P&G relaunches Ariel in Kenya

Company officials said the new Arial Enzymax formulation was especially prepared to tackle regular Kenyan stains such as tomato sauce, raw banana and tea among others.

P&G officials gave an early press briefing ahead of the main launch and expressed optimism that the brand will achieve the acclaims that follows it in other parts of the world.

The launch comes on the back of what the P&G Services country manager, Andrew Plastow, called ‘a flagging category' that declined 3% over the past three years and is still dominated by bar soaps at a split of 58% to 42%.

“The matter of the economic downturn is a no damper. For along time, the washing powder category has lacked news to drive consumer excitement and increase sales, because of numerous low tier (brands with less stain removing power) and only a handful of tier 1 (superior cleaning) brands,” Plastow said.

The company said it would be investing significantly in advertising and other marketing activities in the coming months - an undertaking, Plastow said, would deliver huge economic benefits during these depressed times to supermarkets, consumers, job seekers, media houses, small scale business people and many more along the economic value chain.