How P&G Led Also-Ran To Sweet Smell of Success†

By Focusing on Fragrance, Gain Detergent Developed A Billion-Dollar Following

Wall Street Journal, September 4, 2007 — Gain was nearly a loss for Procter & Gamble. The low-priced laundry detergent, launched in 1969, had grown a small following among cost-conscious consumers in the South but failed to build nationwide appeal. With sales dwindling, in 1981 P&G decided to give Gain one more chance by repositioning it as a heavily fragrant detergent. Touting scent, instead of cleaning performance, was a departure from the long-held formula of laundry marketing.