Rayovac Maximum Alkaline batteries deliver competitive performance, at an everyday price that is 10-15 percent lower than that of our competitors. Leveraging Our Value Proposition 01 Driving Home the Power of the Brand Rayovac has successfully leveraged our strong value brand proposi- tion  in  the  retail  battery  marketplace  over  the  last  five  years.  Rayovac competes  effectively  with  other  leading  brands  because  we  appeal  to a  different  kind  of  consumer:  A  value-conscious  shopper  for  whom  a combination of price and performance drives the point-of-sale decision. Despite a soft market and competitors that consistently outspend us  on  advertising  and  promotions,  we  successfully  expanded  our  U.S. market share again in 2001. In the important mass merchandiser channel, where  two  of  every  five  batteries  are  sold,  Rayovac  is  the  top-selling brand, further evidence of the appeal of our value proposition. In  addition,  consumer  recognition  of  the  Rayovac  brand  grows every  year.  Consumer  awareness  of  Rayovac  has  risen  20  percentage points since 1997, and is comparable to that of our competitors. Today, nine out of every 10 consumers know the Rayovac brand and are familiar with our advertising. Making Global Distribution Gains Rayovac’s clear value to the consumer also extends to our retailer customers, a fact that we prominently demonstrated in 2001 by forging major  distribution  gains  with  both  new  and  existing  customers.  The Home  Depot  and  Lowe’s,  the  nation’s  two  leading  home  improvement suppliers,  and  Toys  “R”  Us,  the  nation’s  largest  toy  retailer,  now  sell Rayovac  products.  And  Wal-Mart,  the  world’s  largest  retailer,  recently selected  Rayovac  to  produce  private-label  AA  and  AAA  batteries  for Wal-Mart’s 26,000 checkouts chainwide. During 2001, Latin American retailers also continued to buy into the  Rayovac  value  proposition.  We  added  new  customers,  such  as Ahold,  Makro  and  Jumbo,  and  increased  our  business  with  existing Latin  American  retailers,  including  Wal-Mar t,  Casino  and  Carrefour. Already  the  best-selling  zinc  carbon  brand  in  most  countries  in  Latin America,  Rayovac  gained  significant  market  share  in  alkaline  batteries during fiscal 2001.