Product innovation from top brands drives growth

Adult incontinence — also called by the more consumer-friendly category monikers of overactive bladder or bladder control — is one of the larger categories within OTC that’s growing at an almost double-digit rate. The category as a whole is trending 8.5% higher for the 52 weeks ended Feb. 21 on a huge base — $1.7 billion in sales across total U.S. multi-outlets, according to IRI. And two of the top three brands — Kimberly-Clark’s Poise and Procter & Gamble’s Always Discreet — are helping to drive that growth with new product innovation.

(Click here to view the full OTC Category Review.)



P&G re-entered the category in 2014 after a 15-year hiatus, but the company has reclaimed dollar share of 8.9% of the category, according to IRI. “We continue to be encouraged by the progress we’re making on Always Discreet,” P&G president and CEO Alan Lafley told analysts last summer. “Importantly, we are attracting new women to the category. ... Women are not satisfied with current product offerings that don’t work very well.”



Last year, Kimberly-Clark invigorated its Poise brand with the launch of Poise Impressa Bladder Supports, a new over-the-counter internal solution designed for the temporary management of stress urinary incontinence in women. “By effectively translating deep consumer insights, we’ve introduced an innovation with Poise Impressa that changes the game in the light incontinence category,” noted Paula Winkel, senior director of Kimberly-Clark research and engineering.



New to the category is Butterfly Health, a new form of protection targeting the 90% of bowel leakage sufferers who need only a lightly absorbent product. It’s an absorbent body liner and, according to the company, the first and only product to adhere gently in between the buttocks.