Fairy, the Global Dishwashing Liquid Squares up Morning Fresh, Nigeria Segment Leader

Procter and Gamble, the global fast moving consumer goods brand has introduced its world favourite dishwashing liquid, Fairy into the Nigerian market, a challenge to the long standing Nigeria market leader, PZ Cusson’s Morning Fresh. The P&G brand was first launched in the UK over 50 years ago.

unnamed 23 copy Nigerian consumers will be the first in sub-Sahara African market to experience the Fairy brand, the same top performing product that is trusted by consumers in the UK and in about 80 other countries world-wide.

P&G puts “over 50 years of scientific innovation” behind the brand with Iretiola Doyle, a known actress and TV personality as the brand ambassador and propelled by multi platform themes and schemes. The two variant “powerful drop that’s hard to stop…*vs Best selling brands” pay-off line may define the marketing mood of this western originated global marketing warhorse.

Whereas the entrenched market leader in the segment in Nigeria, Morning Fresh introduced in the 90s by the tested and loyal Nigeria group, PZ Cusson pioneered the dish wash liquid category “setting the standards for high grease cutting performance”.
The brand has been consolidated and extended into dish washing powder and surface cleaning with variants, “specially formulated to clean and rinse easily. It contains Byotrol that kills 99.9% of germs for up to 24 hours and keeps working even on dried surface”.

In the March 1999 Issue of Harvard Business Review (HBR), “Competing with Global Giants” by Niraj Dawar and Tony Frost identified two broad parameters upon which to compete as instructive and indicating a case study-in-the-making.

“These two parameters—the strength of globalization pressures in an industry and the degree to which a company’s assets are transferable internationally—can guide strategic thinking. If globalization pressures are weak, and a company’s own assets are not transferable, then, like Bajaj, the company needs to concentrate on defending its turf against multinational incursion. We call a company employing such a strategy a defender. If globalization pressures are weak but the company’s assets can be transferred, then the company may be able to extend its success at home to a limited number of other markets. That sort of company is an extender.

Courtesy HBR