The qualitative art in armpit science
Convincing guys to share their feelings about deodorant is no easy task, considering that most men aren’t aware that they even have feelings about deodorant. But in an effort to better position Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble’s deodorant line Old Spice to fend off competitors, this is exactly what Tim Nolan, senior scientist for P&G, asked male focus respondents to do. 
In 2008, men’s deodorant accounted for more than $1.2 billion in sales in the U.S., and qualitative research (namely focus groups and shop-alongs) proved to be a cornerstone for P&G as the company worked to create and launch a high-performance brand extension of Old Spice to put a fresh spin on the legendary marketing techniques of deodorant, according to Evan West’s article “Smells Like a Billion Bucks” for Fast Company’s May 2009 issue.
The marketing team was sent out to tag along with guys on deodorant-shopping trips, and Nolan asked a focus group to explain what they didn’t like about their current deodorants by composing good-bye letters to them. (One subject’s letter unfavorably compared his antiperspirant’s texture to “the sugar coating on a glazed donut.”) He discovered that while most guys wanted the wetness protection that dry, solid antiperspirant sticks offered, many didn’t use them because the waxy residue was uncomfortable and left white streaks on their clothing.
Armed with this insight, P&G chemist and research fellow David Swaile discovered a means of embedding liquid molecules of the kind found in invisible-solid deodorants into the waxy material found in typical antiperspirants. The breakthrough, as Swaile puts it, is akin to “making water not feel wet.” Nolan ran the promising new formula, aptly named Ever Clear, through some product demos, which included rubbing it onto black cloth and then studying it under black light, as well as scrutinizing tight-focus photos to see how it looked when applied to men’s hairy armpits. When Nolan asked his focus group to write love letters to the new product, one aspiring poet asked, “Can it really be true, that such a product exists as you? If you’re willing to give it a shot, I’ll tell my friends to use you a lot.”
Can Starbucks reconcile ‘value’ and ‘experience’?
Starbucks (and its $4 cup of coffee) is rethinking its image and strategy during tough economic times as consumers flee to the McDonald’s McCafes and Dunkin’ Donuts of the world to get a caffeine fix without the extravagance. With same-store sales down 3 percent in 2008, Starbucks coffee-lovers may see an uptick in lower-priced coffee drinks, Starbucks breakfast combos and - perhaps if Starbucks proves extraordinarily savvy - instant coffee.
According to Dan Mitchell’s March 22, 2009, article “Starbucks Faces Existential Crisis In Downturn” in The Washington Post, the Seattle-based coffee chain has been closing stores by the hundreds and laying off workers by the thousands, and data shows people started skipping Starbucks even before the economy bottomed out. Before the recession, Starbucks drove its business through expansion. But in the end, Starbucks went too far, resulting in “watering down the Starbucks experience,” as chairman and CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz put it, and turning off customers.
But the “Starbucks experience” (store ambience, personalized service, etc.) is a tough sell during a deep recession, so Schultz is trying to make the Starbucks experience a “value” proposition. The two concepts might seem at odds, but Schultz seems to be pulling it off. The introduction of a $3.95 breakfast combo offers the same items Starbucks was already selling but for about a dollar less. The combo may help Starbucks fend off the gigantic quick-service competitors without directly competing on price.
Similarly, Via, the chain’s instant coffee product, is Starbucks’ attempt at making instant coffee seem upscale and at taking a big chunk of the $17 billion spent on instant coffee every year. The product is still in its naissance, but the consensus seems to be that while it’s not as good as the real thing, it’s superior to most instant coffees. Via is also a major part of Starbucks’ international strategy. Globally, instant coffee makes up about 40 percent of the coffee market.
Home-owners do it themselves, with some help
More and more Americans are taking it upon themselves to do what needs to be done around the house. Perhaps they’re taking the DIY route because selling the house isn’t an option, or because contracting the work is too expensive, or maybe it’s because they just plain like it. According to research from Lowe’s, Mooresville, N.C., and as reported in Sarah Mahoney’s April 15, 2009, Marketing Daily article “Lowe’s: People Love Their DIY Moments,” 35 percent concede the main reason they’re DIY-ing is to save money, but a surprising 32 percent gave “pleasure” as the main motivator.
Eighty-four percent of homeowners are planning a lawn or garden project in the next 12 months, 82 percent plan to do interior painting, 65 percent will paint exteriors, 56 percent are putting in new flooring and 55 percent are either remodeling or adding a bathroom. That’s good news for retailers Lowe’s and the Home Depot, which have been pummeled by the slump in the housing market. And while many laud the remodeling sector of the business as recession-proof, it isn’t: Total sales in the home-improvement segment of the market fell 4.5 percent to $290.5 billion in 2008, according to the Home Improvement Research Institute, Tampa, Fla., which is predicting an even sharper decline of 6.5 percent for this year.
Lowe’s survey also noted an increase in people combining DIY with do-it-for-me. Among those who are planning kitchen remodeling, for example, 37 percent say that while they will hire professionals to do some part of the job, they will handle some aspect of the project themselves. The two tasks least-embraced by the DIY crowd? Installing carpets and replacing roofs.
A study from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies does find that the downturn in this segment of the economy will be less pronounced than the housing market overall. “Lower mobility rates imply not only lower levels of improvement spending, but also changes in spending priorities,” the study says. “With home prices falling, owners are shifting from high-end discretionary improvements to those that maintain the structural integrity and efficient functioning of their homes, as well as generate cost savings.”
Among the growth spots: increasing demand for green improvements; upgrades to the nation’s aging rental stock; and the growing population of immigrant homeowners, whose home-improvement spending has been growing at about 13 percent a year since 2000, compared to 7 percent of native-born households.