Why do consumer products companies
feel compelled to change products that consumers have been happily using for
decades just the way they are? Didn’t
they learn the lessons from New Coke being introduced in 1985, to only be met
with the backlash from all the die-hard fans of Original Coke that had been
around since 1892. Yes, I see the desire
to constantly be innovating. But
consumer product “staples” are a little different than a piece of technology
like an iPhone that requires new bells and whistles to be added each year to
break out from the sea of competitors that are chasing them. As an example, we have all been eating Heinz
Ketchup in its same form since it was introduced in 1876, with no reason to
seek an alternative because the original works perfectly fine just the way it
is. But, the men’s care brands of Gillette
and Schick obviously didn’t read that memo, as you will see in the below case
study.
A Case Study
For many of my younger adult
years, I was a loyal user of Gillette’s shaving gel. One year, they decided to change the
fragrance of that product, from what I would describe as “fresh” to
“musky”. I tried all the other Gillette
shaving gel variations to see if I could find the original “fresh” fragrance
with no luck. I even called Gillette to
ask what happened to the original fragrance, which I was told it had been
discontinued. I had no choice but to try
Schick’s shaving gel product to find a “fresher” scent, which I did with their
original Edge brand which had been around, unchanged, since the 1970’s.
I then became a loyal customer of
Schick and used their Edge brand product for years. But then guess what happened: out of the
blue, Schick changed their product. The
new product had a different “musky” scent, and worse yet, the gel did not come
out of the can as a gel, it came out as a liquid that was hard to apply to your
face. I called Schick to tell them about
my experience with the new Edge formula, and all they thought to do was send me
a $10 coupon for other Schick products, which I had no interest in buying. So, you can guess what I did: I went back to
sampling other shaving gels, including giving Gillette a second chance. Lucky for me, Gillette had returned to their
original fragrance, and I was right back to where I started, a loyal customer
of Gillette again.
The Key Lessons from This Story
How Much Revenues Are You
Going to Lose from a Product Change.
I am sure the product managers at Gillette and Schick thought they were
doing something good to improve their business, especially as the new employees
on the team were looking to make a name for themselves. But how much revenue did Gillette end up
losing by making a fragrance change to their core product. I am guessing a lot,
as they ultimately brought back their original fragrance after the fact. But I as the user, wouldn’t have known that,
until Schick tinkered with their formula and had me “looking for the
exit”. Now I can only guess how much
revenue Schick is going to lose with this change, based on all the negative
customer reviews that are being shared on social media. But I will never know if they fixed their
problem, like Gillette did, because I am now happy with the Gillette product
and am not in the market to return to Schick (unless Gillette screws up again).
Always Be Innovating May Be
the Wrong Strategy. If you have
a great “staple” product that is a best-selling sales leader in the market,
don’t always feel the need to change.
Sometimes it is perfectly good just the way it is. Just ask Coke, Heinz Ketchup, Oreo Cookies, Welch’s
Grape Juice, Ticonderoga Pencils and many other consumer “staples” that are
perfect in their current form. Heinz
once tried to switch to a purple color from their red color, to attract more
kids, and it failed miserably; they ended up retreating back to their basic red
color. Imagine if Oreo used a strawberry
flavored cookie instead of chocolate, Welch’s switched grape varieties from
dark to light, or Ticonderoga took the erasers off the top of their pencils—we
would not be very happy as loyal consumers of those products. The point here is: innovation is critical for
products that are constantly being innovated upon (e.g., technologies, cars,
appliances). But, if your product is a
“staple” and consumers already love it, don’t mess with a good thing.
Always Do Your Market
Research. Before making a big
change to your product, make sure you do your market research homework with
your customers and ask them what they like and don’t like about the new
product, compared to the old product, to ensure your base level of revenues
will be maintained, and the innovation will actually help take your revenues to
new heights. Because without the market
research, your team may think they are doing the right thing based on their
personal instincts, but they could be capsizing the ship. Just ask Guinness how it went when they
mistakenly introduced Guinness Light in 1979.
People weren’t drinking Guinness to save on calories, they were drinking
it because it was unique, as a rich dark stout, versus all the other lagers and
ales in the market. Their loyal drinkers
would never be caught dead drinking a light version.
Closing Thoughts
Now that I am shaving with
Gillette again, I am curious how many years it will take before some new
product manager gets the “itch” to tinker with the formula again and may result
in me going back to “Camp Schick” again.
Hopefully, Gillette learned their lesson and they have a better
understanding of why their customers were buying from them in the first place. A lesson that is now being painfully learned
by Schick with their decades-long customers seeking alternatives for the first
time ever. But, for now, Gillette is “The
Best a Man Can Get!!” We’ll see how long
that lasts.
For future posts please follow me on Twitter at: @georgedeeb.