How do companies in this industry differentiate themselves from one another?

A lot of the main companies in the Households and Personal Products industry have a variety of different products they sell. One company could hold as many as twenty products or more, each with a specific and different purpose. As a result, these companies differentiate themselves in two ways. The first begins at a corporate level with outreach. Second is brand name and packaging.

Corporate Outreach


One method that companies use involves actually extending a hand to the public when times are rough. P&G is one company that has no problems donating diapers, toothpaste, and whatever else they can spare to disaster areas. Although it's also a way to help the needy, it also doubles as a way for the company to get it's brand names out there. When people are in a pinch and can only get their hands on a certain brand, when they can finally afford to purchase their own products again, it could have created new brand loyalty to their companies products. Not to diminish what P&G is doing, but it has the double effect of benefiting the company in the long run.

Kimberly-Clark, on the other hand, has a different outreach method. Although they also have their own commitment to social responsibility, they also promote their products through different means. For example, the Huggies brand contest. Basically, parents are encouraged to film how their child moves for a Huggies commercial. Not only does this make the target market aware of the brand, but it also pushes the idea behind the product, which is that the diaper moves with the child. It's a method of promotion that really focuses on who Kimberly-Clark wants to buy their products.

Brand Name/Packaging


On the shelf, it's a different story for companies. When doing corporate outreach, it's largely just the company, but in the store different brands are competing directly against each other. It then becomes incredibly important for names to stand out. One example is P&G's new Tide Pods. After doing extensive market research, P&G found that many consumers dreaded doing laundry, and so they starting doing research in how to fill that need. Eventually they came up with the Tide Pod, which is light and easy to use. They even took care in designing the packaging. The pods themselves have detergent, fabric softener, and brightener in the signature colors of Tide (Orange, Blue, and White). Additionally, they made the packaging clear so that among the sea of regular detergent, it stands out. As a company with a huge brand name recognition and a reputation for innovation, this is one way they try to stand out.

Tide Pods Packaging

Another area in which there is fierce competition for a consumer's eye is in the Shampoo aisle. While companies know that plastering their name on the bottle is important, everything from the color of the packaging, to the placement of conditioner next to the bottle can make a difference. An advertisement research blog demonstrated the use of eye tracking software on a shampoo shelf.

Eye tracking results

In areas where there were large blocks of color, like Garnier's (L'Oreal) signature green bottles and Head and Shoulders's (P&G) white bottles. However, this could lead to confusion and potentially frustration if someone is searching for a specific part of the brand (like shampoo and conditioner for people with curly hair), and they can't find it easily. Head and Shoulders addresses this to an extent by having mostly white bottles with splashes of color to indicate what kind of shampoo/conditioner the bottle is. In this aisle, it's important to be able to have an extremely strong presence and a wide variety of product to display.