Procter & Gamble is demonstrating its determination to grab market leadership in the fiercely competitive toilet tissue sector, by putting £28m behind this week's long awaited launch of Charmin toilet tissue. Charmin's support kicks off on January 28 with a £14m six week TV advertising campaign featuring animated animal cartoons. This marks a departure from the much maligned series of dubbed German commercials for Bounty kitchen towel and the street vox pop approach of Tempo Plus facial tissue ads. "We're taking a more tongue in cheek approach," said UK paper marketing director Mark Brickhill. "The animal characters give us the opportunity to show what the product can really do." Another £14m will go on outdoor, radio, press and washroom advertising, PR and targeted direct mail. Bounty achieved market leadership within three months of launch and sales of £13.2m [Information Resources]. Charmin is toilet tissue market leader in the United States. The company stresses Charmin is specifically produced for the UK market, using more advanced technology than in the US. The range includes double rolls with 500 sheets. The UK toilet tissue market is worth £705m [Information Resources] and has a penetration level of about 98%. Kimberly-Clark's Andrex has been market leader for more than 35 years. Charmin rsps: single roll ­ two pack £1.07, four pack £1.79, nine pack £3.79; double roll ­ four pack £3.49. {{P&P }}

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