FRIEZE NEW YORK 2013
INTERNATIONAL HOME + HOUSEWARES SHOW 2013
TOKYO DESIGN WEEK 2012
BEIJING DESIGN WEEK 2012
Procter & Gamble is making a major marketing push with their new Tide Pods, which seek to "[add] a whole new dimension to laundry, with an innovative look, feel and performance." Question is, is this innovation for the sake of innovation, or does this truly provide a measurable benefit to the end user?
The Pods are little dissolvable packets containing three washing ingredients that are kept separate, like epoxy or explosive chemicals. The idea is that you throw one packet into the wash—relieving yourself from the difficult strain of pouring liquid into a cup—and then it dissolves.
Something that surprised me is that the commercials for the product (click here if you want to see them, I can't embed them, they're just too dopey) don't seem to target the people who'd benefit from this the most: Laundromat users. Back when I was living in an apartment with no washing machine, I would have definitely preferred to take a couple Pods down the block rather than hauling the gallon jugs I'd buy to save money.
Also, an amusing metric touted in P&G's product announcement is that the Pods "took years in development...and over 450 packaging and product sketches." Four hundred and fifty presentation boards would impress me; four hundred and fifty sketches, not so much, particularly over the course of years.
In a write-up on Tide Pods, the Times made an interesting assertion:
Tide Pods is indicative of a trend that is gaining traction in the marketing of mainstay household brands, which could be termed Apple envy. Giants like Procter, Clorox, Reckitt Benckiser and Unilever are seeking to continually deliver distinctive new products that pique the curiosity of consumers who dote on high-technology items like smartphones and tablets (the iPad kind, not the laundry kind).
I admire the thinking insofar as things like smartphones and tablets can greatly improve our experience of often unexciting tasks we need to get through; but do you readers feel this thinking can be accurately translated onto household chores? Let us know in the comments.
Comments
Are you kidding me?!! These are freakin badass!
Liquid spills, is sticky and nasty and always gets all over the bottle. There are issues pouring and keeping the cap clean.
Similarly, the powder gets all over the place. When spilled on the dryer top, it can cause scratching as well. Messy!
These pods, are the best answer in my opinion. Now, WHY they would hype up the 'innovative' aspect of their design is beyond me. Seems like a simple no brainer design solution to me, but DEFINITELY better than existing products in the category.
benefit would be removing the confusion some have with concentrated laundry deterg measurement. it's weird but it turned out to be a problem in my household, deterg is potent when WAY TOO MUCH is in there!
This is a perfect example of repackaging to reduce total product volume while maintaining price point. There may be benefits of less mess and easier transport, but the years of research were mostly likely focused on reducing the amount of product that had to be provided, a good thing, but making you pay the same (or more) a bad thing.
I've seen college kids who have obviously had their mom do their laundry their entire lives till the point where they had no idea how to use a laundry machine.
Then on their first venture to a regular laundrymat they guess by filling a few cap fulls of detergent and dumping silly amounts of detergent into the machine.
I laugh, I should stop 'em, but I'd rather let them figure out that they're dumb on their own. In my old apartment building I saw this happen about 6 times, each time I laughed, and each time I go back to the laundry room filled with bubbles.
They already make dishwasher detergent in pods.....what R&D needed to be done that took years?
I agree on the mess factor, I do not like powdered detergent, I use liquid and as careful as I am, sh*t happens. I would love to just throw a packet in like I do with my dishwasher. I'm definitely buying these!
Great for having my young kids be capable of doing their own laundry.
I would rather have some measured delivery system installed in the wash machine. I buy a bottle of detergent and just dump the whole thing into the washer. It alerts me when its low on detergent, and can can give more efficient detergent "doses" based on the size of the laundry load. I'd like to be able to do the same with bleach...
I agree with the first 2 comments, more or less. This solves for measuring and mess, and, yes, sounds down right awesome for laundromat people like myself. It would depend on the cost savings difference whether I would switch from the Method bottle I use now.
In their reluctant defense, 450 product sketches sounds like a lot to the general public who has no idea and little respect for what a design process entails. I doubt they were trying to impress the industrial designers with that comment.
I couldn't agree much more. Though what they could of done instead was target college kids, or men and women between the ages of 18-30 who actually live in apartments and still go to the laundromats. They totally missed the mark on such a great product that has proved it self worthy over in Europe now for a decade owning 30% market share of all laundry detergent products. What they could of done, was take that study about smarthphone users (tech heads) (men 18-30) and targeted it towards them, very disappointing to see such a revolutionary product get a bad ad campaign.
Certainly provides some value in the ease and convenience of use. But I think what is more important is the cost-savings for Tide in the packaging. I assume these packages cost less than traditional jugs/bottles. They likely score some "eco" points too with this initiative.
Weird but we have had liquitabs from one of our washing brands "Arial" for years in the UK? like maybe 10 years?
Not impressed !
-Higher cost per load
-bulkier products that use more space in transportation (aka not fuel efficient)
- overpackaging for the big plastic tub size
- inability to tailor dosage to load thus wasting product when doubling up or washing very small loads
What woud impress me ?
-Even more concentrated product to reduce bulk (very possible)
-Dosage cup that you can fill and then throw in the wash with the content and resuse (standard ones break after a few washes)
-Clean pouring spout or other better system
-Better environmental standards (or green product certification)
For laudromat users, a carry away refillable format would be great. Just like a water bottle with a dosgae spout.
That I would buy, meanwhile I use Nellies washing soda, it's the closest contender.
Most of the good reasons for this have been listed, so I'll list one of the bad.
I have this product at home (a different brand but pretty much the same). For the plastic case to melt in the dishwasher, it's very thin and sticky already. I'm sure some of them have disintegrated already, in fact it looks like some of them have deflated.
Their shelf life vs a big bottle of dishwasher fluid is questionable, however this is a short term problem that will be fixed with time.
One last note, I definitely agree that laundromat users should buy these in bulk, as well as the elderly. My grandmother doesn't have the fortitude to lug a gallon container to the dishwasher, tilt it and hold it in that position. Suffice to say, this would make life a lot easier for her.
Do you suppose the possibility of the dissolvable packaging gumming up the machine over time or affecting the clothing has been considered?
sorry but for me this reeks of over design. Looks like a bunch of people sitting around trying to justify their existence in a time of economic uncertainty. it looks like a product that you would see on a shelf in Japan. Sure there are a few questionable benefits, but they're far outweighed by the negatives. Washing powder/liquid should not be rocket science. Make it as concentrated as possible, create a package of delivery that can control the small volumes (like an eye drop bottle) and job done. better still why can't my clothes use the detergent as my dishes?
Well, they look delicious...toddlers around the world will love them. Toxic?
Steve Jobs quoted Alan Kay with "People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware."
People who are really serious about laundry detergent should make their own laundry machines.
I like Ken J's suggestion about building a washing machine with reservoirs for detergent, softener and bleach. A better high tech washing machine is what will really appeal to the Apple lovers out there.
I have a cousin who is blind. He does laundry, and this product is perfect for him!
Had these things in the UK for probably five years now - if it took them 450 sketches, they did them quite a long time ago!
I think someone should give a little more business background. P&G has a goal of a certain percent of sales coming from new product. Therefore, the team is very stressed to find new ways of using their existing technology. This is a good way of doing that.
Also, in commodity markets like laundry detergent, P&G and others are constantly searching for points of difference with their competition. Developing a new delivery method like this is a great one. I bet that Tide is a billion dollar brand. Just grabbing an extra .1% is hard, but extremely profitable.
At a product development conference years ago an academic gave case history of working on Colgate Palmolive's Irish Spring bar soap. He described the complexities of mixing the colors, the advertising people's coup in describing the inherent goodness of the green and the white as obviously being greater than the sum of their parts. Clearly the innovation of the millenia in bar soaps.
And then he also described the gamut of reactions to Procter & Gamble introducing a competitor but it was blue and white, and the possibility of legal action.
So clearly, this seems a market niche where innovation is extremely specious, where each infinitismally minute introduction must be heralded as the next big thing.
I first saw these a day or two ago while walking down the cleaner isle. I have to say, I'm impressed with the packaging design inasmuch as the clear round container does stand out strikingly well next to all the other boxes and plastic bottles of laundry detergents. After my packaging-design-wow-moment though my mind went immediately went to value and environmental impact - two important factors in the purchasing decisions I make (and I wasn't even purchasing laundry detergent that day).
I have to agree with several others on here, the value & environmental impact negatives far out-weigh any minor mess annoyance I have with other laundry products. Tide did manage to make me think about their product for more than a split second and I've actually been having reoccurring thoughts about it since then. That might be an indication that they've made a big enough impact that it'll change many other consumers laundry cleaner purchasing choices - especially in combination with the other benefits they're selling with the new product design.
i like the design and packaging. i like the convenice of carrying 3 or 4 pods I would definatly purchase this. I think its a good idea.
Looks like these might be discontinued since an increasing number of children have been poisoined by these candy-looking pods. Funny, even the container resembles a candy or cookie jar. I've always stuck to powder detergent, it cleans much better. As the poster stated it's a pain for some to haul the box around and this was why my husband used liquid detergent when I first met him. The solution is simple. I always put the powder detergent in a large enough zip loc bag, to take to the laundromat.
I love these. I purchased a large pod container and refill it with pods from the bag package. I work late nights and tend to do laundry when i get home and am half asleep. Though the cost per a load is higher than liquid but coupons help with that. Honestly for awhile i thought the idea of paying more for the convenience of just throwing a little pot in the washer instead of pulling down the big old bottle and measuring into the cap was silly until i used them, to find out they make me doing the laundry just that much easier. All i can say is buy a small bag and give them a try.