Lost Touch. How Unilever Lost The Laundry Wars.
A few weeks ago, Unilever began exploring the sale of its long-struggling $1.1 billion North American laundry business as part of a plan to give up underperforming brands. This AdAge story tells us that the rot had set in almost a decade ago. Despite being one of the world’s most consumer focused companies, Unilever had begin to lose touch with consumers, as admitted in 1999 by then Unilever Co-Chairman Niall FitzGerald “we hadn’t been in a laundry room for years” he said in an interview. Losing touch was one thing, there were indications in the 1940s itself that the company was beginning to slow down. When P&G decided to roll out its synthetic Tide detergent nationally, Lever Brothers was still cautiously test-marketing its own synthetic offering under the long discontinued Rinso brand. Unilever’s sale, Adage laments, ends one of the most fabled marketing battles of the past century. Unilever isn’t admitting defeat though. The company said it prefers to invest in faster-growing and more profitable businesses, such as personal care, where, at least for the past two quarters, it’s been outgrowing P&G globally. Unilever also remains the leading laundry player in emerging markets overall. Read more.
Alternative marketing thinking 