Purell: Reinvigorating a Leader

Marketing director Rory Grace reviewed her notes from the team meeting she had called to discuss how to spend Purell's $5 million marketing communications budget. Purell had created the hand sanitizer category more than a decade earlier, but broad private-label competition from retailers had led to dropping sales. In 2017, Purell's share had dropped to 26%, whereas the private label share was 65%. This was particularly disheartening because the Purell brand did offer some functional benefits over private-label options.