P&G Seeks to Expand Pampers’ Reach
Pampers is a power brand in the baby care category and now it is looking to take equity built up over 46 years of positive consumer experiences and project that into complementary segments through licensing deals.
Procter & Gamble (a RetailWire sponsor) has signed a deal with the Beanstalk Group to develop Pampers-branded products in baby care categories such as bottles, furniture and HBC, according to a Brandweek magazine report.
Gayle Jones, manager for trademark licensing at P&G, told the magazine that the company was just taking its first steps in determining “where we want to go with the brand.”
P&G is also looking to take other power brands within its portfolio and grow awareness and market presence through licensing deals.
“Mr. Clean was one of the first brands we expanded through trademark licensing [circa 2001],” said Ms. Jones. “It has been so successful that many of our brands have taken notice. Everything was always done internally. But as part of our ‘connect and develop’ strategy, we’re migrating to bringing new innovations into P&G.”
Eli Portnoy, chief brand strategist at The Portnoy Group, said, “There is a lot of upside with licensing, aside from the profit aspect. It puts the branded name out into new aisles and new distribution channels, giving the brand greater presence at retail, so it can become a reminder for consumers.”
The risk with such deals is that licensed products may not meet established standards and imperil brand equity.
P&G is very aware of the value of its brands, said Ms. Jones. “We take our time to find the right companies to partner with, to find the right categories and to develop the right strategies in order to protect the equities of all of our brands. What we do, we want to do well.”
Discussion Questions: What do you see as the opportunity for brands to grow through licensing deals? What are the pitfalls? Will we see companies such as P&G doing more of this in the future?
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5 Comments on "P&G Seeks to Expand Pampers’ Reach"
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The Pampers license will be most valuable if P&G requires the products to be superior. If the designs are unprecedented, if the quality is unusual, the Pampers brand will be enhanced. Pampers became a major brand because of design excellence. Its licensed products should enhance that positioning. If they’re just me-too commodities, the license won’t be worth much and the Pampers brand value will be hurt.
Licensing Pampers makes sense as long as the licensed products do not negatively affect the “clear, distinct and desirable” place in the mind of Pampers users. Brand equity is a valued asset and needs to be treated as such. There is a big difference between a marginal brand with a strong positioning like Mr. Clean, whose licensing has little downside risk, and Pampers which is clearly a flagship brand with a strong share and the accompanying potential for significant downside risks.