محمد يوسفpersil power برسيل باور .ppt

7/27/2019 Persil Power .ppt

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Persil Power


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One stubborn stain onUnilevers reputation


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In the mid-1990s, the total UK market for soaps anddetergents was worth 1.42 billion (US $2.6 billion),and the largest sector was fabric washing, worth960 million and 67.5 per cent of the total sector.

The competition between the two leading companieswithin the sector, Unilever and Procter & Gamble,was intense and led to a quest for more and moreand more innovative brand offerings.


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When Unilevers star brand Persil announced

the launch of a powerful new formula, aptlycalled Persil Power, many consumers gotexcited by the products apparent ability to

fight any stain. However, when the product hitthe market place in May 1994, it proved sopowerful that under certain conditions it didnt

only destroy stains, it destroyed clothes aswell.


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For the first few weeks though, Persil

Power proved successful. Indeed, for abrief period, the product overtook itsmain rival Ariel. Indeed, Unilever stated

that Persil Power represented arevolutionary breakthrough in

detergents, and was the most significant

thing weve ever done.


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The only problem was, the brands key asset apatented manganese component called an

accelerator which was put in the powder alsoproved to be its fatal flaw. As soon as stories ofdisintegrated clothes started to emerge, Procter &Gamble ploughed their resources into anaccusation-laden publicity campaign which notonly damaged Persil Power, but also hadimplications for Unilever itself. Consumers soon

understood that the product could damagematerials at high temperatures, and that if theybought Persil Power they risked destroying theirclothes.


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Niall Fitzgerald, who introduced Persil Power (and isnow Unilevers chairman) explained the brand

damage to the whole Anglo-Dutch company in aninterview with The Sunday Times. Communications

had evolved so fast that within seconds this wasnt a

brand issue, this was a corporate issue, he said. So

even if we had wanted to ring-fence our product, wecouldnt have. Most retailers quickly took the product

from their shelves, and Unilever embarked on amassive crisis management programme, togetherwith a complete overhaul of the company proceduresthat had resulted in the product emerging on themarket.


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At the start of 1995 Unileverreplaced Persil Power with Persil

New Generation. The overall costwas estimated at more than 200million


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Now, however, the whole episode isalmost forgotten in the UK customersmind, and Unilever has bounced back

with its launch of detergent tablets.Indeed, the Persil brand has nowregained leadership from Procter &

Gambles top brand Ariel.


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Ultimately, Unilever has beenpreserved by its heritage. After all,this is the company which produced

the worlds first packaged, brandedlaundry soap, Sunlight, over 100years ago. Its brands may come andgo, but Unilever itself has stayedstrong.


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Whether this will always be the case isanother matter. In 2002, the companyannounced that it was considering brandingsome of its products, such as Persil, under itsown name. In other words, the product wouldbe branded as Persil from Unilever, instead

of simply Persil. In an article in the Guardian

journalist Julia Day explained the logicbehind the move:


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The idea is to create consumer-friendly brand values such as a

commitment to the environmentfor Unilever to use when marketingits products.


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Niall Fitzgerald, the chief executive ofUnilever, said the company believed the timemay be right to develop Unilever as an

umbrella brand for its individual products.The company has avoided taking this route inthe past because of the high risk involved. Ifone product encounters a problem the imageof other products could be damaged


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But the advantages for Unilever arethat it could develop Unilever as a

brand with values that could beapplied to all brands.


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One example Niall Fitzgerald gives in the article

was establishing Unilevers environmentalcredentials. The cost of doing that for individual

brands is immense, he said.

As the Persil Power episode illustrates, this is arisky move. If, in 1994, the new brand had beenbranded clearly as Persil Power from Unilever, it

would have tarnished all Unilever brands, and the

damage would have been even greater.


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Lessons from Persil Power


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_ Dont fuel your competitorspublicity. Procter & Gambles

negative campaign against PersilPower helped to boost its Arielbrand of detergent.


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Test products in all conditions. Products needto be tested in every environment or contextthey are likely to be used. If Unilever hadbeen able to spot the fundamental flaw with

the product it would have prevented what thethen Unilever chairman Sir Michael Perryreferred to as the greatest marketing setback

we have seen.


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Accept that no brand is anisland. Even if we had wanted to

ring-fence our product, we

couldnt have, admitted Unileverchief executive Niall Fitzgerald.


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محمد يوسفpersil power برسيل باور .ppt

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