Procter & Gamble has enjoyed a very successful year in paper products and nowhere more so than in bathroom tissues. Charmin put the wind up the fiercely competitive bathroom tissue sector. And in kitchen towels, P&G stole a march on the opposition with Bounty. Heavy advertising has increased awareness and sales in the kitchen towel category which has grown 2% in the latest year. Extra sales have come from Bounty primarily, and new ranges of patterned towels appear to have increased sales as opposed to spreading them thinly. Kittensoft (including Thirst Pockets) has also shown growth in excess of 20% and own label, which also has a strong presence, continues to thrive. A year ago, P&G launched Tempo, Tempo Plus and Tempo Menthol in an attempt to break the Kleenex stranglehold on facial tissues. Kimberly-Clark's dominance is unlikely to be threatened in the short term but an impression has been made. Emphasis has been placed on thickness and strength for the Tempo brand and with the menthol variant is in line with the general category trend of persuading users to trade up to the more expensive and efficacious products. This has led to a decrease in sales of own label tissues leaving the way open for the likes of Tempo. The standard Tempo product is only available in pocket packs, and its entry into this sector has grown it, while Tempo Plus (with added lotion) has grown the regular boxed segment. But it still has some way to go to overtake Kleenex Balsam, its main competitor within added value' tissues. Sanitary protection has been hit hard by EDLP, as a lot of sales had previously been made on multibuy deals. This has meant a drop in both volume and value sales and the decline of the biggest sectors (tampons and towels) has negated overall any increase in the liners market (where innovation continues at a higher rate than in tampons and towels. NPD has come mainly from SCA which launched Bodyform String. First year sales in excess of £1m have grown the sector but it is P&G that dominates liners and the Alldays range continues to thrive. The Pampers brand remains the yardstick for disposable nappies but despite some innovation in the form of Pampers Sensitive, it is Kleenex Huggies that has enjoyed more success in the last 12 months. Supported by some heavyweight advertising, every one of the Huggies brands has grown year on year. The standard nappy is up £13m, Pull-Ups and Pull-Ups Dry Nites 20%, while Little Swimmers have doubled in sales. {{MARKETING }}

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