Can you humanize toilet paper? What about paper towels? Kimberly-Clark believes the answer is yes, and it’s going for it with its Scott-branded paper products. But why now? The answer is simple: the power of private label. Brandweek reported that dollar sales of Scott toilet tissue were down 3.3% compared to a 4.1% rise for private label for the 52 weeks ending April 18. As a result, Kimberly-Clark increased its spending on the brand by 45.7%.
But is it a lost cause? A survey conducted by Consumer Edge Research indicates yes as consumers aren’t treating the private label bug they caught while suffering through the worst of the recession.
Bill Pecoriello, president of the Connecticut-based company, said the findings from the company’s survey of more than 2,500 households indicated private label popularity is only growing as time goes on. Consumer Edge Research rated 90 categories of grocery products based on the likelihood of consumers to continue purchasing private label products as the economy improves. Milk, cooking oil, bleach, paper napkins, and spices were among the most popular private label items.
“There are high levels of satisfaction when trading down to private labels from brand names. The performance is pretty good here,” Pecoriello said.
An article in Private Label Magazine’s March/April 2010 issue, private label paper growth is slowing, but the category is on a rise with 23.7% share in the category for the last four weeks ending January 23, 2010—a rise from 22.1% for the same time period in 2009.
In addition, a report by NBC News Channel stated that Walmart, Target, CVS, and Walgreens are among the many stores that are cutting back on national brands. “They’re really pushing house brands, particularly for what we might call commodities. And the reality is, in the current recession, nobody really cares what kind of toilet paper they’re using,” said Bernard Weinstein with SMU Cox School of Business in the report.
Scott Senior Brand Manager Aric Melzl said the campaign to revitalize the Scott brand is “an invitation for consumers to come back and look at the brand,” especially at its moist wipes, extra soft bath tissue, and Scott Naturals innovations. “There was this insight that this brand has been around for 100 years, and it’s something that is used by more than 40 million households each year,” Melzl said, adding that consumers might not know of all the changes.
Perhaps the final question to this post is this: will bringing change to the attention of consumers’ minds be enough to actually change them?