By: Kim Waters and April Draffin

1928 – Charmin is manufactured by Hoberg Paper Company in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Design described as “Charming” by and employee. “Charmin” Brand name created (Pronounced “SHAR-MIN”).

1950’s – Hoberg changes the name to Charmin Paper Company.

1953 – “Charmin Baby” is born and takes its place on the packaging, along with the “Charmin Lady.”

1956 – “Charmin Lady” replaced with “Charmin Babies Your Skin” graphics on the packaging

1957 – Procter & Gamble aquire Charmin Paper Company

1964 – Mr. Whipple (A.K.A. “George the Grocer”) character created to promote Charmin’s “Squeezable Softness.”

"Ladies, please don't squeeze the Charmin!"

1964 –

•Mr. Whipple campaign was created by the Benton & Bowles Agency in the mid 1960s

•Mr. Whipple promoted Charmin for more than 20 years

•In 1979 a poll showed that the Mr. Whipple character was the third best known American, behind Richard Nixon and Billy Graham.

•Most recognizable ad slogan

1985 –•Mr. Whipple hang’s up his grocer’s apron•The original 504 ads ran from 1965 until 1989 putting Wilson in the Guinness Book of Records for having the longest running television commercial. •“Mr. Whipple is long retired but still fondling toilet paper in the darkest recesses of our memory. “

Financial AnalysisThe Market

•Advancement of TP still slow as late as 1935.•At that time Northern was proud of it’s “splinter-free” paper.•Currently a 4.7 billion dollar industry.•US is recognized as top mfg of high-end goods.

Financial AnalysisTop Competitors

• Procter & Gamble• Georgia-Pacific• Kimberly Clark

Financial AnalysisProcter & Gamble

• 24.5% of market• D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles

Agency• Charmin • Publicis Worldwide, part of the Publicis

Groupe (Current Agency)

Financial AnalysisGeorgia-Pacific

• 38.9% - Largest market• DDB Worldwide Agency• Angle Soft – brand• Quilted Northern - brand

Financial AnalysisKimberly Clark

• 12.7% of market• Cottonelle• WPP Group Agency

Financial AnalysisThe P&G Market

• 2003: reported revenues of $40.2b • 2003: $12b “Baby, Feminine & Family Care”• 2003: Net Sales = $43,377m• 2003: Mkt & Research Expense = $13,383m• Brands sold in 160 countries• Over 5 billion consumers• 2002: 1,004,000 common stock shareholders• Employees 102,000 people

The Campaign

• D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles – Mr. Whipple– Original Budweiser Frogs

• Original advertising idea - invite customers to squeeze the packages of bathroom tissue- as they do to check ripeness of produce items. Then they thought store managers would disapprove. Hence, the crochety character was born.

• The character was named after a real person, George Whipple, head of Benton & Bowles PR.

The Campaign

• Brand Image – knocked Scott Tissue out of #1 spot.

• According to a 1978 newspaper poll, Mr. Whipple was the third best-Kknown American, after President Richard Nixon and the Reverend Billy Graham.

• He appears for more than 20 years in TV, radio and print advertising.

The Campaign

• Differentiating the product…..• Charmin’s message was/is

“squeezably soft” communicating it at every possibly chance– Spokesmen– Soft focus product shots– Splashy magazine ads– Billboards– Etc.

The Campaign• Positioning in the marketplace:

– If Charmin is so squeezably soft then where does that leave everyone else?

• Top of the mind awareness:– “They irritated them with repetitious commercials

and it worked like magic.”– “When asked which campaign they most disliked,

consumers convicted Mr. Whipple….Charmin may not have been popular advertising, but it was #1 in sales.”

– Why do some bad ads work and some good ads fail?

The Campaign• After P.& G. retired Mr. Whipple, the

company spent years searching for an effective strategy that would differentiate Charmin. The company even brought Mr. Whipple out of retirement in 1999, but that did not last.

• D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, turned to an animated bear to restore some pride to the Charmin franchise

• A “playful” campaign

The Campaign• P.& G. last year moved the Charmin

account to Publicis Worldwide, part of the Publicis Groupe– Broadcast spots– State Fairs– Festivals– Potty Palooza (32’ truck w/12 outfitted

restrooms. HW floors, candles…etc. To offer an alternative to portable latrines).

The Campaign• P&G buys > 10% of all US television

advertising.• Made the 1st superbowl add in Feb

2003 for Charmin• “Softer and stronger for your end

zone”

The Campaign• P&G spends $4.3b annually on tv ads• Total market est. at $30b

The Campaign• Charmin is playful • Quilted Northern is quilted because

they care• Cottonell is Looking out for the family

Contributions made by The P&G Fund and Corpoarte Contributions in North America

-2000 $ 28.0 million

-2001 27.5 million

-2002 29.5 million

Future Endeavors

-Target Men

-Come up with another ad campaign to promote the Top Of The Mind Awareness approach like they did with Mr. Whipple

Questions/Comments

• "People are sentimental. The important thing to remember about brands is that they are built from a consistent form of behavior. It's almost always a mistake to throw out something in favor of a newer market,"