Huggies by Kimberly-Clark

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Executive Summary:

Huggies is a brand name product that is owned by Kimberly-Clark. Huggies sells disposable diapers and other baby products. It was founded in 1968, and was introduced to the public in 1978. Huggies thrive on selling their products to mothers of babies. Their baby products effectively sends comforting messages to their loyal customers. While they place their products in many retailer stores, they have the perfect price to compete with their competitors.

Target market:

Huggies’s target market can consist of mothers of newborns to five year olds. Products of Huggies is usually cheaper than its competitors. Therefore, its target demographic can also be mothers of low income.

Product:

Huggies’s popular products are usually their disposable diapers. Their diapers are designed for comfort and good quality. They have diapers for swimming, sleeping, training, and all-day purposes. Huggies diapers are equipped with easy open sides for quick and easy changes when need it. It has soft and stretchy materials all-around the diaper for great fit and comfort. Huggies also have training pants with added absorbents that protect toddlers from leaking throughout the day and night. Huggies Pullups has an underwear-like design implemented for the purpose of teaching the toddlers how to take them off and put them on. The Huggies Pullups diapers also have teaching tools that let toddlers know when it is wet whenever the image on the diaper fades.

Place:

Huggies used to ship products directly from manufacturing sites to consumers. Their manufacturing plants were connected to their distribution centers. However, by the end of 2009 the owner of Huggies, Kimberly-Clark re-designed their co-packing operations and distribution centers into nine regional mega distribution centers. These distribution centers are located all around the U.S averaging around 800,000 square feet each, making it more efficient and cost effective for the business. Huggies products are currently being sold in numerous retailers. One can find Huggies products at Target, CVS, Walmart, Walgreens, Rite Aid, etc. With their involvement of indirect channels of distribution it is evident that their products are now sold intensively.

 Price:

Huggies pricing strategy aims for the value brand. They are mindful of their competitors and their pricing. Huggies price is usually marked around 21 cents per diaper, oppose from Pampers 24 cents per diaper. Huggies is pricing their products low to gain revenue against their competitors. While they’re vigilant of their competitor’s pricing, they also understand the brand loyalty that their customers have. So their pricing will not mark as low as other competitors like Luvs, and generic brand like up & up, from target. Huggies will maintain their quality of their brand while offering value pricing.

Promotion:

It’s not difficult to tell that Huggies try their best to send a specific message to their customers. Huggies’s messages towards their customers are usually comforting and sensitive. By conveying an emotional message that resonates with mothers of irresistible babies, Huggies are ensuring a competitive advantage towards their competitors. To make sure they are targeting the right target market for promotional purposes, Huggies usually advertise their products with commercials during soap operas and family sitcoms. They display ads on magazines like, Parenting, Parents, Disney FamilyFun, American Baby, Babytalk, etc. Huggies are one of the biggest diaper brand that offers promotional discounts and coupons. Huggies sometimes have their diapers stacked up to the top of the ceiling, so when consumers walk in to a department store they can see their strategy of the point-of-purchase system. The have an integrated marketing communication system that sticks very well with their customers. From big red bubbly font of their brand name “Huggies” on every cover of their packaging, to catchy slogans like “I’m a big kid now,” Huggies has created a memorable product. With cartoons, babies, and Disney type concepts printed on most of their products and product packaging, Huggies are sure to attract and retain their target market.

Economical:

We all know that a baby’s bottom is very sensitive, and that diapers do have a reputation in causing skin irritation. This may be the reason that have caused sales to go down for Huggies. In 2011, according to phdinparenting.com, diaper sales fell nearly 3 percent. Rashes and skin irritation may be one of the reason why sales might drop for Huggies, but lack of disposable income for low income parents may also be the reason why sales aren’t driving up for Huggies. Thus, indication of parents veering towards cheaper and generic brands becomes present. It is also evident that the Huggies brand is economically affected in countries outside of the U.S. Huggies diaper’s sales and revenue goes up during winter time as diapers are used more during the cold weather. However, during summer seasons the diaper market drops because more rashes and skin irritations tend to occur for babies during warmer conditions.

Political/Legal

        Unfortunately, where there is a business, there are also potential lawsuits. According to topclassactions.com, in 2015, a class action lawsuit in New York federal court was proposed against Kimberly-Clark and its brand Huggies. It involved two consumers and Kimberly-Clark corporations. The plaintiff’s case entails the product Huggies Pure and Natural having potential harmful ingredients instead of having actual natural and pure ingredients incorporated in the product. As tests from labs do confirm that the harmful ingredients are actually on the outer parts of the diaper, it is however still impactful to its product and reputation. Huggies and Kimberly- Clark faced allegations of breaching warranty- acts and violates several state laws in this lawsuit. While these types of legal and political threats affect the brand Huggies and Kimberly-Clark, they can only fight it off and adjust to it.

Social/Cultural:                                                                                         While societies are changing frequently, businesses are affected constantly. Needless to say, Huggies brand faces those external factors as well. According to cdc.gov, in United States, pregnancy rates for women are reaching the lowest levels in twelve years. As women are starting to not have babies, the potential sales are diminishing by the minute for Huggies brand. While we know that families not having any babies will affect a diaper business dramatically, having a smaller size family can also impact diaper companies like Kimberly- Clark and their Huggies brand. According to pewresearch.org, there has been an attitude shift towards having the ideal family size from the 1970s to 2013. In retrospect, it went from having 3.6 kids as the mean ideal, to 2.6 kids as the mean ideal now. With people concerned about the cost of raising a child, lack of time for the child, and more women in the workforce, it is evident that less babies mean less revenue for diaper businesses like Huggies. Huggies will continue to face social and cultural factors, but for the sake of the business they will have to adapt to it.