07.30.07
9. Lion
Japan
www.lion.com
Sales: $2 billion
Sales:
$2 billion for household and personal care products. Corporate sales: $2.8 billion. Net income: $47 million.
Key Personnel:
Sadayoshi Fujishige, president.
Major Products:
Oral care (including toothpaste, toothbrush, mouthwash, breath freshener and dental needs), beauty care (shampoo, conditioner, styling products, hair restorer, men’s cosmetics, soap, body soap, skin care, antiperspirant and deodorant), fabric care (laundry detergent, bleach, fabric softener), home care (household cleaner, deodorizers, air fresheners, dishwashing detergent and kitchen-related products).
New Products:
Household—Chokko Bright detergent, Top Fuai-Kan detergent, Charmay Awa no Chikara dish detergent, Look Kirei No Mist household cleaner, Varsan Hyosatsu Jet Spray insecticide; Oral care—Dentor Systema EX, Dent Health SP Medicated and Clinica Dental Rinse toothpastes, Dentor Systema Dental Rinse mouthwash.
Comments:
Sales of household and personal care products slipped about 1% last year. By category, sales of household cleaners dropped 1.1%, beauty care sales fell 6.5% but oral care sales jumped 3.4%.Like so many other Japanese companies, Lion is taking extraordinary measures to bolster weak demand at home. It made “strategic marketing investments” to develop its mainstay Clinica and Top brands and also established medical health categories, a combination of home and pharmaceutical products, in each of the oral care and beauty care segments.
By product category, laundry detergent sales fell despite the launch of an environmentally-friendly version of Top. Lion launched a new compact detergent in Thailand. Bleach sales dropped due to “severe” market competition. Dish detergent sales fell too, despite the launch of improved Charmy V Quick. Sales of fabric softeners remained flat following the release of a new fragrance variant in the Kaori no Deodorant no Soflan lineup. Household cleaner sales got a boost from the debut of Look Kirei no Mist hard surface cleaner and a relaunch of Ofuro no Look bathtub cleaner. International sales of household products rose following the debut of Pao laundry detergents in Thailand.
Oral care sales rose even as toothpaste sales declined from intense competition and a slump in Dentor toothpaste sales. Instead, Lion relied on good gains for mouthwash in Japan and strong sales of Dentrala toothpastes and toothbrushes in South Korea and Systema toothpastes and toothbrushes in Thailand.
Beauty care sales declined due to falling shampoo, conditioner and bodywash sales. These declines came despite heavy promotion of the Shukubutsu-Monogatari (Plant Story) line. Sales of AP/deodorants also fell.
With the Japanese economy in slow-growth mode, Lion will continue to roll out new products in its home market and focus international expansion throughout the ASEAN region and South Korea.
Environmental issues have become an important topic to Lion management. Besides launching a number of “environmentally-friendly” products in the past year, in May, the company launched a three-year environmental plan that is aimed at:
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions;
• Considering the environment from a product-oriented perspective;
• Effectively using and recycling resources;
• Appropriately handling chemical substances; and
• Fostering environmental awareness within the Lion Group.
Also in May, Lion announced plans to establish a Malaysian subsidiary to manufacture methyl ester sulfonate. Production is expected to begin in December 2008.