then in the late 1980s, Pamp;G was first to launch concentrated powders and Lever never caught up.

Now there is a difference, says Lazell, at the group8217;s main British manufacturing centre in northwest England. This time Lever has a one-year lead over Pamp;G, it has rolled out tablets in 15 countries, and has already launched its secondary brands Radion and Surf in tablet form.

But Pamp;G is fighting back hard. Its new tablets will be available in British shops from the end of May, and will be quot;superiorquot; to other products on the market.

Lever8217;s round white tablets are placed in a special net dispenser in the washing machine drum but Pamp;G8217;s square, green and white square tablets can be placed in the machine dispenser drawer or direct in the drum with no need for a dispensing net.

Pamp;G delayed its tablet launch by one month to make sure stocks were high enough to meet what it believes will be high demand, but it has priced its product 20 per cent above Lever so it will need to demonstrate it has a quot;superiorquot; performance.

Tablets have been good for Lever, helping it close the gap on Pamp;G in Europe, while Lever8217;s Persil brand in Britain has regained its leadership from Pamp;G8217;s top brand Ariel lost in the Persil Power problems of 1995.

What industry analysts are asking now is, can Pamp;G catch up with Lever8217;s lead using its quot;superiorquot; but clearly more expensive product.