Scott pulls the plug on Andrex

The imminent disappearance of Andrex from supermarket shelves is causing dismay among some of its local marketers and joy among rivals.

As the seventh biggest grocery brand in the UK, it is one of the most established names around. But now it is to be a casualty of a global realignment of brands at parent Scott Paper.

Details of the move are still being discussed, but it is understood that the first step will be to endorse Andrex with the name Scottex – under which it is marketed in most of Europe – and then gradually to increase the emphasis on Scottex, while withdrawing Andrex.

A spokesman at the US company’s Philadelphia headquarters says the strategy is “a revolution for Scott. Our overall strategy is to capitalise on the Scott name globally.”

Andrex will eventually be phased out, but a timetable has yet to be established.

The famous puppy advertising – now in its 23rd year – will continue. It is being rolled out

to promote Scott toilet tissue worldwide.

The latest commercial was created for European and Asian markets. The puppy concept

is already being used in US advertisements (MW May 12).

The move is part of a new global branding strategy forged by Scott chief executive Alfred Dunlap. Virtually all the company’s products are to carry the Scott name in some form. In the UK, for example, Handy Andies has already been renamed Scottex by Handy Andies.

Other UK brands include Scotties, Scottissues and Scottowels.

Media buying for both Scottex and Andrex has been centralised into McCann-Erickson. All Scott brands have been aligned into three global ad agencies: J Walter Thompson for tissues, McCann for towels and Bozell for wet wipes and Cottonelle (an upmarket toilet tissue).

There are signs, however, that the initiative is meeting resistance from UK marketers. While agreeing that it would be “consistent” to rename Andrex, Scott European category leader Glynn Harper says: “You have to weigh up the disadvantages. There may be a case for

an exception.”

JWT Europe account manager Carrie Dodo urges caution: “A name change in the UK is under discussion. But we have to consider what Andrex stands for. It is exceptionally well known.”

Marketers at rival Kimberly-Clark-owned Kleenex see the confusion in the Andrex camp

as an opportunity to do what would have been unthinkable just a few years ago and overtake Andrex.

Andrex is still the dominant force in the market, though in recent years its market share has plummeted. Andrex has suffered because of the rise of price-fighting brands, aggressive own-label expansion and a more concerted marketing effort by Kleenex.

Kleenex’s value share of the market has grown from 11 per cent to 16 per cent in the past two years, while Andrex’s has slipped from 30 per cent to 24 per cent in the same period, according to Euromonitor.

“We hope to overtake them this year,” says a source close to Kleenex. “They would be nuts to lose the Andrex name.”

If and when the move goes ahead, a lot will depend on how well Andrex marketers handle the shift. The US spokesman claims the shift is likely to be “progressive”.

But Michael Peters, chief executive of design consult-

ancy Identica, says: “In my experience, if you don’t make a clean break you confuse consumers even more.”

It is a view echoed by other observers. The challenge for Scott will be to make the shift at a time when it is already losing market share in the UK and to ensure that its share does not slip further.