Kimberly-Clark’s first entry into the disposable diaper market created by Procter & Gamble’s Pampers® brand was a major advance, but not for long. K-C’s superior new entry was quickly surpassed by competitors, and ultimately withdrawn. The KIMBIES® diaper saga became a lesson learned: performance is everything in consumer markets, and it had better improve. Or else. In 1978, Kimberly-Clark tried again with HUGGIES® diapers — Baby-Shaped® diapers with elastic at the legs to help stop leaks, just like the rubber pants so many consumers used over cloth diapers at the time. Consumers flocked to HUGGIES, and this time Kimberly- Clark followed up with improvement after improvement. In 1985, HUGGIES took leadership of the category for the first time, and has been the number-one selling diaper in America since 1993. Looking back, KIMBIES® diapers may have been the best thing that ever happened to Kimberly-Clark as a consumer product company. Today, HUGGIES Brand introduces a demonstrably better product every year, and the imperative to innovate extends far beyond the HUGGIES® diaper franchise. It’s no accident that Kimberly- Clark offers consumers the number-one or number- two brand in 80 countries. THE PRODUCT HUGGIES® Ultratrim, introduced in 1992, is the brand’s most popular diaper and a great example of the continuous innovation that keeps HUGGIES on top of so many market segments. HUGGIES Ultratrim began with a technological breakthrough: a way to make diapers radically less bulky with zero sacrifice in protection. Most of us don’t usually think of diapers as high-tech products, but that’s what the HUGGIES Ultratrim diaper is. The materials and processes that go into it are guarded by hundreds of separate patents. The result is a product costing about a quarter that gets better every year. Today, HUGGIES Ultratrim are simply called HUGGIES Diapers, the Baby-Shaped® diapers that are made to fit the unique curves of all babies...click here to read ahead
