A game of inches

Over the past 5 years, while the rest of the world has been growing at hyperspeed, $52 billion Unilever and $40 billion P&G have been living in a parallel slow-growth universe. Since 1996, Unilever's sales have declined an average 3.6% a year. P&G's have inched up 3.6% a year. Every one of the market they compete in is barely growing, flat or declining. Shampoo sales, for instance, grew 2.4% over the past year, according to Information Resource Inc.; deodorant was up 1.2%; dishwashing liquid dropped 0.5%; toothpaste sank 1.5%. At the same time both companies remain under intense pressure from Wall Street to pick up the pace. P&G's share price has fallen 20% over the past two years to a recent $70. Unilever is off 30%, selling recently at $30. In this kind of environment, "it is a death struggle to incrementally gain share," says Burt Flickinger, a former P&G brand manager who now works as a consumer products consultant.