Graco's Stroller Recall

On October 20^th, Graco recalled about 2 million of its strollers. In-between 2003 and 2005, four babies were strangled due to Graco’s stoller models. It is said the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warned the industry about possible deaths in strollers and urged companies to redesign their strollers. The CPSC ordered the recall today after a fresh review of old cases involving strollers and finding that additional fatalities can be tied to Graco Products. CPSC spokesman, Scott Wolfson, recently stated, "We reached a point where we needed to do a recall of this product to help prevent any further harm to children.” In March of this year, Graco also recalled 1.2 million highchairs which was prompted by 464 incident reports and 24 injuries.

As a consumer, it seems as if Graco is not a very good company to trust, especially when concerned about infant safety. It is likely that these recalls will continue to be very detrimental to Graco’s company and their customer satisfaction.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/10/20/bloomberg1376-LAK8OS07SXKX01-5L4IHVTMGROHLKM2V9H2QUKA4H.DTL

P&G Puts Marketing Spotlight on Newer Products

According to the Wall Street Journal, recent consumer trends have affected the consumer product market, enough to change companies’ marketing techniques. Consumers have been opting towards purchasing cheaper private-brand products, which are sold and produced directly by retailers, rather than spending the extra money for company manufacturers’ products. Companies, P&G in particular, have started reacting to this trend.

P&G, under its new market leader Melanie Healey, has launched a promotional campaign called “Have you tried this yet?” designed to spur consumer awareness and revamp consumer loyalty. The company will open a temporary store in NYC at which location customers will have the opportunity to try a variety of product lines. The campaign will also establish a website in which customers can post reviews of the products. If this campaign is successful, P&G will regain its customer loyalty. At first, its products perhaps were only a customer preference; however, by showing such consideration for its customer base, P&G hopes to have customers insist on its products.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304011604575564420769116624.html?mod=WSJ_Consumerproducts_leftHeadlines

Consumer Products Lift L'Oreal

As stated in the Wall Street Journal, L'Oreal's sales increased 5.8% during the third-quarter of this year. Their products range from deodorants sold at grocery stores to loftily priced Lancome creams and scents; the lower-priced items have proven necessary in L'Oreal's growth. Since the market has been static in the current stressed economic environment, any growth has been due to market shares. In the mass-market consumer products division, sales rose 6.5% and only 5.7% in the luxury item division. Their mass-market items, such as Maybelline make-up, allows L'Oreal to gain profit from the ever-growing middle-class.

L'Oreal's widening product mix (e.g. adding a new line of deodorant this past year) has increased its target consumers, enveloping the middle-class market. Evident by third-quarter rates, positive results ensued. Perhaps increasing products that are within reach of the middle-class's price range will allow L'Oreal to continue its growth without having to lower prices of existing products.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304023804575566244149896672.html?mod=WSJ_Consumerproducts_leftHeadlines

Just One Word: Bioplastics

According to the Wall Street Journal on October 18, 2010, there is a growing demand for eco-friendly products in the Consumer Products Industry. This is expected to increase the use of bioplastics for this industry that include companies all over the world. Some drivers of this new movement into eco-friendly materials include Procter and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo.

Not only is this trend going to help the environment, but it is also cheaper for the companies.

Helping to fulfill the "Green Niche," "some of these companies say their goal is not to completely replace petroleum-based plastics." All they want to do is make a product that will please customers (while making money at the same time, of course).

Again, as said in my earlier posts about the Green Movement, this will increase the competition in the Consumer Products Industry. As long as there are niches that need filling, competition will continue to increase. But will the need for aiding in the Green Movement ever stop? I don't think so because there can also be improvements--nothing is ever the best it can be.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703989304575504141785646492.html?mod=WSJ_Consumerproducts_leftHeadlines

Unilever's Sustainability Strategy

According to Unilever's website, Unilever understands that the world is changing and has decided to change with it. They are focusing not only on their factories but they are also focusing on the bigger picture: from sourcing their natural resources to how their consumers dispose of their products.

Unilever added sustainability to their goals in the 1990s and then in 2005, they began to use Brand Imprint to integrate their new agenda into their old one.

Their main idea is that if they educate their consumers and then in return their consumers make a small change, this will quickly add up and make a big difference.

Stating this objective outright on their website shows their consumers that they are serious about "going green." Because of this, they will most likely gain more consumers because people know that Unilever cares and since the company is caring, maybe if they (the consumers) buy their products it means that they too care. This can increase competition because it seems like many companies are jumping on the Green Movement bandwagon. If more and more companies improve their sustainability, competition will increase and our world will be in much better shape overall.

http://www.unilever.com/sustainability/strategy/vision/index.aspx

Illinois Consumer Product Enhancement Competition

The Nielson Company, along with Walgreens and the Women's Business Development Center, is holding a Consumer Product Enhancement Competition in Illinois. Eligible candidates are females who own Illinois-based consumer product businesses. The winner receives $10,000, $5,000 worth of technical support, and advice from the Nielson Company, which is "a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related assets." The winner will be announced on December 15th and by using the prizes, the winner will have the opportunity to place her products on the shelves at Walgreens.

This is a great way to introduce new players in the consumer products industry into the mainstream market (via Walgreens). It will also strengthen such players with the help of the Nielson Company. As a result, competition among similar companies may increase, leading to a wider variety (and higher quality) of goods for consumers.

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/10/11/2297518/the-nielsen-company-joins-with.html

http://www.nielsencpecompetition.com/

"Ghost" Brands

Marketers have recently been trying to revive old and faded “ghost” brands. “Ghost brands” are brands that have become ghosts of their former, successful selves and that have now been moved down to the bottom shelf below newer products. The idea is that it “can be less expensive to stimulate consumer memories of once-famous products, which had been backed with considerable ad budgets, than to spend enormous sums to introduce all-new products.”

Two specific “ghost brands” that are attempting to be introduced are the Sure line of antiperspirants and deodorants and Pert Plus line of hair care products, both sold by the Idelle Labs division of Helen of Troy. It is said that there has been no money spent on advertising for either brand since 2007. However, Idelle is going to spend an estimated amount of $15 million on each campaign. Marketers are hoping to “reconnect with lapsed users” and “re-establish the brand name.”

I believe it’s going to be very interesting to see what will happen when these “ghost” brands are reintroduced and what the consumer response will be.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/11/business/media/11adnewsletter1.html?sq=Consumer products&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=1&src=busln&adxnnlx=1286848899-aesJT/86swf1WCpUGkDBzQ