Comments on: Are ‘Complete’ Products Being ‘Totaled’?

By: Ted Mininni

Ted Mininni — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:13:34 +0000

“Wouldn’t a complete, end-all type of positioning eliminate the need for a line extension?” Exactly, Matt. So either, to your point, a saturation of all-encompassing products will lose their meaning, or as a CPG expert quoted in the article cited in my post, this (fad) too shall pass. Time will tell, won’t it?
Thanks for weighing in, Matt. I appreciate your observations.

By: Matt Silver

Matt Silver — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:05:11 +0000

Crest Pro Health — it’s positioned to be all encompassing of every benefit you would want to get out of your toothpaste. Problem is, for me at least, why buy any other Crest product? Wouldn’t a complete, end-all type of positioning eliminate the need for a line extension?
Whether pro, complete, solution, total or ultra, sooner or later these buzzwords won’t carry as much weight if the differentiation isn’t apparent.

By: Ted Mininni

Ted Mininni — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:36:16 +0000

Kevin,
Don’t expect the “solution cycle” to end any time soon. I was just reading an Advertising Age article citing one of the biggest trends in shopper marketing as “solution selling”. If anything, this trend is poised to become even bigger in marketing parlance and thought.
Thanks for opining, Kevin.

By: Ted Mininni

Ted Mininni — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:32:55 +0000

You’re right, NW Guy, about the “feature creep”. I guess my question is this: how do consumers choose between two products–one that offers total care and one that claims to offer one overriding benefit when the two sit side by side on the shelf?
To answer your question, let’s look at Tide. The brand owns just over 50% of the laundry detergent business. It’s a very mature brand. The newer Total Care detergent will no doubt have a limited life cycle, but the mature Tide brand will continue to influence strong purchase decisions, no matter what the next generation of benefits touts.
Thanks for weighing in, Guy. Much appreciated.

By: Kevin Horne

Kevin Horne — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:24:03 +0000

Good. Maybe this also means the end of the “solution” cycle, at least for a while?
If I hear that word one more time from a CPG
company…like the CMO at Pizza Hut who earlier this year called a new product a “meal solution.”
Please.

By: NWGuy

NWGuy — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:11:01 +0000

This cycle is very similar to recent discussions of feature creep. A product that is “total” or “complete” tries to be all things. It is only natural that the marketplace will fill this gap with niche products that are more innovative than specific features of the total product.
It is very difficult to retain focus and innovation on each segment of the total product. The timeframe that this can survive may be dependent upon the product/market maturity or the company. Any thoughts on which has the greater influence?

By: Ted Mininni

Ted Mininni — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:10:49 +0000

This is fascinating, Paul. I confess I’m not sure how consumers overall view this cycle. How do CPG companies keep adding benefits until they claim to offer “total” products; then after maximizing sales, move forward to new generations of products that tout single benefits with success? A good question. . .
It seems a good guess that ongoing CPG market research probably divulges one key benefit consumers are looking for most and then companies push to deliver that one overriding benefit. Of course these days products and product features come in and out of favor more quickly than ever. Maybe, as former P&G exec Doug Hall stated, fads come and go and consumers really don’t care.
How about it DF readers?

By: Paul B

Paul B — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:41:45 +0000

Ted, I found the cycle of single benefit to total care (and back again) fascinating. If this is the case, have consumers been conditioned over the years to place less stock in “total care” perhaps innately knowing a better single benefit product is just around the corner?