abhishreshthaa
Abhijeet S
The Clorox Company is a manufacturer of various food and chemical products based in Oakland, California, which is best known for its bleach product, Clorox.
The product and the company date to May 3, 1913, when five entrepreneurs, Archibald Taft, a banker; Edward Hughes, a purveyor of wood and coal; Charles Husband, a bookkeeper; Rufus Myers, a lawyer; and William Hussey, a miner, invested $100 apiece to set up the first commercial-scale liquid bleach factory in the United States, on the east side of San Francisco Bay.The firm was first called the Electro-Alkaline Company. The name of its original bleach product, Clorox, was coined as a portmanteau of chlorine and sodium hydroxide, the two main ingredients. The original Clorox packaging featured a diamond-shaped logo, and the diamond shape has persisted in one form or another in Clorox branding to the present. In 1917, the company developed a less concentrated version for household, rather than industrial, use, and sales took off.
In 1928, the company went public on the San Francisco stock exchange and changed its name to the Clorox Chemical Company. "Butch," an animated Clorox liquid bleach bottle, was used in advertising and became well-known, even surviving the 1941 transition from rubber-stoppered bottles to ones with screw-off caps.
During World War II, when chlorine gas shortages forced many bleach manufacturers to reduce the concentration of sodium hypochlorite in their products, Clorox elected to sell fewer units of a full-strength product, establishing a reputation for quality.
Strengths
* Diverse product portfolio full of A brands
* Leading market position - (63 Clorox brands held #1 and #2 position in their respective categories in 2007)
* Strong Research & Development
Weaknesses
* High dependency in the US market
* Concentrated - Top 5 customers account for almost 45% of revenue
Opportunities
* Growth in Latin America and other emerging markets
* Burt's Bees acquisition
* Agreement with Jamak Fabrication
* Other potential acquisitions
* Growing natural personal care market
Threats
* Intense competition from Colgate, Unilever
* Private label growth
* Governmental regulations affecting manufacturing, packaging, distribution, etc
* Commodity price increases
The product and the company date to May 3, 1913, when five entrepreneurs, Archibald Taft, a banker; Edward Hughes, a purveyor of wood and coal; Charles Husband, a bookkeeper; Rufus Myers, a lawyer; and William Hussey, a miner, invested $100 apiece to set up the first commercial-scale liquid bleach factory in the United States, on the east side of San Francisco Bay.The firm was first called the Electro-Alkaline Company. The name of its original bleach product, Clorox, was coined as a portmanteau of chlorine and sodium hydroxide, the two main ingredients. The original Clorox packaging featured a diamond-shaped logo, and the diamond shape has persisted in one form or another in Clorox branding to the present. In 1917, the company developed a less concentrated version for household, rather than industrial, use, and sales took off.
In 1928, the company went public on the San Francisco stock exchange and changed its name to the Clorox Chemical Company. "Butch," an animated Clorox liquid bleach bottle, was used in advertising and became well-known, even surviving the 1941 transition from rubber-stoppered bottles to ones with screw-off caps.
During World War II, when chlorine gas shortages forced many bleach manufacturers to reduce the concentration of sodium hypochlorite in their products, Clorox elected to sell fewer units of a full-strength product, establishing a reputation for quality.
Strengths
* Diverse product portfolio full of A brands
* Leading market position - (63 Clorox brands held #1 and #2 position in their respective categories in 2007)
* Strong Research & Development
Weaknesses
* High dependency in the US market
* Concentrated - Top 5 customers account for almost 45% of revenue
Opportunities
* Growth in Latin America and other emerging markets
* Burt's Bees acquisition
* Agreement with Jamak Fabrication
* Other potential acquisitions
* Growing natural personal care market
Threats
* Intense competition from Colgate, Unilever
* Private label growth
* Governmental regulations affecting manufacturing, packaging, distribution, etc
* Commodity price increases