Proctor & Gamble originated in 1837, when William Proctor and James Gamble formed a partnership in Cincinnati, Ohio. The partnership flourished making the company a gaining name as principled manufacturer of high quality consumer goods sold at competitive prices. By 1992 Proctor & Gamble was a multinational company with annual sales of almost $30 billion profits exceeding $1.8 billion, and a reputation for quality products, high integrity, strong marketing, and conservative management. When P&G grew they became more and more interested in foreign markets. In 1992 they had sold their products in more than 140 countries around the world. In 1991 P&G after being satisfied with their success with Charmin Bounty and Puffs they decided they wanted to expand their business to foreign lands. They decided that Canada was the best and most logical choice to make that first step because of its location and free trade between Canada and the U.S. In 1991 P&G found that Canadian Pacific Product Company, a large paper company was prepared to see Facelle Paper Products, it’s tissue division. Facelle was a medium sized manufacturer and marketer of tissue, towel and sanitary products. So for 185 million P&G bought the Facelle Co. Proctor & Gamble had to consider many things when entering the market in Canada. Tissue products were inexpensive, widely used and were frequently purchased (on average once every two weeks.) Brand switching was high and the risks with product failure were low. The only thing that manufacturers had to worry about was to differentiate their products on performance to build loyalty. Retailers felt that the paper was a low profit, low loyalty category. They used it primarily to draw consumers into their stores. Royale had been the only 3ply tissue on the market, and was viewed as the traditional strong, premium quality facial tissue. Florelle was a 2ply tissue that had received little ...
