Unilever launched a marketing campaign, which includes television advertisements and a choose-your-own adventure video series, for its Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy hair-care product. The company partnered with NBCUniversal in implementing the campaign, which will also appear on several Web sites and social media sites, will feature several celebrities from the TV network. The video series focuses on a couple named Chloe and Logan, with users selecting the plot options, according to which the story will progress toward its conclusion.

Procter & Gamble has brought its "Thank You, Mom" marketing campaign, which is associated with the Olympics, to India. P&G added a "Fulfill Her Wish" element to the campaign, which encourages consumers to share their mothers' wishes. The company has promised to fulfill the wishes by Mothers' Day, May 13, 2012. P&G is sponsoring boxer Mary Kom and runner Kavita Raut and will give their mothers the opportunity to watch them compete in the 2012 London Olympics.

Reports show that male consumers in several countries, including the United Kingdom, United States, China, and India, are increasing their spending on male grooming products and services. In UK, 66 percent more men have availed themselves of beauty treatments, according to a report by Salon Services. In the US, more men are undergoing Brazilian waxes treatment, while in China, men's beauty products are some of L'Oreal China's fastest-growing categories. India's male cosmetics market is forecast to reach $600 million by 2016, according to the report, "India Male Cosmetics Market — Consumer Insight 2012."

Hindustan Unilever launched the New Fair & Lovely Advanced Multivitamin skin fairness treatment product, which the company claims combines the functions of a laser treatment, face polish treatment, face peel treatment, antioxidant treatment, and vitamin mask. The product launch was in response to a survey conducted by Fair & Lovely showing that 80 percent of women in Mumbai, 78 percent in Kolkata, and 76.5 percent in Hyderabad believe that they can get the fairest skin by getting a fairness treatment from a skin expert.

Lush Cosmetics held an event in London featuring a performance artist depicting an animal undergoing laboratory tests as part of its campaign against animal testing in the cosmetics industry. The campaign is part of the global efforts by activists, such as the International Humane Society and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, to ban animal testing. Meanwhile, UK's Advertising Standards Authority ruled as false advertising an advertisement by Lush Cosmetics claiming that reptile trade is driving the species to extinction.

Henkel expects to be debt free in 2013 and is looking to increase its growth rate with acquisitions for its consumer goods business and industrial adhesive operations. The company also plans to expand its investments in rapidly growing emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Henkel CEO Kasper Rorsted his company is searching for major regional and country brands to complement its Persil detergent products and Right Guard deodorants.

Shell is the most "digitally connected" multinational corporation in the United Kingdom, according to consulting firm Radley Yeldar's study of FTSE 100 companies' use of digital platforms for their branding campaigns. Consumer goods group Unilever and SAB Miller are the second and third most successful companies in terms of digital marketing. The report shows, however, that majority of FTSE 100 companies are not making the most of their digital media properties to effectively promote their corporate brands. While 98 percent of these MNCs are using LinkedIn and 56 percent are on Twitter, less than 50 percent are using other social networks, blogs, or operate mobile Web sites and apps.

Unilever chief executive officer Paul Polman changed his company's business focus from satisfying shareholders' demand for short-term profits into a strategy that puts emphasis on longer-term results. Polman said he requires marketing agencies to be "performance-driven," basing their fees and earnings on how well Unilever performs overall. Unilever's CEO also said that in marketing, a company needs to determine what the brand stands for and what its message is before looking at which media — TV or digital media — to use. Polman said marketers need to exert more efforts to really know consumers and their real-life situation.

Bath & Body Works' Twilight Woods, Noir, and Ocean varieties of anti-bacterial gentle-foaming hand soap for men come with overpowering aroma and too heavy scents that might turn off most male consumers. The hand soaps seemed to be designed more for concealing bad odor instead of cleaning hands. Ultimately, the issue boils down to whether men need hand soaps especially designed for them when any generic soap will do for most members of the male species. 

Procter & Gamble Co. said it is moving its global skincare, cosmetics, and personal-care business unit from its Cincinnati headquarters to Singapore. P&G's move is part of its strategy to relocate the business to the Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for almost half of the world's $96.9 billion market for skincare, growing from $37.6 billion in 2010 to $42.3 billion in 2011, according to Euromonitor International. The company accounts for 5.8 percent of Asia's skincare market.

Procter & Gamble Co.'s subsidiaries in India — Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd. and Gillette India Ltd. — posted impressive results for the quarter ending March 2012. P&G's fabric wash shipments grew 20 percent year on year, while shampoos increased more than 50 percent, driven by sales of the Pantene brand. P&G Hygiene's sales increased 39.2 percent YoY to RS326.20 crore, with sales of the Whisper brand rising 30 percent and that of Vicks by 37 percent. Gillette posted 26.6 percent increase in sales, which is slightly lower than the 28.6 percent posted by the company in the quarter ending December 2011.

JAB, the Vienna-based investment company owned by German billionaires, plans to sell 36 million shares or 4.9 percent of Reckitt Benckiser. The divestment move is aimed at raising funds for Coty's proposed acquisition of Avon. JAB owns 80 percent of Coty, which has been trying to convince Avon shareholders to support its takeover bid.

Fast moving consumer goods companies are launching personal care and grooming products and services for male consumers in India. Driven by metrosexual male consumers' desire to pamper themselves, the men's grooming market is growing more than 25 percent each year. FMCG companies are recruiting celebrities and employing digital marketing to engage metrosexual consumers. For example, Philips is adding products to its facial care-focused male grooming portfolio and is planning to launch products for body care for men; ITC launched its Fiama Di Wills Men Aqua Pulse De-Stressing and Brightening Face Wash. With FMCG companies having success in convincing male consumers that skincare needs of men are different from those of women, sales of deodorants for men are growing about 50 percent, while the market for whitening cream is expanding 35–40 percent.

Unilever is launching its Clear Scalp & Hair Beauty Therapy brand of hair-care products in the United States. Sold in 42 countries, the brand faces stiff competition in a hair-care market that is littered with discontinued and losing brands, such as White Rain, Breck, Drene, and Prell. Unilever has reportedly allotted $250 million to market and advertise the brand's 21 varieties in three lines, targeting women, men, and African-American women. The marketing campaign will include online video and social media.

Unilever opened a Customer Insight and Innovation Center in Mumbai, India, to study how consumers shop for fast moving consumer goods. Located at Hindustan Unilever's headquarters, the research center will be used by Unilever companies to have an insight into how consumers shop in neighborhood stores and in modern retail outlets. The research center will use virtual reality to determine which features or parts of a retail store attract consumers' attention.

Reckitt Benckiser Southeast Asia senior vice-president Chander Mohan Sethi predicts India will become the company's largest market worldwide in terms of revenue in the next 3–5 years. The country is ranked fourth on the company's top 16 "power markets" for future growth, Sethi said. Reckitt Benckiser will focus on health, hygiene, and home care products as part of its future expansion plans in the country, the executive added.

Unilever Zimbabwe said it will comply with the country's indigenization and local empowerment law, becoming one of the manufacturers to do so since 2007 when the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act was passed by the national legislature. The law requires all foreign-owned companies with business operations in Zimbabwe to divest at least 51 percent of their shares to Zimbabweans. Unilever said its compliance with Zimbabwe's law is part of its global policy of following the policies and regulations of countries where it does business. 

Korean consumers' fast-changing tastes and preferences are causing multinational manufacturers of consumer packaged goods to struggle against local competitors. For example, Nestlé entered South Korea's coffee mix market in the 1980s with its Taster's Choice brand of instant coffee; the Swiss conglomerate held on to the number 2 spot for 30 years, but fell to third place in January 2012. Procter & Gamble, for its part, used to hold 50 percent of the sanitary napkin market in 1995, courtesy of its Whisper brand. It lost the number 1 ranking to local rival Yuhan Kimberly's White brand, and sank further to number 3 in 2010.

Procter & Gamble refuted online allegations made by some Chinese consumers that its Crest toothpaste sold in China is made of industrial wastes and does not contain fluoride. A complaint posted by a Hong Kong resident became popular online and has been reposted more than 35,000 times, generating more than 5,000 comments. P&G posted a report by the quality testing center for toothpastes showing that Crest toothpastes had passed tests conducted in October 2011 and met national standards requiring fluoride toothpastes to contain 0.05–0.15 percent of fluoride.

Avon Products Inc. elected a new board of directors during the company's 2012 annual meeting in New York. Former CEO Andrea Jung, who is blamed by some investors for the company's list of problems including declines in sales and departure of sales representatives in the United States, was elected chairman of the board of directors. During the meeting, no shareholder asked a question about Coty Inc.'s unsolicited bid to acquire the company.

Unilever's Degree Men deodorant brand launched a marketing campaign for its Adrenaline product line. Designed to increase its interaction with main consumers by providing content produced specifically for social gaming sites, Degree Men's video series, "Masters of Movement," features famous extreme athletes and lets social-game players who view the videos earn points and currency they can use in the games they are playing. Videos, which were produced by Mindshare Entertainment, were viewed 9.1 million times during the campaign's first week, with 93 percent of viewers watching the whole video.

Unilever chief operating officer Harish Manwani said his company intends to lead in market development, make the most of its capabilities, and speed up its go-to-market time in order to overcome slowdown in some emerging markets. Manwani said Unilever can sustain growth levels it recorded in the first quarter of 2012, because the company has invested in enhancing organizational capabilities and innovations. Also, domestic consumption in emerging markets, which accounted for 56 percent of Unilever's €46.5 billion turnover in the first quarter, is large enough to compensate for slowdown in some of the markets.

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. announced a voluntary recall of Spinbrush Rechargeable SONIC toothbrushes with lot numbers DD9310 to 9365 or DD0002 to 0122 and distributed between February 2010 and October 2011 in the United States and Canada. The charging base is at risk of overheating that may cause fire, shock, or burns. Consumers who have the units covered by the recall are advised by the company to stop using the toothbrushes and return them to Church & Dwight for full refund.

Following weak sales growth in the first quarter of 2012, Procter & Gamble plans to lower prices of some products to help grow market share. Faced with slowed down demand and higher manufacturing costs, P&G aims to depend more on cost cutting to recover margins, with the company seeking to reduce spending companywide by up to $10 billion. Decline in sales volume was likely caused by price increases implemented by the company and consumers' move to cheaper alternatives. 

Bloom.com, a Web site that sells cosmetics products from 150 brands, also offers an online forum where senior women can interact and share stories about their beauty needs and solutions. Established by technology entrepreneur Julie Mahloch in 2010, the Web site reached the $1 million revenue milepost in December 2011. Mahloch's site allows users to upload videos and photos highlighting how they resolved beauty questions with branded products; it also features beauty consultants and professionals and matches women with similar beauty needs or questions.

Consumer packaged goods manufacturer Procter & Gamble is among the top 5 companies in terms of leadership and innovation, according to the Best Companies for Leadership Study and Top 20 list released by management consulting firm Hay Group. Topped by General Electric, the list recognizes the best companies in creating workplaces and processes that promote innovation, with all of the Top 20 companies indicating that their managers often highlight innovation, while only 49 percent of other companies do. Also, 90 percent of the Top 20 companies said employees with innovative ideas can bypass the chain of command.

Manufacturers of consumer products are reviving and updating their old brands to upgrade them into the 21^st century. Procter & Gamble transformed Pepto-Bismol from a bulky bottled product into the portable Pepto-Bismol To-Go; Oral-B launched the Oral-B Glide 3D White Floss Pick floss sticks with tooth whitening feature; Planters unveiled its Planters NUT-rition Men's Health Recommended Mix mixed nuts snack; and Kraft re-launched the Wheat Thins crackers as salty snacks that come in various flavors.

Procter & Gamble said the content levels of 1,4 dioxane, a solvent described by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a "probable carcinogen," in Tide detergent variants Tide Original Scent and Tide Free & Gentle are well below today's safety standards. In 2011, Women's Voices for the Earth released its Dirty Secrets report, which lists the Tide detergents among the various cleaning products that included unsafe ingredients. P&G said it will not reformulate the Tide detergents despite the environmental group's assertion that it should.

Unilever North Asia president Alan Jope said his company will certainly grow fivefold its business in China by 2020 and that it will grow 50 percent faster than the industry average. Two years ago, Unilever said it targets to grow its annual sales in China to 50 billion yuan, or US$7.9 billion, by 2020. Unilever, which opened a US$29 million toothpaste factory at its industrial park in Anhui Province, said business growth will come mostly from current brands and products and that it will maintain cost-cutting measures across its China factories and work on products with higher margins.

Unilever released its first-year progress report regarding its Sustainable Living Plan objectives. The report shows that sustainably sourced agricultural materials increased from 14 percent in 2010 to 24 percent in 2011, with its two major raw materials leading the way — 64 percent of palm oil and 60 percent of paper and board coming from sustainable sources. Also, Unilever's most popular spreads now have less than one-third saturated fat, while renewable energy accounts for 20 percent of the company's total energy consumption. Unilever, however, was less successful with targets that involve consumer behavior change.

Procter & Gamble Co. said it plans to reduce prices in more product categories, such as razor blades and toothpaste, after organic sales slowed down to 3 percent in the first quarter of 2012 from 4 percent in the previous quarter. P&G's earnings per share performance was better than analysts' forecasts, but the company revised downward its earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending June 30 for the second straight quarter. The company lost 0.2 points in global market share and 0.6 points in North America, while gaining or holding share in 45 percent of its business worldwide.

Avon Products Inc. group vice president Kerry Carr resigned her job in connection with the probe by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into possible violations by the company of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits American companies from bribing foreign government officials. U.S. prosecutors are focusing on a September 2005 internal audit report by the company, which found Avon employees may have been bribing Chinese officials.