06.11.07
After entering scores of new categories from detergent to diapers to toothpaste, Procter & Gamble Co.'s latest product marks a return to its beginnings. P&G soon will sell candles again, re-entering the business that helped form in 1837 what would grow into the world's largest consumer products company.
While P&G is late to a candle market that took off in the 1990s, its marketers think its Febreze brand candle will be a hot seller by combining scent with odor-eating ability.
"We're seeing a gap in the market, for a candle that truly eliminates odors," said Martin Hettich, marketing director for air care. "This really is the everyday candle."
In nine years as a brand, Febreze has grown in multiple forms such as fabric spray, room air freshener and plug-in scents. P&G officials think candle sales could help push Febreze to $1 billion in annual sales within the next two years, making it one of the fastest P&G brands to reach that benchmark in a company that has 22 billion-dollar brands including Tide detergent, Pampers diapers and Crest toothpaste.
Initial TV commercials for the candle, which P&G already is promoting on the nationally syndicated "Delilah" radio show, use humor to focus on kitchen/dining area uses for replacing fish and other strong food smells with scents such as vanilla and meadow rain. The tag line: "Freshness has a new flame."
The National Candle Association, a trade group, estimates annual U.S. sales at $2 billion, with sales slowing after years of double-digit growth. P&G estimates the market at closer to $3 billion, and Hettich said that while nearly seven of 10 U.S. households use candles, they buy an average of 2.5 candles a year and use them just once a week. P&G hopes Febreze candles, with suggested retail prices of $6.99 to $7.99 starting in July, will be used three or four times a week.
The Yankee Candle Co., the South Deerfield, Mass.-based maker of scented candles that reported nearly $700 million in sales last year, says it sees candle and home fragrance growth continuing at 7 percent a year overall, with strong growth in the kind of premium candles it markets.
"Our research indicates that many U.S. consumers have been disappointed with the mass market candle alternatives, and continue to seek out and return to the higher quality premium candles found in specialty channels," Rick Ruffalo, Yankee Candle's senior vice president of brand, marketing and innovation, said in a statement Thursday.
Of the Febreze candle, he said: "We respect Procter & Gamble as a great consumer products company, and welcome their entry into the mass market candle category."
For P&G, the new candle is an occasion to reflect on its history, with A.G. Lafley, the chairman, president and chief executive, appearing in a video shown to employees about the candle launch and P&G tradition. Displays in the corporate archives include an 1835 receipt from candle manufacturer William Procter who would soon combine forces with soap maker James Gamble, an 1862 order from the Union Army for 1,200 pounds of candles, a 10,000-pound order for Panama Canal workers in 1909 and some candles made in the 19th century.
"This is the single product that takes us back to our roots," Hettich said. "I think there's something reassuring about a company that is still around and still growing with good management after all these years."
The Febreze candles will use wicks made by Atkins & Pearce Inc. of Covington, Ky., which was a P&G supplier in the 1800s.
The candle business flourished in 19th century Cincinnati, whose role as a meatpacking hub got it the nickname "Porkopolis" and provided an abundance of byproducts such as lard and tallow for P&G. Widening use of gas and electric lighting led P&G to stop making candles in 1920.
Corporate archivist Edward Rider has a photo of P&G office space rented to Western Union in the 1860s. Among its telegraph operators here around the end of the Civil War was Thomas A. Edison, who pioneered long-lasting incandescent light bulbs.
"It's kind of ironic," Rider said with a chuckle, noting that P&G hosted the man who would cripple its candle business.
