Emerging categories on Colgate's radar

Oral care major Colgate-Palmolive is foraying into emerging categories like mouthwash and sensitivity toothpaste to shore up its market share.

Last week, the company announced the first product launch in the sensitivity segment with Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief — an upgrade over Colgate Sensitive, launched two years ago.

Colgate's move comes five months after rival GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare launched Sensodyne in the same segment. According to Koushik Gupta, general manager, marketing, over-the-counter and oral healthcare, GSK Consumer Healthcare, the firm notched up a share of 10 per cent within the first four months of the launch. "We are now the number three player in the segment."

According to a Nielsen report, Colgate was the number one player in the sensitivity segment with 15.4 per cent, while regional brand Sensodent from Warren Pharmaceuticals is the number two with a share of 14.8 per cent for April.

Colgate is keen to widen the gap with GSK and Warren closing in. The launch of Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief is expected to help the firm, said market experts. Mukul Deoras, managing director, Colgate-Palmolive (India), said: "The new product provides consumers suffering from sensitivity the much-needed relief they are seeking. It does so instantly."

At eight per cent of the Rs 2,720-crore toothpaste market, the sensitivity segment is growing close to 34 per cent every year. Industry experts said at this rate, the sensitivity segment could expand to about 12-15 per cent of the overall toothpaste market in about three years. "Clearly, Colgate is keen to participate in the growing oral care categories. Sensitvity shows potential," said Kaustubh Pawaskar, FMCG analyst at Mumbai-based brokerage Sharekhan.

The Rs 100-crore mouthwash segment is also moving at a brisk pace with a growth of 35 per cent per annum. In the last few months, Colgate has launched two variants under the Plax brand to take on Johnson & Johnson's Listerine, the market leader in the segment.

In an analyst call recently, Deoras had said the firm would continue to keep the momentum going in the mouthwash category with timely launches.

In the last one year, Colgate has increased its share in the segment from 7.5 per cent in 2009-10, to 22 per cent at the end of 2010-11 financial year. J&J's Listerine has a market share of 25 per cent.