So, Unilever etc. Gaspingly large consumer products company.
One of the brands is Persil. Which has been on sale in my local supermarket for 3 years now. It is always – and I do mean always – 40 to 60% off.
That could be the supermarket running it as a loss leader but even then brands don’t like to be made to “look cheap” in that manner.
It’s also true that it’s just one brand in a portfolio and this is just one supermarket in a minor European market.
The thing is, based on this extremely limited evidence, I’d not be all that sure that Unilver is preserving the premium nature of its brands. Which isn’t good at all for a company which is based on the very idea of being able to charge a premium for premium brands.
Instead, Jope has served up several nasties too messy for the cleansing power of Persil or Surf. First came a sales warning in December 2019, then a margin miss in February last year. These were topped off with more bad news on margins in July caused by inflation in ingredient and packaging prices. Shares in the consumer goods giant fell by a cumulative 20 per cent on these days.
Bad news on margins, eh?
Unilever is suffering from Go-woke-go-broke Syndrome.
Persil is actually mow one of the cheaper brands in the UK. I honestly can’t tell you if this has always been the case. What seems to have gone missing is the “traditional” Persil, which was just regular soap powder. I guess because it was made out of whales or something.
I always thought that it was made out of French parsley.
I think things like laundry powder are inertia goods, people just keep buying the same one for decades without thought. At least that’s it with me, I only stopped buying Bold because the shops stopped selling it. And the box lasts several months, so there’s no memory to base decisions on. “Is this Persil any better than the Bold I bought a year ago? Phuqunoze, I can’t remember, it was a year ago.”
I do most of my grocery shopping at Asda and buy their own brand stuff wherever it is available. There was a time when supermarket brand products were of inferior quality when compared with branded stuff but this is usually no longer the case. There are a few exceptions and there may be the odd time when the branded product is reduced and therefore cheaper but generally supermarket brands are better value.
Their tactic here in the Reich is to gradually reduce the standard box size over 2-3 years while maintaining the price. Then when they put up the price reintroduce the biggest box and call it “40% extra free!”
There must be a name for this.
I don’t think this kind of thing is unusual for soap powder. It’s not as if anyone will pay a premium for it. Presumably there is some special high end thing you can’t even get in Waitrose, By Appointment to HRH the Duke of York, or summat. But Persil a premium brand? Pull the other one.
I usually buy the biggest box in the shop, to save myself the bother of buying another one for as long as possible.
It used to be the case that a named Brand came about because it was a guarantee of quality.
When the likes of Irn Bru deliberately made its product worse , it’s no surprise when sales fell off a cliff. (Profit margins halved in Barr’s case)
See also what happened to Gillette when they decided to insult their core market.
Nowadays products are no longer created to be the best that they can be, but more importantly have to satisfy the Brand Image imagined by the progressives running the companies, as well as navigating around the massive interference by government in the manufacturing, distribution and sales of products.
As an example, laundry powder used to be more effective when it had phosphates in them, before they were mostly banned on specious environmental grounds. Now the concern is how to use less energy and water when washing your clothes. Which is why they now contain loads of ‘optical brighteners’ and fragrances to give a simulacrum of cleanliness to your washing.
By Appointment to HRH the Duke of York
Isn’t that NHRH now?
I think things like laundry powder are inertia goods, people just keep buying the same one for decades without thought.
Really?
We just but whichever gives us most litres/£ or kg/£ for powders…
Shaving products are inertia goods. Get a razor and stick with it.
Takes real effort to put your market off your products in this case (sideways glance at Gilette).
It should be noted that, while Persil sold in the UK is made and marketed by Unilever, Persil sold in Portugal is made and marketed by Henkel GmbH, who license the brand from Unilever. Their marketing strategies may be very different. It’s not clear from the OP what the location is.
llater,
llamas
Unilever is suffering from Go-woke-go-broke Syndrome.
The company is a shitshow.
Margins contracting is only one of their problems. Failing to reign in the loonies at Ben & Jerry’s has netted them a ton of bad press and some boycotts, as well as some state government investment divestitures, with more coming. NY state has a proposed divestiture law working its way through the state House that is specifically aimed at Unilever. I believe NJ is doing the same. Unilever has no brand recognition in the USA, so right now their corporate image in a country of 330 million of voracious consumers is being formed by a small band of anti-semites who make overpriced ice cream.
Like I said, the company is a shitshow.
The glory days for Unilever and P&G are gone. They are rumored to have introduced washing powder because it is hard to manufacture economically in bulk unless you invest in some hefty bits of drying kit. They then advertised the branded washing powder competing against each other and creating the impression in the consumers mind that powder was superior to liquid based detergents. There smaller competitors making liquid for washing clothes were then pushed out of the market. That done the brands no longer matter and we are heading back to liquid based product that can be dispensed automatically and works better because it no longer needs dissolving in the wash before it can get to work.
I remembererer as a littlun me Mam pouring liquid into the top-loader washing machine. (cue Dvorak). By the time I was more concious of the surroudning world and shops ‘n’ stuff and we had a front loader, “everything” was washing powder. That just seemed to be the natural state of things, so much so that I’ve only recently dug up memories of the top-loader (pulled out from under the counter, filled from tap with drain pipe hooked over edge of sink).
Now the in thing is back to liquid, sealed in little packets so it doesn’t dribble out of the front loader. I can’t remember seeing powder in my local shop, but then I don’t usually pay any attention anyway. Though I do wonder what the little capsules are made of and what happens to it when it dissolves into the washing water.
Cherny,
“Shaving products are inertia goods. Get a razor and stick with it.“
Gillette’s problem is sticker shock. I can buy a pack of 8 razors, make them last for months (years if there’s a pandemic and I’m not going out); then I see a new pack for £20+ and I immediately start googling other brands.
BinFR, shrinkflation is probably coded into the machines that make the product. Shrink the item and it’s packaging then click and bring out the new giant size.
Unilever closed down its Persil soap powder factory in Warrington last year because the market for soap powder has disappeared. Most people buy pods these days because they are more convenient and incorporate detergent and conditioner. The atmosphere around Bank Quay station next to the factory was always fragrant.
Thanks Kevin.
Andy, liquid detergent (still widely available) makes the washing machine stink to high heaven. I’ve banned my laundry girl from using it.
Also razors, never looked back since I got an old fashioned double sided safety razor. A good blade is a million times better than any cartridge with four blades, aloe vera, and a cherry on top, and doesn’t clog up with hair the way the cartridges do.
They also cost about 10 cents each. I don’t bother using them a second time.
“Though I do wonder what the little capsules are made of and what happens to it when it dissolves into the washing water.”
PVA I believe, the same stuff as that white wood glue.
On the subject of razors, I switched to Harry’s when Gillette decided that insulting me was a good way to sell their product. I really like the Harry’s razors and I’m happy with them. I’ve never used the old style razors that screw together like my dad used to use. I notice that Gillette are now marketing those as a kind of classic range with solid shaving soap and shaving brushes and stuff.