As per the ORG urban value share survey of the Rs 1,000-crore toothpaste market, ace rival Hindustan Lever Ltd's (HLL) share during the period has increased to 34.4 per cent (average for January-April 1998) from 30.4 per cent in the same period last year.

Industry analysts attribute this to the aggressive marketing and advertising strategies adopted by the Indian subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch giant Unilever PLC, during 1997, which marked the beginning of a massive advertising battle between the two fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) majors.

The share trend in the ORG urban value share survey of the Rs 360-crore toothbrush market shows that the share of leader Colgate-Palmolive has, on an average taken for the months of January to April, dropped to 39.1 per cent in1998 from 47.7 per cent during the same period last year.

The share of Hindustan Lever in toothbrushes for January-April 1998 (average) has increased to 21.4 per cent from 14.1 per cent during the same period last year, an increase of around 6 per cent.

However, taking into consideration the individual months of the year 1998, Colgate's share of toothbrushes has actually risen to 40.6 per cent at the end of April from 39.9 per cent in January and 37.7 per cent in the month of March. Whereas HLL's share, during these individual months of January to April 1998, has fallen to 21.3 per cent at the end of April from 23.5 per cent in March. The Hindustan Lever share had appreciated to 15.9 per cent in April 1997 from 13.2 per cent in March 1997.

Hindustan Lever's leading dental-care brands are Pepsodent 2-in-1 toothpaste (Rs 24 for 100gm), Pepsodent Popular brush (Rs 8.50), Close-Up toothpaste (Rs 32 for 200 gm) and Pepsodent Perfect toothbrush priced at Rs 16.50. The brands of Colgate are Colgate DentalCream toothpaste (Rs 20.50 for 100gm), Colgate Calciguard toothpaste (Rs 30.25 for 100gm) and Cibaca Supreme brush priced at Rs 8.50. The growth of the dental-care segment is around 3-4 per cent in the urban market. A spate of new product launches and massive advertising spends to compete spurred growth in the industry.