With normal people struggling to deal with basic daily expenses, what should consumer product companies do to make sure that people will keep buying their products. Consumer Procter & Gamble drops the whole “new and improved” mentality and goes back to “basics” in order to combat a sales slump.
The maker of popular detergent Tide has introduced a cheaper version dubbed “Tide Basic” with the slogan “Big Value. Basic Clean”. The detergent is now available in the southern parts of the US.
As the slogan suggests, this powder detergent doesn’t have all the other features of “mainstream” Tide like fragrances and other additives. Looks like it’s just there to rid your clothes of your stink and provide just the most basic of washes. Price is around 20% less than the regular Tide.
Now this shows an interesting twist in consumer products. For the longest time, companies have been slugging it out trying to come out with the best product with all the bells and whistles. To drive the cost down during the recession, they’re now open to come out with a very basic product. If this works out, we might see other products and companies follow suit.
It might as well be high time to adopt strategies that these companies employ in third-world markets. With many Americans living on a day-to-day basis, pocket-sized and single-use packaging might be something that they should consider.
