P&G to reduce formats within 5 years

[jt1985]

MarketingWeek said that P&G is planning to:

* Eliminate liquid and tablet formats
* Expand the gel format across all brands
* Have only powders, gels and liquitabs all concentrated within 5 years

Ah, that sucks. I like Ariel Colour's tablets...

 

[launderess]

Well liquid detergents are mainly water anyway. Thanks to Walmart's directive, most US main brands of detergent have gone to "2x", any less concentrated would be going down the gel route anyway.

Tablets came and went long time ago in the USA. This time around they did slightly better than the first attempts, but only just.

Powdered detergents can contain vast amounts of fillers, which do nothing for product performance, but do increase bulk which increases shipping costs. Don't need sawdust or tons of clay (Zeolites), or huge amounts of borax and or washing soda either.

 

[spoodles]

It's not surprising that the gel format will replace liquids, but I'm really surprised they are phasing out tablets. The new Bold Infusions range was only released in powder and liquitab formats and I guess the gel format will be launched soon. The Marketing week articles says the Gel format will roll-out across Daz, Fairy and Bold ranges this summer.

I prefer tablets over powder as I find them more convenient to store and less messy to dose.

Here's a link to the whole Marketing Week article:

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=63818&d=254&h=5&f=3

 

[launderess]

While one did like Wisk tablets, always crushed up the packet and poured the contents into a jar with a tight lid. Didn't like the idea of a detergent maker decided how much product I need to use. Apparently many others felt the same way, as the stuff never really sold in numbers to justify continued production. One by one, Wisk, Tide and finally Purex pulled their tablet lines, and that was that.

L.

 

[washerboy]

wasteful

I always avoid anything in tab form..if I'm washing a very small load I have to use a whole tablet or break up the tablet..seems like a waste to use the same about for a full size load vs and small load.

 

[re563]

Ijust wonder if this is also going to happen here in the U.S. or if it's just across the pond. I would think it would be to their advantage to have the same products here as they do over there.

 

[dirtybuck]

Just The UK

I read the article by typing in www.marketingweek.com, and it looks like all those changes will be for the UK market. I guess we'll still be stuck in the US with the crappy PG Tide X2. I really hate to see them phase out powders here. IMHO, they clean so much better, and it would be nice to have the variety like we had in the past.

 

[re563]

I agree dirtyduck, just seems like there in the U.S. they have moved away from their orginal comement of tried and true products.

 

[launderess]

Well in the US, powders are quickly going anyway. Most major supermarkets have tons of shelf space for liquid detergents, but very few powders, if any at all. Even K-Sears revamped their detergent asile and liquids make up a bulk of the offering.

 

[zanussi_lover]

compact detergents

I don't understand what the point of concentrating Ariels liquids only to bring out ariel excel gel to replace the liquids, i mean you only need 37ml of ariel liquid in the little ball,

Also they say that Ariel liquid works at low as 15 degrees when cold tap water isn't even that cold. and On the back of liquids it says it can work at 20 (cold), 30, 40, 60 and 95 degrees.

also is it proven to hygienically sanitise laundry at 15 degrees?
i think not,

I think its pretty disappointing that they are going to remove tablets and liquids from the market. Tablets are pretty handy for students such as myself, who can take a packet to the student launderette, drop them in and they fizz away and clean the clothes.

Also on the topic of Ariel Excel Gel, i don't think its very good for old people, as the bottle seems a little flimsy, and the squirting into the cap seems a little naff compared to pouring into a dosing ball.

I think they should bring back out refill bags for liquids and bring back compact powder when it was in the bag or in the small boxes like Daz Ultra and Ariel Ultra/Futur

How are they able to prove that Liquitabs clean better than tablets, as tablets are solid powder and liquitabs are just liquid in plastic thats dissolvable.

 

[launderess]

Powders are being pushed aside as the average wash temperature on both sides of the pond is trending towards 100F or less.

There are ways to produce powdered laundry detergents that work in "boil", "hot", "warm", and cold" water, but it does not seem things are going that way.

With petrol prices all over the map, and water making up much of liquid detergents, it does seem logical to start there with reductions. If gels and liquitabs can deliver the same performance as powders and tablets, yet have a more compact form than either, probably seems like a plus all round for some.

L.

 

[ronhic]

The norm here........

Tends to be compact powders. All of the major manufacturers have them in all their product lines. The exception are some wool/dark specific formulas which are liquids.

This has led to the reduction in the more traditional 'cup' style box powders which tend to now be 'no name' or lower end products. Most supermarkets don't stock the 'cup' style box powders and to obtain them, say for OMO or Cold Power, you need to go to a BigW which often has them in 9-12kg boxes (20-26lb).

Tablets are effectively extinct here as the OMO versions (rebadged Persil) never took off.

Liquids are becoming more concentrated. We now have the Surf and OMO versions of Levers liquids from the UK though made in Australia (the powders are from NZ).

BUT......

....Compact powders win the sales race hands down here. It is easy to understand why too.

- Easy to dose accurately.
- No sticky mess that some liquids generate by bottle dribbling
- Available in box sizes from 850gm (Radiant) to 5kg or more
- Easy to vary dosage
- Less fillers than traditional powders

Over and above all of that, Australians like to have a little control over how they do things. Tablets, gelcaps etc do not allow that 'A little more or a little less is best...' thinking that most of us here (on this forum) use all the time. All of us, though I may be wrong, like to vary the amount of detergent that we use that a set dosage like a tablet will prevent us from doing....

 

[newwave1]

I'm surprized they are going to get rid of liquid and tablets. Don't get me wrong i LOVE the excel gel. But i've always prefered liquid over powder. Not to say i don't like powder. I am rather lookin forward to the compact powders making a welcome return!! I wonder if they will sell them in the plastic packaging again? They could make it recycable? Will they bring the tins back? Hmm. not sure of that one! Though i'd like it if they did!

Tablets are really handy for most people as mr zanussi_lover pointed out.

I'm just trying to imagine the new gel format across all their brands! Thats quite cool.

Darren

 

[MrX]

I think P&G (UK/Ireland) responded with the concentrated liquids simply as a knee-jerk reaction to Persil and Surf Small and Mighty. Unilever did (and continues to do) a huge marketing campaign, actually one of the most expensive in detergent marketing history, for their concentrated products. Persil S&M was eating into P&Gs liquid market more significantly than they admit to.

While the concentrated liquids were good, they're messy compared to Persil S&M which is a very free-flowing liquid that's easy to dose.

I suspect a little further R&D led to the excel gels which are a more worthy compeditor for Persil.

I expect that you'll see Unilever respond with a NEW Persil Small and Mighty, now with even more stain busters or something like that.

Also, Persil are definitely launching a heap of "naturals" in liquid S&M format.

I suspect you'll see Unilever finally kill off not quite so concentrated and very foamy "liquigel" formats quite soon.

I realise that Ariel Excel Gel is getting all sorts of accolades from Which? and that it performs very well, but I know a lot of people who don't like dispenser balls, lids, etc and prefer the concept of chucking the cap of liquid into the drawer. So, I still think that other than for people who are total 'laundry geeks' about performance, Persil S&M is still a far more user-friendly product.

On the tablet front, P&G tablets are much easier to use than Unilever's as you don't need that silly net!

There has been some major advances in enzyme technology too which has allowed both companies to put pretty potent "new generation" enzymes into the liquids. They were tricky to keep active in liquid formulations in the past.

Whatever happens, I think the showdown and shelf-war is going to be between Excel Gel and S&M...

 

[nickuk]

I am pretty gutted about tablets going, they're what I use most often for whites and lights. I don't really even know why - I understand powder gives better dosing control, better economy etc. There's something I just like about the tablets.

Find powder tends not to dispense quite so perfectly either, and I haven't yet found a powder which rinses as nicely as some of my fave tablets.

I think Tesco kind of `lead the way' (in a very loose sense of the word) at the moment with their new concentrate powders. What I mean is, I haven't seen any other new concentrate powders on the market yet. So it looks like Persan in Spain (makers for Tesco) beat P/G by reducing the format of it's Puntomatic brand. (By the way, wouldn't that be a great name for a non stick-shift Fiat?) That aside, I have some of the concentrate Tesco stuff and don't like it much.

Before tablets came out, I was a loyal Ariel futur and Ariel color powder user in the mid nineties and my house in London constantly had two large bags of it open in the utlity area next to a large bottle of standard Comfort or Comfort Silk (remember?) - I can smell it just now.....

I guess it's asking too much for a product which is as good as that and with such a good scent.

So what on earth to do now? Just wait, I suppose, and try them when they come out.

 

[spoodles]

I find the Persil S&M bottles get really messy - even if no liquid appears to have dripped down the outside of the bottle, it seeps down the inside of the wrapper and leaves gunk in the cupboard. Why not have a pouring spout on the bottles like the US S&M bottles? I'm not too keen on pouring liquid into the drawer as it probably loses some into the sump before it reaches the drum.

I'm wary of the new Persil Naturals range, non-bios with different scents is all they are, not really a big deal, along with the dubious "natural" claim! (Why don't they just improve the cleaning performance of S&M?) It's like the new Comfort Naturals, basically Comfort Pure with a slightly different scent, at a much higher price, no doubt the Persil versions will have a similar premium price tag too. Persil and Comfort seem obsessed with the whole sensitive skin issue, it's the only thing they have offered in terms of new products recently, hardly innovative.

I'm not sure why P&G even bothered with 2x liquids as they just appeared with no fanfare and Excel Gel followed not long after. I guess maybe retailers wanted it, such as Asda who no longer sell non-concentrated liquids, so P&G had to offer something to fill the gap until Excel Gel appears for all of its brands. They had been working on Excel Gel for about 5 years before it launched apparently, so it's not as though Excel Gel is just meant a 'new, improved' version of their 2x liquids.

Gutted about tablets going too - but I know they are losing sales to liquitabs and maybe the idea of individually wrapped pairs of tablets isn't particularly attractive anymore to consumers who think it isn't very eco-friendly or something. No doubt P&G will play the eco-card to explain why they are going.

It's funny that compact powders were replaced by tablets in the 90s and now compact powders are back and tablets are out. I guess in years to come we'll get a wrapper-free tablet heralded as the next generation detergent!!

 

[lavamat_jon]

As sad as I am to see the tablet format go, and we do buy them quite a lot, I find that the packaging waste with them nowadays is quite bad compared to a bottle of liquid or a box of powder. Not just that but our water at home is annoying, in that one tablet isn't enough to clean, whereas 2 tablets most could consider as overdosing! Not just that, but bearing in mind I carry my laundry to the student village launderette too (which has been recently refitted with Neptune superstacks - much much better than the toploaders they had beforehand), and it's no more difficult to carry a box of powder or bottle of liquid then it is tablets.

Can't wait for concentrated powders to come back - it's about time especailly as Tesco and now Sainsbury's have got into the act with concentrated washing powders. I wonder if the liquitabs will come in bags too, like the Sainsbury's own ones? (Talking of which, and off topic, but has anybody else seen the milk bags Sainsbury's sell now instead of the 2 pint bottles?)

I think the cleanest liquid has to be P&G standard and power liquids with the self draining caps... Persil small and mighty and liquigel is the worst liquid for leaking down the side of the bottle!

Jon

 

[newwave1]

Hey Jon!
Hope your well! I'm home dyin of flu!!!

Congrats thats well cool to hear you got neptunes! Are they neptunes like the launderette on burton road has?

I have to agree on the leaky persil. I tried a bottle, wasn't massively impressed though i liked how it rinsed, the bottle was always covered in a thin film of liquid! I wiped it down all the time!

Really can't wait for concentrated ariel to come back..wonder if it'll have a new range name? like we have excel gel...and have had ultra/futur in the past!

Darren

 

[lavamat_jon]

Hey Darren! Aww sorry you got the flu, I had it over Christmas only saw 3 hours of Christmas Day! Yeah the Neptunes are similar to Burton road but they have dryers stacked on top, so it's liked stacked dryers you get in launderettes but washer on the bottom and dryer on the top! Pretty nice too

Hmm I'd love the futur name to come back! And the old adverts with the New Waves! But that'll never happen :-( lol probably will be with a pimped up Hotpoint like the ExcelGel advert!

Jon