Imperial Leather cleaning up its act
Richard Shepherd, left, managing director of PZ Cussons (Thailand), plans to kick off the first marketing activity designed to build awareness of its relaunched Imperial Leather soap package during the upcoming Songkran holiday.
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A drop in market share has reminded PZ Cussons, the manufacturer and distributor of Imperial Leather soap, that it cannot focus solely on production quality while neglecting brand awareness.
And the ignorance has cost dearly, as PZ Cussons (Thailand), a subsidiary of the UK-based personal-care product manufacturer, has had to earmark a Bt70-million budget to advertise and market the soap, which now comes in more modern packaging. "We had focused on investing in production facilities and market research for quite a long time but in the next four years our concentration will be investing in building strong brand awareness through advertisements, marketing campaigns and marketing activities," marketing director Tarin Khunwisetkul said yesterday. With its new wrapping, the soap is appearing on television screens for the first time in four years as the company attempts to reclaim market share, which had dropped to 10 per cent of the Bt3.4-billion soap-bar market from 12 per cent. With all of these efforts, the company expects its market share to rise to 11 per cent this year. Over the past two years, the company has added a Bt360-million plant at the compound housing its first factory in Pathum Thani to manufacture soap and other products. In relaunching the brand, PZ has adjusted the formulation of its products by increasing moisturisers. It has also created an innovative product - "Active" soap bar. Its new television commercial has been airing for a few days now, and tomorrow it plans to kick off the first marketing activity - Your Luxurious Songkran with Imperial Leather - under the new look by opening a booth on Khao San Road, a main attraction during the Songkran festival. More than 10,000 product samples will be handed out there. Managing director Richard Shepherd said the company's sales last year were almost Bt1 billion. The main contributors were Imperial Leather, 50 per cent; Cussons Baby Soap for infants, 30 per cent and Morning Fresh liquid dishwashing detergent, 10 per cent.
Nitida Asawanipont The Nation
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