Soaps work themselves into a lather over market results

THE battle of the soaps - Persil versus Ariel - has entered another phase. Ever since Lever Brothers launched Persil Power in May, the industry has had its knickers in a twist. Procter and Gamble executives brandished underwear, saying Persil Power rotted fabric. Nonsense, countered Lever Bros.

Now, after the battle of the disintegrating clothes, comes the battle of the statistics. Both companies use the same independent figures but are desperately trying to burnish them with a positive glow. But the arch-rivals agree on one thing: sales of Persil Power are falling.

Figures show that sales of the new-formula washing powder peaked in mid-June but have been sliding ever since.

Procter and Gamble claims its figures show that sales of Persil Power have been falling for four weeks. The new product's market share has dropped from 4.5 per cent in June to 3 per cent by the first week of July, it says. In contrast, the share of Ariel Ultra, Procter and Gamble's own concentrate, has risen from 5.4 per cent to 6 per cent in the same period.

Lever Brothers, a division of Unilever, said it only had figures up to the third week of June, which show Persil ahead. But it admitted sales were slipping. 'We have had a peak. We've been dropping slightly,' a spokesman said.

The company said the dip was nothing more than the usual tailing-off of a new product after its initial launch. It also blamed a heavily defensive advertising campaign and sniping tactics, launched by P&G to back Ariel.

Lever Brothers is fighting back. It has spent pounds 25m promoting Persil Power, even launching a roadshow to win over housewives around the country.

But while the soap companies blow suds at each other, the retailers have noticed nothing startling at the checkout. Tesco said sales of Persil Power had improved but only because it ran a special promotion. Sales slipped back when the promotion was switched to Ariel. Gateway stores reported encouraging sales of the new product - 'but you don't know how much better they might have been without the bad publicity'.

None of the big retailers reports customer complaints about disintegrating underwear.