Marketing Environment Forces in Soap and Laundry Detergent

Introduction

To succeed in the soap and laundry detergent industry, marketers must correctly identify opportunities and threats relevant to their products. Three key marketing environment forces impact this product category: environmental quality factors such as sewage treatment and other pollution issues in detergent manufacturing plants; consumer and worker allergies to chemicals or other ingredients in the products themselves; and product changes dictated by evolving washing machine technology. This paper describes each force and analyzes why and how it impacts the soap and detergent industry.

One of the primary challenges facing the soap and laundry detergent industry is the issue of pollution in the manufacture of the product. Whether driven by a desire to avoid government fines and regulation, to prevent litigation arising from pollution, or to maintain positive public relations and avoid "ecotage" (actual sabotage by environmental radicals), this concern is arguably the number one issue the industry must address.

Environmental Pollution in Manufacturing

A historical case study illustrates this well. In the 1960s and 1970s, environmental activist Jim Phillips (known as "the Fox") engaged in what would now be considered eco-terrorism when he plugged the sewage pipes of the Aurora, Illinois Armour-Dial soap factory after it dumped raw sewage into the local Fox River. His seven-year campaign against the soap and meat-packing plant generated enough public heat and publicity to cause the state of Illinois to sue Armour-Dial in 1975 for violations of Illinois anti-pollution laws. The plant subsequently began treating its raw sewage and stopped dumping (Hoekstra, 2001).

The 1970s marked the beginning of widespread environmental sensitivity in the industry, as well as sensitivity to public opinion on pollution issues. The Proceedings of the 4th World Conference on Detergents in 1999 noted with relief that the 1992 Rio de Janeiro United Nations Conference on Environment and Development had acknowledged that chemicals had improved living standards (Sedlak, 1999, p. 80). What the industry opposed in 1999 — and what remains important today — is the conflation of consumer goods with bulk industrial chemicals. The distinction between the two determines how governments apply environmental laws and regulations to the soap industry. By extension, promoting awareness of the industry's role in environmental responsibility can have a positive impact on product marketing (ibid, p. 82). Companies perceived as responsible clearly hold a marketing edge over those that are not, and marketing strategies must emphasize this responsibility while distinguishing responsible producers from polluters.

Public sensitivity to allergens in detergents and soaps also began in the 1960s, roughly contemporaneous with growing concern about manufacturing pollution. The first adverse effects were reported in the professional literature in 1969, when a 1967 respiratory allergy outbreak affecting 28 workers at a detergent plant was documented. Testing indicated that the allergic reactions were caused by inhalation of enzyme powder. This particular trigger of allergic reactions from soap materials is now relatively uncommon (Kanerva, 2000).

Far more common are dry skin reactions to soap, and these can be addressed through marketing distinctions as well. In such situations, it can be beneficial to discourage purchases of perfumed soap and instead promote the use of neutral brands such as Dove, Basis, Aveeno, or Neutrogena dry skin soaps. To avoid association with allergen concerns, marketers can emphasize alternatives that help consumers prevent allergic reactions while projecting a positive market image. Because allergies are complex and are not always caused by a single irritant — chemical or otherwise — it is also effective to direct consumer attention toward non-irritating products that the particular soap or detergent company produces ("Skin reactions," 2005).

While it is necessary to address public opinion and comply with government regulation and law, companies must also understand which problems they genuinely own and ensure that consumer concerns are being directed at the appropriate sources for the right reasons. In this way, knowledge of the physiological and psychological needs of customers can be used to market and represent the product accurately and in the proper perspective.

Allergens and Skin Reactions

Finally, there is the issue of product changes dictated by advances in washing machine technology. These changes have been driven by energy and water conservation concerns that have fundamentally altered the design of modern machines. In the early 1990s, washing machines began incorporating microcontrollers for the timing process in order to improve water and energy usage. Because these proved reliable, many lower-cost machines subsequently adopted microcontrollers in place of the older mechanical timers ("Washing machine," 2011).

As a result, many washing machine models became Energy Star certified — an international standard for energy-efficient consumer products recognized across most Western countries, including the European Union. Devices carrying the Energy Star logo typically use 20–30% less energy than required by federal standards ("Energy star," 2010). To illustrate how far this technology is developing, one university research team created a concept washing machine that uses only about a cup (less than 300 ml) of water to complete a full wash cycle. This machine leaves clothes virtually dry, consuming less than 2% of the water and energy used by conventional machines and requiring 20 kilograms of reusable plastic chips per load. In addition to conserving water, such a machine could potentially render laundry detergent obsolete (Poulter, 2008).

A washing machine that functioned without laundry detergent would eliminate the product entirely. While this is not yet a reality, the trend toward reduced detergent requirements means that new marketing strategies will be needed. These may include targeting niche markets, focusing on customers with older machines, expanding into foreign markets, or reorganizing a company's product mix to shift reliance toward its other soap products and sustain overall business viability.

Marketing challenges in the soap and laundry detergent industry are not simply a matter of competition. Rather, the marketing environment is highly dynamic, shaped by psychological, physiological, technological, and regulatory forces that have made the market highly centralized, capital intensive, and competitive among a small number of large companies vying for the majority of market share. Innovative strategies will be needed to remake these products for a new century in which consumers have new needs and new technologies to accomplish the timeless task of keeping themselves and their personal environments clean.

Conclusion

Skin reactions. (2005). Retrieved from http://www.chemocare.com/managing/skin_reactions.asp.

Washing machine. (2011). Retrieved from