liberator1509
Well-known member
Lever equivalents
MRX
If I recall correctly (info from the Lever PCP brother in law), Lever may not market Persil in France, as I think Henkel have the rights to the name over there - I could be wrong. I know that Comfort is sold there under another name that I can't recall, but is pretty much the same product. The detergents are also pretty much equivalent, though there tend to be fragrance variations etc to suit local markets.
The bro-in-law also said that Lever (and I believe P&G) were, at some very distant point in the past, required to introduce a second line to their premium product. This was due to some competition law or other, where they were required to market an alternative product where less of the cost was applied to marketing than for their premium product. The product is different, though not in the way that very much cheaper products are, where bulking components are used.
As for OMO in Ireland - I have no idea when it vanished - I grew up there and only remember it in the 70s and 80s as a twintub powder. I guess it lost market ground to the others, and supermarket shelf-demand saw it off. Same for Tide too I guess. I'm not sure if Wisk appeared in the UK, but it was in Ireland for a couple of years, as was Radion. The Radion example shows the power of brand loyalty - MRX might remember it was heavily promoted (with frankly awful tv ads), but still failed to gain much ground.
MRX - you might use SUN dishwasher detergent - a top seller for Lever in Ireland, but dropped in the UK as P&G's products (Finish in particular) dominate over here...like all things in production, it is the market that dictates the existence of brands. For example it was the same fate for various types of washers - my beloved Hotpoint Top Loaders would have disappeared even if EU ratings hadn't appeared. Compared to front loaders, they were much more expensive to build, with complex a power-unit/gearbox drive as opposed to the cheaper pulley system in FLs - that with the general absence of dedicated laundry space in houses in the British Isles, meant that they had become a minority product. Leave aside any debate of performance advantages, the demise of TLs and the dominance of FLs is principally due to cheaper production costs, and better sales prospects...as a FL fan, I'm sure you're happy about that though!
MRX
If I recall correctly (info from the Lever PCP brother in law), Lever may not market Persil in France, as I think Henkel have the rights to the name over there - I could be wrong. I know that Comfort is sold there under another name that I can't recall, but is pretty much the same product. The detergents are also pretty much equivalent, though there tend to be fragrance variations etc to suit local markets.
The bro-in-law also said that Lever (and I believe P&G) were, at some very distant point in the past, required to introduce a second line to their premium product. This was due to some competition law or other, where they were required to market an alternative product where less of the cost was applied to marketing than for their premium product. The product is different, though not in the way that very much cheaper products are, where bulking components are used.
As for OMO in Ireland - I have no idea when it vanished - I grew up there and only remember it in the 70s and 80s as a twintub powder. I guess it lost market ground to the others, and supermarket shelf-demand saw it off. Same for Tide too I guess. I'm not sure if Wisk appeared in the UK, but it was in Ireland for a couple of years, as was Radion. The Radion example shows the power of brand loyalty - MRX might remember it was heavily promoted (with frankly awful tv ads), but still failed to gain much ground.
MRX - you might use SUN dishwasher detergent - a top seller for Lever in Ireland, but dropped in the UK as P&G's products (Finish in particular) dominate over here...like all things in production, it is the market that dictates the existence of brands. For example it was the same fate for various types of washers - my beloved Hotpoint Top Loaders would have disappeared even if EU ratings hadn't appeared. Compared to front loaders, they were much more expensive to build, with complex a power-unit/gearbox drive as opposed to the cheaper pulley system in FLs - that with the general absence of dedicated laundry space in houses in the British Isles, meant that they had become a minority product. Leave aside any debate of performance advantages, the demise of TLs and the dominance of FLs is principally due to cheaper production costs, and better sales prospects...as a FL fan, I'm sure you're happy about that though!
