P&G again considers cheaper Tide

[supersuds]

According to today's Wall Street Journal, Procter & Gamble is talking to retailers about launching a bargain version of liquid Tide, perhaps to be called Tide Simple.

It would be priced just above bargain brands, such as Arm & Hammer, which dominates the bargain category -- Era has not been faring too well against it. 41% of US households buy bargain brands, with only 29% buying premium brands, according to Nielsen data presented by Church & Dwight, the makers of Arm & Hammer.

Three years ago, P&G test-marketed a cheaper product called Tide Basic, but dropped it because consumers had a hard time distinguishing it from the regular Tide.

Here' s the link to the story for WSJ subscribers.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323932604579053433586299194.html

 

[launderess]

Cannot Speak For Anyplace Else

But here in our part of NYC, Tide liquids are on sale at one place or another. Indeed the stuff seems to be on sale in one size or another at the Rite Aide store in our street almost weekly.

In fact local supermarket has an offer for the 100oz bottles of Tide liquid (2 for $13 or some such), have stopped asking for rain checks as they expire before one can use. Am *Still* working with my original bottle of Tide *HE* Free and Gentle and have a full bottle of same sitting in my stash. Only need a tiny amount in the Miele or AEG that those large bottles last a years.

 

[MrX]

They seem to have done that with Ariel in Spain. There's a basic version along side all the other versions of P&G products.

However, I'd have to say that in Spain there's also pretty fierce competition on the detergent shelves and P&G isn't really anywhere near as dominant as it is in the US.

In Ireland and Britain there's practically a duopoly situation between Unilever and P&G. You can basically only get Persil and Surf (Unilever) or Ariel, Daz and Bold (P&G) and the rest of the products are specialist stuff or store brands.

I really wish Henkel or Colgate-Pamolive would enter this market for detergents! It really needs a shake up and there must be enough of a margin for another player.

In Spain there are products from Henkel, Unilever, P&G, Colgate-Palmolive and also from Spanish company Persan which has Puntomatic (http://www.puntomatic.es/) and Flota as well as all the specialist products from various companies.

It's no wonder laundry detergent in the UK and Ireland is so ridiculously expensive compared to most other markets.

 

[frigilux]

Truth In Advertising: just call it "Tide Less Effective".

I have to chuckle at the notion of some marketing wizard at P&G thinking that while 'Tide Basic' was a failure, 'Tide Simple' is sure to be a big hit!

 

[tomturbomatic]

I hope it would only be the liquid version that gets a cheap twin.

Why does Puntomatic make me think of Putamatic?

 

[launderess]

Margins

You hit it on the head there mate!

Low margins was one of the reasons so many brands were either shut down or sold off by detergent makers over the past few years.

Aside from a few niggles like front loaders (requiring "HE" detergents) in the USA, and everyone and their mother trying to get one to wash in cold water using a washer that takes on about a thimble's worth of water, the laundry detergent market is pretty mature. It's like toothpaste, Kleenex, toilet rolls, et al. They have to keep reinventing the wheel otherwise there isn't that much difference between Brand "X" and "Y".

Granted some detergents are better than others, but mostly any MOL and above product will do. Especially if one is not a child and or an adult that works in some of the more messy/dirty occupations.

 

[danemodsandy]

There Is Obviously:

No branding/marketing scheme so confusing to consumers that P&G will not employ it.

Tide has, for the most part, always been a "premium" product, with a loyal customer base willing to fork over what I consider ridiculous money for it. Now P&G wants to put out a cheap product - which may or may not perform according to the expectations of brand loyalists.

You would think these people know how we shop - in a hurry, with lots of distractions going on. When I see a display of Tide, my eyes keep right on moving, because the product costs more than I want to pay. I don't look at each and every bottle to see which has bleach, which is a bargain version, which has the scent of Chanel No. 5, or whatever - it's all Tide to me, and Tide is a brand I stopped paying attention to several decades ago.

You either like the stuff or you don't - these shell games aren't going to do anything to increase market share.

 

[danemodsandy]

P.S.:

I can't imagine Arm & Hammer dominating the bargain category.

I've tried it and was disappointed. Those folks I know who use it have some very dingy whites.

Maybe there's a trick to using it or something?

 

[kenmoreguy89]

I will never understand this.....Tide is Tide...you can't make a bargain cheap Tide and a Regular Tide...ODD!
In what the Bargain Tide would be different from the regular? Less effective?  What? People seek for best quality at best price...always been so..if one does find Tide to be too expensive may rather buy else (and IMO there're even better than Tide around for half the price)...but if  would not be happy with  others results,  a less effective Tide would likely be just the same or just a little better at best..so where is the sense here?
I already can't get the sense of a product being sold in two variations one better and the other less better..I find it soo weird.
Is like if Dececco would start making two kinds of pasta, a cheap one made with lesser quality wheat, and the other made with good quality one....so where is the sense of a product name being known for it's "alleged", <span id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps">acclaimed</span> <span class="hps">and feted superiority and quality?
Would be like: I use Tide but my budget only allows me to buy " Tide for poors variation"... not the actual stuff....
If it cost less  it can't just offer the same quality and performancse of the  original as for example Ariel Basico claims of their product...then where's the difference???
I find it all odd....crazy!
</span></span>

 

[supersuds]

Sandy, I find it hard to believe Arm & Hammer dominates the bargain category, too, based on the results it gives. But so many people I know buy it, there must be some truth in that big market share.

As for calling cheaper Tide "Tide Simple," "simple" is one of those buzzwords like "natural" and "green" that has no precise definition but which appeal to a certain type of customer -- you know the type. I'm not going to be judgmental here. But it's a significant market.

The New York Times did an article awhile back basically touting claims by Seventh Generation that the OBAs in Tide were potentially damaging to the environment (and uncritically quoting Seventh Generation's claim that their product got clothes just as white without OBAs).

If I were P&G, I'd think, okay, we'll just leave some of these ingredients out, save money, and market it as kind to the environment. If nobody minds tattletale gray clothing, let's make a buck out of it.

 

[launderess]

P&G Has A Problem

It isn't so much that Tide is so good, but that other offerings aren't that bad. What is more the latter are often priced lower than the former which makes them a better purchase. This is especially true over the past several years as the US economy took a fall and is slow to recover.

Wisk "HE" unscented recently was rated better or as good as Tide by Consumer Reports. Indeed there are several offerings tested that for most consumers will give equal results but cost less.

Problem for P&G on another front is that often once consumers switch to another brand they do not come back to Tide. Or, it is the thing which often happens when products are offered on sale too often; consumers kick at paying full retail price and will only purchase when discounted. Like one has stated, Tide liquid is one sale weekly in one shop/supermarket in our area. All persons have to do is a bit of leg work.

 

[whirlcool]

The soft drinks do this all the time. You have Diet Coke and Regular Coke. Two different products with the same name.

I think Tide could do this with proper advertising methods. Maybe "Diet Tide" or cheap Tide could be non-sudsing?

 

[tomturbomatic]

Unfortunately, past experiments have shown that a lot of the people who want bargain detergents want lots of suds, so a low sudsing bargain brand will sit there unsold. At the other end of things, people who want predictable low sudsing are leary of liquid detergents, especially bargain brands or formulations because they have had a tendency in the past to go berserk with suds at high temperatures. Maybe now that washers don't heat water like older Mieles did that won't be a problem and probably the people buying bargain detergents are not using TOL HE machines.

 

[kenmoreguy89]

You can't just make the example of Coke with Diet Coke, strawberry coke,Lemon whatever! Sorry but the example you make does not make sense for how I see things! This is a just a  different concept..  I tell you why,  and taking as example the Coke indeed just gives the idea!

Like there is, a diet coke, a strawberry coke, lemon...whatever..there is a Tide Free&clear, a Tide W/downey, W/dawn, mountan fresh etc...and so on..same base product  and naturally brand,  but dfferent tastes/scents added as a plus...
Same way is for other products, we have a Strawberry Pepsi Cola,  Lemon Pepsi, Diet pepsi.... Detergents:  Free&clear Purex, A rain fresh Purex etc...
I find really hard to equate a lesser product cleanability and effectveness, that translates in cheaper, bargain (lesser quality)  as a version when it comes of a product name, brand known for it's uniqueness just by it's name...like on the other hand they all are...naturally!
Is like if Coca Cola tomorrow, (since we took it as example) would say: "Ok folks, now we will make a bargain version of Coca Cola, we will just cut out some ingredients of  the original Coke in order to give you the ***basic*** taste of Coca Cola"
WTF?
What would you expect? A different tasting Coca Cola! Watery? Yes maybe also!
Now....if one choose Coke to Pepsi or whatever is likely because he just likes  more the Coke than others....a product known for being unique..a brand know for being unique...so I would not get the sense either!
I made the example of Pasta, same thing: Barilla original, Whole Wheat, Spelt, Spelt & lentils etc... but never a bargain, cheap version of a same brand that would overcook and  maybe taste like carboard...no sense!

 

I just don't get the concept of the "basic" lesser quality... but same brand! Would have had more sense if they would have launched a new product called X maybe with a writing : "Based on Tide Formula".... if just they were concerned about the new launch and all the problems the launch of a new product involves...
Different product, different brand....no issues, no confusion, no non-sense regardless cheaper and original product ( BTW such a  very bad taste tactic making a cheaper version of something like this) .... if at the end would not like at least you don't slag a name...

[this post was last edited: 9/5/2013-14:14]

 

[joe_in_philly]

The idea of Tide Simple sounds very much like what P&G has done with Cascade. They have it marketed as three different basic types: Cascade, Cascade Complete, and Cascade Platinum. Cascade is the basic, no-frills version, Cascade Complete is the better version, and Cascade Platinum is the premium version.

 

[abcomatic]

Oxydol powder

Is the new Oxydol powder considered to be a bargain brand? Thanks

 

[mich]

I got it..,.

They'll call it, Tide Simply Clean and Fresh/

It'll be a Liquid Detergent, and it'll contain No Enzymes. I think it'll actually have a Oxy logo of sorts (to compete with the Shelf Space of XTRA, and Arm & Hammer)

And the Label will be a bright yellow, and it'll say something along the lines of "Basic Clean.. Blah Blah". It'll be in the Same Orange Bottle we have all come to know, and there expecting it'll sell really well.

 

[mich]

And...

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Procter & Gamble will introduce a lower-priced version of Tide in 2014, a liquid detergent called "Tide Simply Clean and Fresh," as it seeks to attract shoppers on a budget.

P&G, the world's largest consumer product maker, is known for its premium products like Tide and Bounty that cost more than competitors but are perceived by customers to be of higher quality.

But as growth in developed markets has slowed and P&G expands in emerging markets, the company has been working to become more balanced in its offerings, with more goods at both the low and high end of the price spectrum.

"There are consumers for whom a lower price is a more critical element of their personal value equation," said CEO A.G. Lafley at a Barclays conference in Boston on Wednesday. "We need to have brands and products that are relevant for them as well, and we increasingly will."

Tide Simply Clean and Fresh is one of a number of new detergent products P&G plans to introduce in February 2014, Lafley said at the conference. Other new products include a new Tide Plus collection that updates all existing liquid Tide detergents; Tide Ultra Stain release, which can be used both as a pretreatment for stains as well as as a detergent; extra-large tubs of Tide Pods; single-dose units of Gain detergent; and Tide Oxy, a stain remover that can be used on laundry as well as around the house.

Lafley said he hopes Tide Simply Clean and Fresh will succeed similar to the model of Bounty Basic and Charmin Basic, both introduced in 2005. Those products are offered for 25 per cent less than normal Bounty and Charmin and now make up about 15 per cent of overall brand sales, with better profit margins than their parent brands.

P&G didn't give specific pricing information for Tide Simply Clean and Fresh but said it will be "mid-tier" as opposed to premium. P&G sells the most laundry detergent in North America by far, with 56 per cent of the market, according to Euromonitor.

P&G's other detergent brands in North America include detergent brands include Cheer, Era and Dreft. Its closest competitors, Sun Products, which makes All and Wisk and Church & Dwight, which makes Arm & Hammer detergent, have market share percentages only in the teens.

But the "mid-tier" North American laundry segment is about a $2 billion segment that P&G is "underdeveloped" in, Lafley said. Total spending on laundry detergent in North America is about $8.6 billion, according to research firm Euromonitor International.

But some fear that a lower-priced Tide will eat into regular-priced Tide revenue.

"I think it's an appropriate admittance that they have to go after a lower price point," said Bernstein analyst Ali Dibadj. "The issue is you will get some cannibalization of the high-end brand."

In fact, the company has tried this before: In 2009, the company tested Tide Basic, a powder detergent that sold for 20 per cent less than the regular powder form and lacked the latest cleaning ingredients, but never launched it nationally.

Still, Lafley says a lower-priced Tide will not eat into other Tide sales.

"We're confident that our consumer understanding in premarket testing has helped us design a mid-tier Tide, Simply Tide, that is very attractive to mid-tier consumers, but not very interesting to current regular Tide users," he said. "This is exactly the same approach we use with Bounty and Charmin Basic."

Lafley was CEO at Cincinnati-based P&G from 2000 to 2009, and replaced his predecessor Bob McDonald in May. Earlier this month the company reported its fiscal fourth-quarter net income dropped 48 per cent due to a write-down related to its Braun Appliance business and other one-time costs, but its adjusted profit and revenue beat Wall Street expectations.

P&G is in the midst of a turnaround plan aimed at cutting costs and improving productivity. Also during the conference, Chief Financial Officer Jon Moeller said the company was working on localizing and regionalizing its supply chain in developing markets and reducing manufacturing plants and distribution centres in developed markets such as the U.S. and Europe

 

[mich]

The Other Stuff...

P&G will have a new Oxygen Bleach formula, plastered in the Tide name to sell against Church & Delights (Arm & Hammer Brand) Oxy-Clean. Who wants to bet they'll take over a good bit of that market?

Gain will have there own version of Single Dose "Pods"..

Tide Liquid will be re-branded, and possibly reformulated.

Tide Stain Release or Boost, will have more surfactant so they can be used as "Detergent"..

Bigger Containers of Pods.