In August 2000, P&G introduced one of its kind product Crest Whitestrips, readily available online and through dentist offices P&G claims that the new products are 10 times more effective than the Colgate Tartar Control Whitening Within two years P&G captured more than 80% of the share market. Colgate made a come back in August 2002 with Simply White. Colgate’s USP was that it focused on convenience and lower price. One month after introduction Simply White captures half the market with Crest Whitestrips losing 50% of its market share.

1. 1
Indian Institute Of Management, Rohtak
TERM 1
Case Analysis of Brighter smiles for the
masses-Colgate vs P&G
Submitted to
Arpita Khare
Submitted by:
Hiteshi Patel
Jeevan Rathod
Kavya Gupta
Narender
Neha Kumari
Shreyans Jain

2. CASE SUMMARY
– In August 2000, P&G introduced one of its kind product Crest
Whitestrips, readily available online and through dentist offices
– P&G claims that the new products is 10 times more effective than the
Colgate Tartar Control Whitening
– Within two years P&G captured more than 80% of the share market
– Colgate made a come back in August 2002 with Simply White
– Colgate’s USP was that it focused on convenience and lower price
– One month after introduction Simply White captures half the market
with Crest Whitestrips losing 50% of its market share
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3. – Share prices dropped from 80% to 37% with Simply White
capturing slightly less than 50% of market share
– Price war started when Simply White price was marked
much lower than Whitestrip
– Customer find Simply White easy to use as compared to the
other product
– Crest Whitestrips were time consuming
– Brand Switching by users
3 What are the challenges faced by P&G
with the launch of Extra white?

4. What are the opportunities and threats
confronting both the companies?
Opportunities Threats
• Value proportion is cost effective and customer
ease which can make a huge customer base.
• Less effective than P&G.
• Contribution margin of 45%.
• Level of customer satisfaction is High.
• From exhibit - 1 it’s evident that P&G has recovered
from Oct 2002 – Nov 2002.
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Opportunities Threats
• During 2000 P&G had opportunity to enter into
new untapped markets and generate the revenues
by constantly making innovative products.
• High competitions
• Technology was patented and thus had
competitive advantage.
• High price
• With good marketing strategies it can capture
more market share again.
• Product application time was higher
Colgate
P&G

5. How does intellectual property issue
affect strategic decisions and explain its
impact on P&G.
– Intellectual property is a category of property that includes
intangible creations of the human intellect and encompasses
copyrights, patents and trademarks.
– It helped P and G to have an upper hand in the market for almost
2 years i.e. helped gain more than 80% of the market share
– As several patents protected Whitestrip, the competitors faced
huge difficulty to copy its invention, almost leading to monopoly
of Whitestrip for 2 years
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6. What are issues related to advertising?
what would you recommend?
– P&G had option to file complaint with NAD or suing Colgate for false
ads
– Creating a comparative advertisement campaign directed at Simply
White
– Try to block Colgate’s advertisement or make it change its message
Recommendation
– P&G should avoid attacking Colgate directly, i.e. filing a complaint
with NAD for false ads might not be a smart move.
– Mumble’s commercial seems to be an effective way to advertise
– Also we can decrease price and make the product more convenient
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7. Thank You
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