宝洁在中国将面临一场硬仗

宝洁（Procter & Gamble）在最重要的新兴市场错失良机。因为自己低估了中国消费者的精明，也低估了他们愿意高价购买高品质家居用品的需求。

2月18日，宝洁老板戴维•泰勒在上任CEO之后的首次投资者见面会上，做出了上述坦率的评价。宝洁旗下包括汰渍（Tide）和吉列（Gillette）等品牌。

泰勒形容宝洁在中国市场的业绩是“不可接受的”，并且承认公司错误解读了当地消费者对高档产品的消费能力。泰勒于2015年11月份上任。这种误判损害了宝洁在中国市场获得更多收入的能力，并且导致其他消费者品牌抢占了市场份额。

泰勒在集团消费者分析纽约年度会议上表示：“我们过去将中国作为发展中市场看待，而不是全世界最有辨识能力的市场。”此次会议在佛罗里达州的博卡拉顿市召开，采用了网络直播的形式。

1月份，宝洁公司表示，上个季度，公司在中国的有机销售额下降幅度“接近百分之十”，业绩非常糟糕。中国市场不论是收入还是销售额，均是宝洁的第二大市场（仅次于美国）。

为此，保洁公司正在增加向中国市场供应高价产品，其中包括高档纸尿裤和拉拉裤、碧浪（Ariel）洗衣液的紧凑装和即将推出的汰渍升级版。此外，宝洁还在中国推出了欧乐B（Oral B）牙龈护理高档牙膏，目前正在加大广告宣传力度。也许，未来还会有更多新产品。

但一位分析师警告，情况不可能在一夜之间便有所好转，因为宝洁在中国的竞争对手一直在以更快地速度进军网络购物。

摩根大通（JPMorgan）分析师约翰•福奇尔最新的研究报告中写道：“宝洁要花数年的时间才能阻止市场份额流失。”他还提到了宝洁的竞争对手、一直在中国市场攻城略地的金佰利克拉克公司（Kimberly-Clark）：“我们认为，宝洁在中国将面临一场硬仗，因为他们的竞争对手在网络购物方面取得了更大的进步。”（财富中文网）

译者：刘进龙/汪皓

Procter & Gamble missed the boat in the mother of all emerging markets by underestimating the sophistication of consumers in China and their willingness to pay top dollar for quality household goods.

That was the blunt assessment of P&G boss Dave Taylor on Thursday in his first investor presentation as CEO of the maker of Tide and Gillette.

Calling P&G performance in China “unacceptable,” Taylor, who took the reins in November, acknowledged that the company had misread local appetite for its premium products. That has hurt P&G’s ability to charge more in that market and let other consumer brands take market share.

“We looked at China too much like a developing market as opposed to the most discerning market in the world,” Taylor said at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference in Boca Raton, Florida at a session that was webcast.

In January, P&G said that its organic sales in China fell by a “high single digits” percentage last quarter, a painful performance in its second biggest market by both revenue and sales (after the United States). So, the company isexpanding its higher-priced offerings there. Those include premium diapers in both the taped and pull-on segments, compact formats of its Ariel liquid detergent, and upcoming upgrades to Tide. P&G is also launching Oral B Gum Care, a new premium line of toothpaste, in China and ramping up advertising. And the list goes on.

But improvements won’t come overnight, one analyst warned, since P&G’s rivals have been quicker to sell online in China.

“It will take a few years to stem share losses,” JPMorgan analyst John Faucher wrote in a research note on Thursday. “They do have an uphill battle there, in our view, as their competitors have made more progress online,” he added, mentioning Kimberly-Clarkas one rival that has made inroads in that area.