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Colgate-Palmolive Company

William Colgate founded the Colgate Company in 1806 as a starch, soap and candle business in New York City. For the first hundred years, the company did all its business in the United States. However, in the early 1900s, the company began an aggressive expansion programme that led to the establishment of Colgate operations in countries throughout Europe, Latin America and the Far East. In more recent years it has setup operations in Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Europe and China. Colgate-Palmolive became a truly global consumer products company, worth $8.7 bn and selling in more than 200 countries.

Colgate-Palmolive’s five main sectors of business are: Oral Care, Body Care, Household Surface Care, Fabric Care and Pet Nutrition and Health Care. In the area of Oral Care, Colgate-Palmolive is the world leader in toothpaste. As a result of the company’s heavy investment in research and technology, it has developed many successful toothpastes, rinses and toothbrushes. To strengthen its presence in professional products, Colgate-Palmolive has bought the Ora Pharm Company of Australia and the dental therapeutics business of Scherer Laboratories USA in 1990. For many years, the company had a strong dental education programme in schools throughout the world and maintained a close partnership with the international dental community. Recently it has created a web site for dental professionals.

The company has always paid close attention to the environment. It has already made great progress in the use of recyclable bottles and packaging materials.

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Fabtek

Fabtek is a small company based in Hamburg, Germany. It has produced a new type of fabric called Protean, which can be used for a wide variety of products. Protean has many advantages.

· It is light, strong and long-lasting.

· It can be made very thick or so thin that it becomes translucent.

· It can be made in any colour.

· It is flexible and soft to the touch.

· The fabric is made from fibres similar to nylon and polyester. These are coated with metals so that the fabric can conduct electricity.

Fabtek believes that Protean has great sales potential. At present, it is trying to expand sales by licensing other manufacturers to produce interesting new products with Protean.

Fabtek already has a licensing agreement with one firm, which has produced some award-winning products using Protean. Here are three.

1. ‘Dazzle’ – A range of shoes for young women

Selling points:

· Light and comfortable – adapt to the shape of a person’s foot

· Their colour can be changed at any time

· Shiny, smart and very durable

· Ideal for dancing

2. Protean steering wheel

Selling points:

· Better grip for drivers

· Safer than all other steering wheels

· Very pleasant to the touch

· Low production costs

3. Protean watch straps

Selling points:

· Waterproof and easy to clean

· Anyone can wear them – non-allergic

· More beautiful than other straps

· Light up in the dark

Recently, Fabtek contacted Gadget Plc, a company with over 2,000 products and a worldwide network of sales offices. Gadget has designed and developed many best-selling electronic, household and automobile products. Fabtek has asked Gadget to come up with new ideas for using Protean. Here is an extract from a letter which Fabtek’s Chief Executive sent to Gadget’s Development Manager.

“We are looking for partners to manufacture products using Protean. We want to work with firms that are creative and which can design exciting, innovative products.

We invite you to sent us three concepts for new products in the following forms:

1. A description of the product

2. Its selling points

3. Ways in which the products is really new

4. Its target consumers and main buyers

5. Price which will attract the most buyers

6. places where you can sell it

7. An advertising and promotion plan”