TAMPON ALTERNATIVE GETS WEST COAST DISTRIBUTION

PETER MALBIN

Distribution of a new feminine hygiene product, Instead, is being built primarily at supermarket chains in the Pacific Northwest and northern California.

Major retailers, including Albertson's, Safeway, SuperValu, Certified Grocers and Save Mart, are selling Instead in markets like Portland, Ore.; Seattle; Boise, Idaho; and northern California. "Sales have been good," said Jenny Enochson, a spokeswoman for Albertson's, Boise, Idaho.

Drug chains such as Walgreens and Thrifty PayLess also are stocking Instead in the Northwest. Presently, there is no distribution in the mass-market channel.

"We have not gone after any Kmart or Wal-Mart business. We feel strongly about building a foundation in ood and drug," said John Linderman, vice president of Meridian Consulting Group, Westport, Conn., which is managing the rollout and ongoing sales effort.

Among wholesalers distributing the product are McKesson Drug Co., San Francisco; Bergen Brunswig Corp., Orange, Calif.; and SuperValu, Minneapolis.

The retail effort is being handled by nonfood broker Morgan & Sampson Pacific, Los Alamitos, Calif. "We are experiencing terrific movement at retail," said Dan Morgan Jr., executive vice president.

The initial marketing strategy for Instead is trial-driven. Consumers can get a coupon for a free six-count pack of Instead through direct mail or by dialing an 800-number that airs during television "edumercials" for the product. At store level, retailers can choose either a "try-me-free" rebate offer or a one-dollar instant coupon offer delivered on floorstand displays. The trial period lasts until July 1997.

"This has been a $21 million launch [spending on a national level]," said Gene Moriarty, acting vice president of sales for Instead's manufacturer Ultrafem, New York City.

"They had a very aggressive launch through coupons, and sales continue at a mature rate. It appears as if Instead is selling beyond the coupon stage, but it has got to go six months before it passes that initial stage," said Tony Poolor, director of health and beauty care for Save Mart Supermarkets, Modesto, Calif.

"It has been doing very well," said Steve Robinson, inventory manager for Bergen Brunswig, Orange, Calif. "But the stores that have been carrying it have pretty much been giving it away. When it goes off the promotion -- that will be the true test to see how the product is doing."

The product first shipped Aug. 4 to retailers in the Pacific Northwest and northern California and will be rolled out to accounts in other Western states next year. Its Ultrafem, a small start-up company, hopes to sell Instead nationally in three years.

Instead comes in three sizes. The trial six-count size box retails between $2.19 and $2.49, while a 16-count size, which will eventually be the standard seller, retails from $5.49 to $5.79. A 24-count size has limited distribution.

"It's competitively priced with other products," Poolor said.

Instead comes in three sizes. The trial six-count size box retails between $2.19 and $2.49, while a 16-count size, which will eventually be the standard seller, retails from $5.49 to $5.79. A 24-count size has limited distribution.

In comparison, a Connecticut Stop & Shop unit was selling 18- and 20-count Kotex pads for $3.29, Tampex and Playtex 8-count tampons for $1.99 and 16-and 18-count packages for $2.99.

Supermarkets are merchandising Instead with other feminine protection products.

The manufacturer furnished floorstands with extensive point-of-purchase information.

Instead has been selling fast at retail, Linderman said. He added that Instead is being sold in only 8% of the country's markets at the moment.

Ultrafem would not release sales figures.

"Sales seem to indicate the product is being accepted," said Albertson's Enochson.

"This product offers a high margin at a premium price," Linderman added. "Retailers can make a 25% plus margin compared to an average of 15% to 20% on tampons."

Instead was accepted by the Food and Drug Administration for marketing in the United States in 1994. In September, the FDA confirmed Instead for 12-hour wear-time.

The recommended wear time is twice as long as for a tampon or pad, Moriarty said. The other benefits are "unsurpassed" leakage protection, comfort and protection against odor.

Instead also collects fluid rather than absorbing it. "It provides the only option in feminine protection for women to engage in clean and comfortable sexual intercourse during their period," said Tonya Hinch, senior vice president of marketing and sales at Ultrafem.

Linderman acknowledged that Instead is not a product that will appeal to all women. "It is digitally inserted. "There are religious issues in some cases."