Weblogsky: It floats away?

It floats away?

Procter and Gamble may be washing its hands (ha ha) of Ivory Soap (it floats!), according to a Cincinnati Business Courier article called "Clean Sweep," which says that "some branding experts suspect that Ivory soap is on the bubble." Puns abound. I was drawn to the story because I was just thinking yesterday about Ivory Soap, how I hadn't seen it around. It's still there, of course, but it's not blurbed because it's not sexy, and there's a zillion soap products on the shelves – commodity soaps, store brands, specialties (those $5 patchouli-scented bars you buy at Whole Foods Market). What's kinda sad is this bit from the end of the Business Courier article:

"Companies birth brands that have great lives, and sometimes they bury them," said branding expert Karen Post, author of the book "Brain Tattoos." "It's very normal and acceptable and common."

Remember Schlitz beer? My father was a Schlitz distributor when it was one of the most popular beers in the USA; now it's an cheapo brand brewed by Pabst, which has survived by picking up two dozen familiar brands including Texas stalwarts Lone Star and Pearl. (Beware the monstrous Pabst Flash site, which would give Jakob Nielsen a myocardial infarction.) Everybody I know drinks specialty microbrews or high-priced Mexican beer – my colleague Ethan Burrow brews his own.

It's sad to see the old brands waste away, but we have many more choices, which may be a great thing. Then again, remember what the swami in the steambath said (in the film Head, starring the Monkees, written by Jack Nicholson): "... where there is clarity there is no choice. And where there is choice, there is misery." Yikes!

jon posted this at 7:30 AM
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Comments

I know what you mean about being sad to see old brands waste away. A lot of the brands that I fondly remember from my childhood are slowly being removed from the shelves and replaced by hipper, trendier versions from the same company. Ah, Schlitz. That was the first beer I ever had, way back when I used to steal sips out of my father's can when he wasn't looking!!

Posted by: panasianbiz | May 22, 2006 7:37 AM

Plate o' old shrimp:

A college friend of mine worked on marketing Schlitz right after we got out of school (early 90's). I asked him if the basic message was "Drink Schlitz. It's cheap!" and he said, yup, that was about it.

Posted by: David Gammel | May 22, 2006 11:15 AM

"It's sad to see the old brands waste away, but we have many more choices, which may be a great thing."
Exactly, we have more choices now. In my part of the world (South Asia), many times I have seen that after an owner of a company dies his succesor (most of the times his son)fails to keep up the good work and the brand loses popularity quickly.

Posted by: Razib | May 23, 2006 2:09 PM

"It's sad to see the old brands waste away, but we have many more choices, which may be a great thing."

Has anyone tried to quantify beer drinkership to see if it falls into a power distribution? We may well be in the era of the Long Beer Tail! Maybe a local Austin brewpub should start brewing Long Tail Ale. Blogger Lager might look nice next to it on the menu! I need to stop now.

Posted by: McChris | May 23, 2006 4:27 PM