Tide Pods: P&G’s Triumph Over Adversity

My written assignment will focus on Proctor and Gambles most recent success in the market Tide Pods. The Pods current market situation turns out to be better than P&G could have dreamed of. Considering the trials and tribulations it endured before ever making it to market. In a recent online article written by Jack Neff, for adage. com it notes, “Pods came to market six months later than planned and without the originally scheduled retail promotions because of supply shortages. ” (Neff, 2012). In addition, one of its competitors, Sun marketer of All Mighty Pacs, sued P&G for patent infringement.

Perhaps most devastating, the Pods came under direct scrutiny from Senator Chuck Schumer, due to children accidentally eating them, which reportedly happened nearly 500 times according to The Center for Disease Control and Prevention. These things would likely be the death of a product, but P&G overcame adversity, persevered, and have since reaped the benefits. The Pods are expected to gross $500 million in first year sales. P&G predicts Tide Pods will account for 30% of the laundry market in the next 10 years. I would say the number in sales and the product demand speak volumes to the Pods potential.

Customer interest seems to be high. In a recent report from http://www. consumernews. com(para. 3) Tide Pods were the only single use product that cleaned well enough to make their recommended list. The “SWOT ANALYSIS” for my product I kind of touched basis on in the beginning of my paper. I think the biggest strength is the reputable brand it is a part of. Tide has been a proven and trusted brand for many years. Consumers can depend on the quality and dependability of the Tide brand.

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Second to that is market share. P&G has claimed 68% market share in the laundry pods category, a growing segment representing 7. % of the $7 billion U. S. laundry market. Weaknesses I found were consumers not being familiar with the product, negative connotations due to some of the scrutiny it came under from the Pods being accidentally eaten by children, and lastly because of launch delays, many competitors were able to release their single use product before P&G. The threats I think are minimal for this product. I say that because most of the threats that had the potential to do harm have already been taken care of. Its innovative design has given it an edge over the competitor.

The Pod has a whitening component that the other single use laundry products don’t have. The specific industry targeted for Tide Pods is the laundry industry. In Dan Monk’s recent CincyBizBlog (www. bizjournals. com) he writes, P&G hails it as its biggest laundry innovation in more than a decade according to (Monk, 2013) the article also notes P&G as saying, “many of its new customers switched from bargain brands”. After conducting some secondary market research on the Pods I found the targeted demographic market to be young people (i. e. , college students, young adults moving out on their own for the first time).

I don’t think it is gender specific, men and women could appreciate the convenience and unique compact design of the product. I don’t think it is geared towards the single family home with multiple children either. The young person living in the apartment would be a better fit for the Pods. Lastly, the on the go, early adapter/innovator would also be the ideal consumer for the Pods. The consumer purchasing process for the Tide Pods starts with the Buyer Decision Process (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012) (pp152-156) need recognition. Every household in America needs laundry detergent to wash their clothes.

The question is do they need the Pod instead of traditional liquid or powder laundry detergent. The next step in the process is information research. Once the need is there now you are aware and must search for information about the product you intend to purchase. How the Pod is compared to its competitor the All Mighty Pacs? Is more cost effective for me to use the pod as opposed to my regular powder detergent? The next step is evaluation of alternatives. Normally this step consists of comparing the alternative brand to see if it will give you the same result. Will my clothes get as white using the Mighty Pac as does with the Pods?

The next step is the purchase decision. More often than not I and other consumers tend to buy the preferred or trending brand. Pods are a Tide brand. As previously stated this alone gives the Pod selling power and the advantage simply because of the reputation of the brand alone. The last stage of the process is post purchase behavior. This is the “did it me my expectations phase? ” In this part of the process, the most important part of the process. The consumer determines if the Pod is worthy of leaving the other brand and continuing to use and purchase Tide Pods or it didn’t meet the expectations and I’ll never buy another Pod in life.

In closing the Tide Pod has proven to be a great product launch for Proctor and Gamble. They were innovative, took a risk, invested a lot of money in this product, and it paid off. The two ways in which it could improve are safety development and design. The addition of fragrances would definitely be a plus, coupled with better packaging designs to safeguard against future accidental kid poisoning incidents. The expected growth, potential, earnings, and overall success for the Pods are endless.

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