More on Innovating in a Recession - Tide Basic

We had a lot of people contact us to talk about Innovating in a Recession. Something that particularly resonated was the introduction of a value range. We have seen it happen at Waitrose with the introduction of the Waitrose Essential range and P&G have taken it a step further with Tide Basic. The product is being tested in about 100 stores in America’s Southern States and retails at about 20% below the standard Tide product. This is in response to an 18% decline in fiscal forth quarter sales.

The product does the job of cleaning, but contains none of the perfumes and conditioners in regular Tide.

This is a real example of an organisation listening to the consumer. In these tough economic times shoppers are increasingly turning to supermarket’s own label products as they tighten the purse stings. Whilst there is no doubt some concern at P&G’s headquarters in Cincinatti, we think it’s better to risk sales of the premium range in order to avoid brand switching. Yet again, P&G are leading the way in Innovation.