Bat Chips and Listerine for a Hungry World
The following, one of our periodic columns on new or altered products and services, examines some perceptions of consumer demand and appeal:
The hype is already underway for some goodies called Bat Chips, which are tied into the upcoming “Batman” movie sequel, for which the hype is just starting. This is not the debut of a food classic. The “first ever die-cut tortilla chip,” shaped like the “Batman” logo, is just another opportunistic little promotion.
Bat Chips are no relation to buffalo chips, which are at least of some use to civilization. And they’re not exactly what we need in a day when many people have no bread, never mind chips. But that’s what makes America great--the ability to overlook pressing problems and put our best marketing efforts on the really frivolous.
After more than 100 years, the makers of Listerine Antiseptic are finally paying attention to customer taste. Acknowledging that since its introduction in 1879, Listerine has had a “taste Americans love to hate,” Warner-Lambert is introducing another flavor--Cool Mint.
The company actually thought of it after 90 years but, being nothing if not deliberate, took 20 years to research whether it was doing the right thing.
Why do they bother? Hated or not, Listerine is already the country’s best-selling mouthwash, with almost a third of the market. Obviously, taste doesn’t matter.
It pays to advertise. It also pays to challenge advertising. The alert U.S. marketers of Sweden’s Asko dishwashers took Bosch dishwashers, a competitor, to court in Illinois over Bosch’s boast that its dishwashers use “half the water of others” and are “eight times as quiet.”
Asko could prove that its dishwashers are actually quieter and use less water, and Bosch buckled, promising to send retailers revised materials. So Bosch now boasts that its dishwashers “are not eight times quieter than and do not use half the water of certain foreign-manufactured dishwashers which--like BOSCH dishwashers--are quieter and use less water than U.S.-manufactured dishwashers.”
It’s not surprising that 71% of people aged 20 to 49 told the pollsters from Yankelovich Clancy Shulman that they worried about saving for the future, while 66% worried about having enough money to live on and only 47% about their jobs. After all, many still have money and jobs, but no one can predict future needs.
A further insight (better sit down): The key “barrier” to saving is spending.
“Twentysomethings” are students or just prefer to spend now; “Thirtysomethings” have family obligations, and “Fortysomethings” are putting children through high school and college.
The surprise is why START (Spend Today And Retire Tomorrow Inc.), a new financial services company that commissioned the study, believes that consumers should “tap their spending to fund their retirement.” Teamed up with MetLife, it’s offering an annuity program modeled on credit card premium dollar plans. When consumers buy from participating companies, their account gets 1% on the first $1,000 of purchases, 3% on purchases above that first $1,000 and 6% after spending $2,000, transferable to an annuity account.
He-who-spends-most-saves-best seems an odd axiom, but it certainly keeps gathering credence.
Among Demands-We-Doubt-Were-Ever-Demanded, this week’s winner is new Liquid Safeguard soap, which Procter & Gamble rushed to market because “consumers are demanding more liquid soap.” Liquid Safeguard answers this outcry while meeting the American public’s “top two unmet needs--degerming and moisturization.” Never mind affordable health care, smogless cars and good schools.
P&G; is drawn to the liquid segment of the soap market because it’s growing 6% a year while bar soaps are only growing 1%. But demand isn’t the reason for the enthusiasm. It’s room for more supply: The bar soap category is already crowded, while liquids are still only 12% of the soap market.
The Target chain has recognized that it’s “a hassle” to shop for children’s clothes, when 4-year-olds often wear size 5, 5-year-olds size 6 or 6x, and so on. They’re right: a 5-year-old may have to try on a 5, 5/6, 6, 6x or 6/6x, depending on the brand--not that adult sizing isn’t equally variable.
Target’s solution: “Size-It-Right,” a program meant to simplify the whole business. Height and weight charts are printed on the tags, which are then color-coded--red for extra small, yellow for small, green for medium, etc. Of course, you have to know the translations--XS (4/5), S (6/6x-girls, 6/7-boys), M (7/8-girls, 8-boys), etc.--and then try them on your child, depending on the outfit.
This is easier?
