09102019 - 2020: Buhari presents N10.33trn job creation budget to NASS

38 —Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019
Oral care/Oral hygiene: 4 leading
brands lock horns with differentiation
Stories by Princewill
Ekwujuru
Nigerian subsidiaries
of the global Oral
care/Oral Hygiene market
leaders are up in contest for
increased share of the local
market with the global
market expected to hit
$53.3billion by 2025 from
$44.5billion in 2019 according
to
Markets&Markets, a United
Kingdom (UK) based
Research Company.
Based on product, the
Oral care/Oral hygiene
market is categorized into
toothpastes, toothbrushes &
accessories, mouthwashes/
rinses, denture products,
dental accessories/ancillaries,
and dental prosthesis
cleaning solutions.
Vanguard Companies and
Market (C&M) findings reveal
that this year, the toothpastes
segment is expected
to account for the largest
share of the oral care/oral
hygiene market.
The large share of this
segment can primarily be
attributed to the huge adoption
of toothpastes for maintaining
oral hygiene, the
treatment of dental cares,
and its use in post-surgical
procedures.
Nigerian subsidiaries of
Procter and Gamble (P&G),
manufacturers of Oral-B
brand of toothpaste, Unilever
Nigeria Plc, producers
of Pepsodent toothpaste,
Colgate Palmolive, makers
of Colgate toothpaste
and Glaxosmithkline Nigeria
Plc, manufacturers of
Sensodyne toothpaste, are
throwing up many strategies
in the market place,
especially product differentiation
and institutional
brand associations.
Each of these brands
boasts of strong operating
brand assets (strong corporate
identity, good products,
strong distribution network
and heavy advertising and
marketing support).
The multinationals are
also considering Nigeria as
one of their key markets in
Africa primarily due to the
market size of about
200million consumers,
which they see as attractive
and readymade market for
their Oral/hygiene care
products, especially toothpaste.
With over 32 toothpaste
brands jostling for market
space nationwide, four,
Oral-B, Pepsodent, Colgate
and Sensodyne, have
emerged top of the mind
brand with national spread.
However, distributors and
retailers say these four
brands are competing
fiercely to control the market
with the deployment of
huge marketing activities
supported by their huge financial
muscles and strong
corporate brand equity.
Other factors such as the
rising oral hygiene awareness,
growing incidence of
dental diseases, and technological
advancements in
oral care products, drive
growth of the oral care/oral
hygiene market for market
shares.
Increasing online purchase
of oral care products
has created new growth opportunities
for players operating
in this market.
All the leading brand
manufacturers are prominently
displaying their logos
and names on the packaging
to boost brand
awareness and sales.
They are identifying specific
qualities that clients
are looking for in toothpaste,
such as the ability to
whiten or strengthen teeth
and protect against tooth
decay. For example, Oral-
B offers healthier, stronger
and whiter tooth and protection
from tooth holes as
its selling points.
Pepsodent’s strength lies
in its endorsed by the Federation
Dentaire Internationale,
FDI. It also includes
fighting germs to
protect teeth against cavities,
gives strong teeth, fresh
breath and healthy gums
and offers solution to bleeding
gums and sensitive
teeth.
Colgate says it provides
protection against cavity,
whitens and strengthens
teeth and removes stain.
Sensodyne says its product
provides sensitivity relief
caused by cold, hot,
sweet food and drinks, removes
stain for a whiter
smile and protection to reduce
sensitivity pain with
twice daily brushing and
protects against cavities.
C&M also discovered
that despite the number of
toothpaste brands in the
market to the extent of
seeming saturation, they
are retailer’s cash cow, with
brands are collaborating
with dental specialists, institutes,
using celebrities to
endorse their brands. They
also seek dentist who appears
in cable or TV broadcast
ad recommending their
brands.
“They print attractive posters
and fliers and leave them
in dental clinics or offices.
They participate in community
health promotion activities
that raise awareness on
proper dental care, and this
becomes an opportunity to
market their products.
“They are also leveraging
several print and electronic
media channels to market
their products. Their ads
highlight the top features of
their toothpaste to attract
maximum attention.
“The local daily or national
newspapers and health
magazines also offer good
opportunities to advertise
their products. “They are
also deploying product websites
that is modern and easily
navigable with links to
social media is helping to
explain the products to readers,
creating positive brand
impressions.”
Another Marketing expert,
Robert Jameson of Leverage
Media said: “Retail outlets
are also providing advertising
opportunities for their
brands by allocating display
space for the products
and posters so shoppers
readily see them.
They are selling their products
to retailers at discount-
From Left: Branch Manager, Panaserv Nigeria Limited,
Dinesh Bhambhani; Senior Executive/Technical Engineer,
Panasonic Middle East, PremSankar Vijayan; a
participant, Olalekan Olanrewaju and Senior Executive/
Technical Engineer, Panasonic, Appliances & Air
conditioning Malaysia, Mohd Fadhi Bin Aziz during the
Panasonic Aircon Technical Seminar held in Lagos.
something for every shopper.
Stores see it as a steady
traffic generator.
Experts speak
A dentist, who works in a
military Hospital in Yaba,
Lagos who pleaded anonymity
said: “I think differences
between brands
aren’t very meaningful.
Just make sure it has fluoride
and has the FDI World
Dental Federation seal.
ÿþ”The brand itself
doesn’t really matter. Just
choose a product that you
like, which means you’re
going to use it more regularly.
“Fluoride is what
helps prevent cavities. If
you don’t use toothpaste
with fluoride I am willing
to bet you that within six
months to a year, you will
get decay in your mouth.”
Marcelous Agwu, a marketing
expert with Road-to-
Market, an experiential
marketing communication
agency, analysing the marketing
strategies of the leading
brands, said, “The
ed prices and leave the marketing
work to them.
According to Constance
Igbonekwu of Orlick Communications,
Anambra
State, “What resonate with
consumers are toothpastes
that have attained a serious
market presence, and that is
why you see them all over
the media trying to attract
consumers to their brand.”
Manufacturer speaks
The Managing Director of
Procter & Gamble (P&G)
Nigeria, Adil Farhat, said
in a chat: “One thing in the
Nigeria market is the need
to invest enough with programs
like Oral-B Doctors
on Wheel. We make sure the
category goes as deep as
possible in terms of usage so
that more people get access
to better paste. “At P&G, it is
our purpose to touch and
improve our customers lives
with our brands. We are dedicated
to improving the oral
health of all Nigerians
through our Mobile Dental
Clinic programme.”
•A cross section of Pensioners protesting unpaid benefits
Disengaged Kwara hotel staff, Harmony
Holdings bicker over unpaid benefits
FOLLOWING the ad
vent of a new government
in Kwara State
headed by Governor
Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq,
89 former staff of Kwara hotels
viciously disengaged
by the management of the
hotel through anti-riot mobile
policemen on May
26,2017, without benefit are
back in the trenches for
their unpaid their entitlements.
Recall that they were
forcefully sacked without
warning or termination
letters, till today.
Recently the aggrieved
formers workers protested
on the streets of Ilorin to
draw the attention of the
public and stakeholders
including the new administration
to their plight.
Sequel to the protest,
the state House of Assembly
invited the ex-workers
to a meeting with the
management of Kwara
Hotels towards finding a
lasting solution to the
problem.
No fewer than 20 of the
aggrieved former staff
were in attendance to give
support to their leaders
who came to represent
them at the meeting.
To say the least, the disengaged
staff present,
looked pathetic and frustrated
as a result of suffering
and untold hardship
they have passed
through for over two years
that they were violently
thrown into the Labour
market without a penny.
Though there is disagreement
between the aggrieved
ex-staff and Harmony
holdings over the
actual unpaid benefits, the
fact remains that Kwara
Hotels owes the disengaged
staff unpaid entitlements.
While the disengaged
staff according to their
spokesman, Mohammed
Ochennika, is insisting
the management owes
them N100 million, the
management says it owes
them only N56million.
Ochennike, also informed
lamented that to
keep body and soul going,
about 20% of them had resorted
to menial jobs
while many of them had
been sent out o f their
houses and their children
out of school because of inability
to pay their rents
and school fees among
other basic necessities.
He said, “Its only those
who could afford transport
fares that came with us
several others have returned
to their towns and
villages and many have
lost their loved ones to this
struggle. We have lost our
parenthood because our
children have been sent
out of school and even to
feed has been difficult”
He said that effort by
the state lawmakers had
not yielded any positive
result, as no concrete
agreement was reached in
the meeting facilitated by
the state house of assembly
According to him,
“Agreement has not been
reached, we only presented
our grievances to
the committee of the
House of Assembly. The
management still has over
N100million to pay us but
they are saying it is just
about N50million.”
Giving a breakdown of
the debt profile and payments
Ochennika said,”
Out of the total
N301million , the first
payment was N89million,
then N53million and after
that, N9million. We also
have a cooperative outstanding
of N8.2million
and another N1.3million
making N9.5million for
which we protested not lon
ago. The management
paid N300,000 out of the
cooperative debt in August.
We are waiting for
the committee to call us
again and we are appealing
that they expedite action
on our matter because
people are suffering.
“Out of 89 staff, 20% are
managing with menial jobs
others are not working. The
new government should reinstate
us and reduce unemployment
in the state .We
are ready to go back and we
want the state government
to consider us because we
were not disengaged. It is
two years four months now
that we were chased out of
duty posts with armed policemen.”
Management speaks
Speaking, spokesman for
Harmony holdings, Mr
Alada Hussein, Head of
Special Project and Associated
Companies, disputed
the balance and the initial
total amount even as he
pleaded with the disengaged
staff to be patience
assuring that the figures
would be reconciled and
they would be paid.
He said “on the cooperative
money they are claiming
I don’t understand
what they are talking about
because we have nothing to
do with the operation of
their accounts. I am
wondering why the emphasis
is on harmony and not
their primary place of engagement
which is Kwara
hotels.
“The issues of tax, cooperative
and so on are internal
issues within the organisation.
When your employer
pays you it remits all the
taxes and various deductions
to appropriate quarters.
That was what happened
there, like it happens
elsewhere. So I don’t know
where harmony collected
their cooperative money because
we don’t run their accounts.”
On whether Harmony
took over both the assets and
liabilities, when it took over
the hotels, he said “a lot of
things were outstanding
when we took over the place
and part of it was the issue
of their outstanding salaries,
their gratuities, leave allowances,
unremitted cooperative
deductions, pensions
and a lot of out-standings
were left unresolved by their
previous employer.
“So when we took over the
place, our promise to them
was to join them in ensuring
that their employer fulfills
all the outstanding obligations.
But when the payment
was not forthcoming they
started protesting and there
was a tripartite agreement
among the workers, state
government and harmony
holdings.
“About N223 million was
calculated which included
their gratuity, outstanding
salaries, leave allowances,
cooperative deductions,
their 10% annual increment,
and some other entitlements.
So, government
took steps to pay the money
in phases. As we speak today
over 70% of that
amount has been paid,
about N167 million, leaving
a balance of N56 million.
As far as we are concerned
that is what is outstanding
now. Any other figure outside
this they need to substantiate
it and we will look
at it.”
On how soon will the balance
paid he said, “Since it
involves government you
can’t bring a particular time
frame on when exactly the
money would be paid.But
we will do everything possible
in conjunction with the
state assembly to ensure that
their money is paid as soon
as possible.”