J&J's Quality Control Draws Scrutiny

Johnson and Johnson recalled bottles of infant and children's Tylenol in August 2009 after learning that the medicine could be contaminated with bacteria that can "cause serious respiratory infections like pneumonia in patients suffering from weakened immune systems" (WSJ). Though recalled in August, it was not made public until September. J&J's corporate responsibility is in question. Though previous events, such as 1982's quick and public recall of tampered bottles, have strengthened J&J's image, they will have to work hard to gain back their customer's good will. J&J sells a large variety of products, so pulling Tylenol from the shelves for a short period of time will not harm the company financially.

J&J should have immediately warned the public when this issued arose. As stated in the article, the variety of products sold by J&J aids it the company's ability to pull Tylenol from the shelves without monetarily harming them. With customers now on edge due to the safety of their purchased products, as well as lack of trust they now have in J&J, the company may now lose more clientele than if they were to publicly announce the recall when it first happened.

Wall Street Journal, print. (29 September 2010)

Bed Bath & Beyond Posts Higher Net

Over the course of this past year, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. has been a model for other house ware businesses, exceeding its own profit predictions again and again. The business has only been able to further increase its revenue as a result of Linens ‘N Things’ drop out from the market. Acting as a leader in the industry, Bed Bath & Beyond capitalized on this loss of competition by reducing its advertising costs, a heads up and logical financial move by the company.

Bed Bath’s improvements are evident. In the latest period of this past year, it increased its profit by 34% and its revenue by 12% since last year. The company had predicted a sales increase in the high single digits by the end of the year, and it generated 7.4% increase, which was on the upside of the prediction. In addition, the company’s gross margin rose by .5% as well.

As a result of such steady improvement, Bed Bath continues to grow. In just the latest marking period of this year, the company has opened seven new stores.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703860104575508262854850010.html?mod=WSJ_Consumerproducts_leftHeadlines

P&G's Impact In The Consumer Product Industry

Proctor & Gamble (P&G) is currently the most influential and largest producer in the consumer products industry. P&G has more than 250 brands and focus on five main categories: laundry and cleaning, beauty care, paper goods, food and beverages, and health care. Their major brands include Crest, Charmin, Downy, Pampers, and Tide, Pantene, and Pringles. They believe in sustainability and have a high environmental awareness. P&G is always innovating and reformulating products to make sure they are safe in respect to human health and the environment. P&G’s strong marketing strategies and high sales performance have continued to pressure other consumer product companies and have secured them as the leader in the industry.

Recently, an article was published in the New York Times on how one of P&G’s brands, known as Cascade, has been experiencing issues with their dishwashing detergent. Responding to a recent environmentally friendly law, detergent makers had to cut back on phosphate, a crucial ingredient of dishwashing detergent. Consumers have been extremely disappointed with the efficiency of Cascade’s detergent and say that they are running their dishwashers twice in order to fully clean their dishes, which is resulting in more unnecessary water consumption. As a result, Cascade is doing their part to protect bodies of freshwater; however, they are losing consumers rapidly.

http://www.sustainability-index.com/djsi_pdf/Bios06/CBR_ProcterGamble_06.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/science/earth/19clean.html?ref=procter_and_gamble

Unilever in Advanced Talks to Buy Alberto Culver

In this Article of The Wall Street Journal on September 27, 2010, it is stated that Unilever wants to buy Alberto Culver Co., a company that makes hair products. They will pay "$35.50 cash", which is more than the price said prior to this one. The Alberto Culver Co. consists of products made by TRESemme, Nexxus, St. Ives, and Noxzema. This purchase is happening one year after Unilever purchased Sara Lee Corp for $1.72 billion in cash.

Unilever includes brands such as Dove, Degree, and Suave. Its sales are up 7.9% for these products and the total sales for the entire company are up 3.8% from last year.

The acquisition would put Unilever in competition with Procter and Gamble. This would also increase Unilever's presence in North America.

If this purchase does go through, the competition in the Consumer Product Goods Industry will increase. Unilever will probably become an even more prominent company in this industry and will then have more control.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704082104575516451048694186.html?mod=WSJ_Consumerproducts_leftHeadlines

Compass to Buy Ergo Baby Carrier

Compass Diversified Holdings Inc. has decided to buy Ergo Baby Carrier Inc., a newly emerging baby products company. Compass has looked to support small to medium sized companies that have the potential to grow despite the upset state of the economy. Ergo has proven its potential, gaining revenues of $22.8 million in 2009.

By merging with Compass, Ergo will benefit greatly, for Compass will further diversify the products the growing business offers. Not only will consumers now associate Ergo’s reputation with Compass, but they will also have a wider variety of products to choose from. This should increase consumer demand for Compass products. At the same time, Compass, investing in leaders of niche markets, will benefit from Ergo’s top notch specialization in baby carriers, baby backpacks, and other products that reflect this particular niche.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704394704575496222162050434.html

P&G's Merge With Gillette

In 2005, Proctor & Gamble merged with Gillette Co. in a $57 million deal, creating the world’s biggest consumer-products enterprise.  The combination brought the marketing strengths of P&G, whose products are marketed towards women, together with Gillette’s high profit brands which are marketed towards men. News of the merge immediately sent Gillette’s shares up 12 percent; however P&G dropped 2.7 percent. The merge was said to result in the elimination of about 4 percent of the combined workforce of about 140,000. The merger created a company with revenues of more than $60 billion.

                P&G has remained one of the most successful consumer products enterprises. In 2006, revenues went up 12.6% and its ranking went up to become the 24^th largest corporation in America. Since 2005, stock increased up until around 2009 when the economic crisis hit and stock prices plummeted. However, since the stock market crash, stock prices for P&G have been increasing at a steady rate.

http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=PG

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6878219/

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/snapshots/1389.html

The Green Paper Company: Using the Eco-Friendly Environment of Today for a Profit

The Green Paper Company, as according to their website (greenpapercompany.com), emerged in 2008 as the industry's first "reliable source for post-consumer recycled stationery." All products are composed of 30%-100% recycled material. Their products are also produced in mid-west USA with US materials, contributing to the lessening of their carbon footprint (e.g. shipping distance is decreased). Not only are their products green, but the methods in which they make them are, as well. Any component of their process is eco-friendly, from "paperclips to pens."

Today's society has become very aware of our environment. Damaging effects of careless consumers in the past, such as CFCs in hairspray used by many females, have left a huge imprint on our world today. Many up and coming businesses,like the Green Paper Company, are taking the consumers' preference of "green" into account when starting up. Existing companies are launching new lines of eco-friendly products to keep up with such competitors. One example includes Clorox, which has a new line called Green Works, which is comprised of natural household cleaning products. The green trend has created a new branch for starting businesses and has forced older businesses to accommodate to the new consumer preference.

http://www.clorox.com/

greenpapercompany.com