Skip to main content

It's a Tidal Wave of Tide

By
I was at Target the other day to pick up some staples for the house and I needed laundry detergent. I have been a Tide customer for a long time. I usually get the regular liquid and then I had to switch to HE (high efficiency) formula when we bought a new washer. Later, I opted for the pods because they leave no mess plus I no longer have young children who might mistake them for candy. This last time I went to pick up my usual pods, I also needed some Non-HE pods for my neighbor (I suggested she try pods). I couldn't find any. I started to look at every Tide package on the shelf and became so overwhelmed with the options, I almost switched brands right on the spot. I opted for a Non-HE Liquid because I couldn't find a pod version. This exercise forced me to look at all of the Tide product and it almost caused a brand-loyal customer to jump ship.
This is a view from one side of the aisle and all of this is Tide

This is a view of the other side of the aisle and 2/3's of this side was Tide

For the heck of it, I went to the P&G Website to see just how many brand line extensions there are for Tide:

• Tide Powder Detergent
• Tide Plus a Touch of Downy Powder Detergent
• Tide Plus Bleach Powder
• Tide Free Powder
• Tide Liquid Laundry Detergent
• Tide HE Liquid Laundry Detergent
• Tide HE Turbo Clean Liquid Laundry Detergent
• Tide PODS Plus Febreze Laundry Detergent
• Tide PODS Laundry Detergent Original Scent
• Tide PODS Free and Gentle Laundry Detergent
• Tide PODS Laundry Detergent Spring Meadow Scent
• Tide PODS Laundry Detergent Ocean Mist Scent
• Tide Free and Gentle Liquid Laundry Detergent
• Tide Plus Febreze Freshness Sport Liquid
• Tide Simply Clean and Fresh Laundry Detergent
• Tide Ultra Stain Release Liquid
• Tide Coldwater Clean Liquid
• Tide Plus Bleach Alternative Liquid
• Tide Plus a Touch of Downy Liquid
• Tide Color Guard

But wait there are more Tide products
• Tide Stain Release Duo Pacs
• Tide Boost Febreze Sport Duo Pacs
• Tide Boost Vivid White+Bright Pacs
• Tide Washing Machine Cleaner
• Tide to go Instant Stain Remover
• TIde OXI Multi-Purpose Stain Remover
• Tide Boost Plus Bleach Alternative

I counted 27 different products. This doesn't include different sizes and packaging configurations. In addition, I still couldn't  find if Pods came in HE and a non-HE versions which would add another layer of complexity to their product line. (I'm assuming they don't have one for that very reason and most new machines are now HE.)

This number of brand line extensions seems to be working for P&G because according to Wikipedia:

"As of January 2013 Tide has more than 30% of the liquid-detergent market, with more than twice as much in sales as the second most-popular brand Gain, although it costs about 50% more than the average liquid detergent. In some areas, Tide has become such a hot commodity item, that criminals steal it from stores to resell. Police call the detergent "liquid gold" on the black market and it's been known to be traded or sold for illegal drugs.[8][9]"

But when should a product manager decide enough is enough when it comes to line extensions? The parent brand Tide is obviously a solid brand. In addition, it is much easier to introduce a new product that capitalizes on a solid parent brand than to develop a new product. However, they may have hit their limit for brand extensions.

The store buyers must be overwhelmed. They need to figure out how to create a plan-o-gram for their store and their customer that is "shoppable". In addition, the consumer who may already know what they want, must be able to find the product they need in a dizzying array of options. I imagine that some retail chains can't carry nearly the number that Target had, let alone the number they have on their website. You may have that customer come in that just has to have Tide Plus a Touch of Downy Powder Detergent.



Patty Jensen is Vice President of Account Services at JDA Inc, a graphic design firm that specializes in supporting companies' branding and retail efforts with a Unified Marketing approach. To learn more, click here.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Packaging: 10 Steps to a Better Process

By
1. Prioritize. Prioritize. Prioritize. When three people are talking to you, you can’t hear them all. The same is true for design. Visual priority must be established from the very beginning of the design process. If every item is given primary importance, nothing becomes important. The visual priorities are what drive how all creative will be judged. The design firm should include as part of their creative brief, a hierarchy of 5 communication points for the front of the package. This includes 1) brand 2) product name 3) why-to-buy statement 4) feature points 5) product image. 2. Come together. Everyone has an opinion, so clear project objectives are vital to any job. Consensus regarding the creative brief must be obtained from the people expected to judge the package design from within your corporation. Without this consensus, the design process will fall apart. Without clearly stated, agreed-upon objectives, you are not able to provide constructive feedback. As soon as you start t...
1 comment
Read more

New and Not Necessarily Improved

By
A story in the March 3, 2009 issue of the LA Times regarding the unfavorably received new Pepsi brand redesign reminded me of another recent unsuccessful redesign—the one for Tropicana orange juice. A few months ago, I was in a Target store buying some orange juice. I usually get the Tropicana brand, and was disappointed when I didn't see any in the cases. I just saw a bunch of unfamiliar cartons that I immediately wrote off as "not Tropicana" and kept looking around. It was only during a second pass that I realized that these new cartons were indeed Tropicana. Wow, I thought, that's a pretty radical new look. Gone were any vestiges of familiarity--the funky old-style logo, and especially the orange with the straw stuck in it. The new carton is dominated by a large shot of a tasteful-looking (not necessarily tasty-looking) glass of orange juice, with the word "Tropicana" in an unfamiliar sans serif font and green color turned 90ยบ clockwise along the side. T...
4 comments
Read more

Let Your Packaging Sell Your Product, Not a Funny Name!

By
So I ran across this product while I was traveling in NY and needed some earplugs.  I can't sleep without them. Earplugs are notoriously hard to find on shelf so I had to scan many products. I came across this product and got quite a chuckle. I don't think I need to explain why (To be fair, it was awhile ago, and the package design could have changed since then.): Zim's Crack Creme---we can assume that Zim is the pharmacist who created this all-natural herbal wonder cream (creme) for your crack. Or is that really what this means. Surly it couldn't. We design packaging and I couldn't help but analyze this package as I would for a client. The first thing we help our clients do is to prioritize the elements on the front of the package. What is the most important thing to communicate? The name? The brand? The why-to-buy? The features? Obviously, Zim felt the name of the product was most important. But if the name of the product doesn't really convey what it doe...
4 comments
Read more