Cleaning product changes the language of the shelves
Valor Econômico
The time the cleaning products displayed direct and simple messages, such as the washing powder that makes "the white whiter", or the steel wool with a "thousand and one purposes" are gone. On a quick walk by the shelves of any supermarket, consumers are faced with expressions for those initiated in chemistry or physics, a language that borders science fiction.
The Reckitt Benckiser bleach Vanish, for instance, has received a version with "intelligent spot detector". The Minuano soap powder (JBS/Flora) has a "bioenergetic system" that is ready to stand up to Ariel "with Oxy Bars" (Procter & Gamble), or Surf with "Oxyfresh bubbles" (Unilever). The Pratice multi-purpose cleaner (Bombril), on its turn, has "antistatic" power, whereas its rival Assim (Hypermarcas) features "antimicrobial action". On the floor, the Pinho Sol cleaner (Colgate), which promises nearly full effectiveness ("gets rid of 99.9% of germs, bacteria and fungi") might perfectly pair with Kimberly-Clark's Scott and its "antibacterial" floorcloth. Such a property is, in fact, displayed in large letters on the packaging of any cleaning cloth.
The new versions with ciphered labels are part of the strategy of the home cleaning industry that earned more than R$ 12 billion (US$ 6.1 billion) in 2009 to convince the consumer to take home higher added value products that save physical effort and time. And, above all, make them bury old habits, such as using a rag as floorcloth instead of floorcloths with antibacterial properties.
Actually, this category alone is likely to receive, in 2010, twice as much the marketing investments the company made in 2009, according to the Kimberly's Director of family care, Mário Loor. "Last year we invested R$ 5 million (US$ 2.54 million) in media and actions in points of sale, but we have a whole work of encouraging a change in behavior ahead", says Loor. Kimberly has also brought to the Brazilian market the home cleaning version of moist paper towels, used for scouring surfaces.
Regardless of the presence of frequent or everyday maids in the households, most housewives do the cleaning at their homes. This is one piece of information provided in the survey made by the company Sophia Mind, of the website Bolsa de Mulher/Ideiasnet, exclusively for Valor, on the Brazilian behavior of the Brazilian women in relation to home cleaning. The study, which gathered, 713 women from several regions of the country through the Internet (with a 3.7% margin of error) identified that more than three-quarters (78%) takes part in the household cleaning. More than that: 40% of them are the only ones responsible for such a task. Nearly one third of the households (34%) of those polled have maids or frequent helpers, but in 85% of the homes the housewives are those who choose the brands and the products.