THE BATTLE FOR THE BOTTOM LINE.

The article reports on the competition between Kimberly-Clark Corp. and Procter & Gamble Co. in the diaper category. The two companies are introducing a wave of disposable-diaper product improvements. A statement from Robert Thibault, president-childcare at Kimberly-Clark is presented. One-upping rivals with a better diaper-and persuading consumers to trade up to it via marketing-has become the primary growth vehicle in a U.S. market where the population of babies is growing only about 1% annually and price increases are hard to come by. INSET: Diaper innovations: The down and dirty.