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Kimberly-Clark, P&G Engage in Tissue Warfare

Procter & Gamble, battling for a larger share in the $1 billion tissue category, is going head-to-head with Kimberly-Clark. Both CPG giants are launching new campaigns touting improvements to their tissue lines.

P&G has added shea butter to its Puffs Plus line of tissues, along with new box designs for three Puffs products, while K-C is marketing a new, 3-ply tissue as the biggest innovation from Kleenex in four decades, writes Brandweek.

K-C’s Kleenex brand saw a decline in sales of 5.9 percent for the 52 weeks ending August 10, 2008; P&G’s Puffs sales grew 3.2 percent, due in large part to its Puffs Plus tissues with lotion, which grew 14.7 percent. With its stronger, softer tissue, K-C is hoping to pull market share away from the biggest seller of lotion tissue.

The K-C campaign includes TV ads, a giveaway campaign in October and a four-page spread in consumer magazines in February that includes a 4-x-4 tissue within the spread.

P&G’s campaign includes television and print ads in Good Housekeeping and Parenting.

While Kleenex is the leader in overall tissue sales, owning about 49 percent of the market - compared to Puffs’ 25.6 percent - Puffs is the leader in the arena of lotion tissue, with 13.4 percent of the market (compared to K-C’s 5.7 percent), according to Nielsen (via the Dallas Morning News).