Family Matters
Paper towel manufacturers are concentrating on core consumers of their product to add some much-needed pizzazz to a mature segment.
Despite flagging sales, one big indicator of the importance of paper towels is the product's inclusion on a checklist of hurricane preparedness essentials assembled by Jacksonville, Fla.-based Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. The grocer recommended an 8-roll package of paper towels among other must-haves and, to make it easier for residents in hurricane-prone areas to stock up, provided discounts on the necessary products through its Customer Reward Card and a recent weeklong “Stock Up and Save” sale including BOGOs, 10 for $10 items and “Save 'Til” offers.
Still, as paper towels' dollar sales slipped 1.5 percent for the 52 weeks ended May 14 in food stores with $2 million or more in sales, with units sold down 5.2 percent, according to data from Schaumburg, Ill-based Nielsen, manufacturers have been searching for ways to add pizzazz to a mature segment.
School Days
One approach involves appealing to the many moms who buy paper towels by supporting causes these consumers care about, such as schools. This past Valentine's Day, for instance, Procter & Gamble's stalwart Bounty brand enlisted PTO Today — a Wrentham, Mass.based organization dedicated to filling unmet school needs through parent-teacher partnerships — to help clean 2,500 U.S. schools and, in turn, create cleaner learning environments for more than 450,000 students.
Highlighted by two $50,000 classroom makeovers, the “We Love Our School” program is an extension of Bounty's “Make a Clean Difference Campaign,” and was created in response to a recent Bounty survey in which 51 percent of U.S. teachers admitted that they avoided certain in-class projects or activities because they hated cleaning up afterwards.
The school cleaning initiative encompassed parents and community volunteers in 1,000 schools and 2,500 classrooms nationwide. To kick off the week of cleaning in February, Bounty tapped actress and mother Juli-anne Moore, along with dozens of local volunteers, to give a thorough cleaning to classrooms at a Manhattan public school. Afterwards, Bounty asked design maven, Style Network star and mom Kimora Lee Simmons to help clean a Harlem school and reveal the program's next big phase: a chance for a school to win a classroom makeover worth $50,000.
As a way to clean up more schools around the country, the first 500 parents and teachers to take the Make a Clean Difference Pledge at Bounty's Facebook page got much-needed cleaning supplies for their own projects and were entered for a chance to win a $50,000 designer classroom makeover by Bob and Cortney Novogratz of HGTV's “Home By Novogratz” show. After receiving entries from more than 2,600 schools, Bounty awarded the grand prize to Winegard Elementary in Orlando, Fla. The school received a renovated music room and art space, in addition to new musical instruments, computers, desks and iPads for students.
According to Dave Lee, North American Bounty delivery brand manager at Cincinnati-based P&G, “Our goal with this program was to help shed light on the needs that teachers and schools have, and supply materials that will help teachers continue to encourage their students to be more creative and to 'bring it' in everything they do at school and in life, both of which are values the Bounty brand stands by.”
The program concluded in May with Simmons' return to her home state of Missouri to provide a $50,000 art classroom makeover to the students of North St. Francois County High School in Bonne Terre, the second school to win a Bounty clean-school makeover. Simmons' overhaul included replenishing dwindling art supplies for the upcoming school year with such items as paints, color pencils and, naturally enough, Bounty paper towels.
The brand plans future school initiatives, which it will publicize on Facebook.
Hitching a Ride
Another family-friendly campaign included Kimberly-Clark Corp.'s online rewards promotion timed to coincide with the release of Disney-Pixar's “Cars 2” movie, which premiered June 24. Adopting a summer road-trip theme, Dallas-based Kimberly-Clark targeted moms — their families' designated “Pit Crew Chiefs” and entertainment directors rolled into one — by offering to help them earn rewards such as movie tickets, coloring books and character die-cast cars.
Through July, consumers could find the “Cars 2” promotional sticker on Kimberly-Clark brands, including Viva and Scott paper towels. The more Kimberly-Clark products moms bought, the more credits they could redeem for movie tie-in items.
After a purchaser visits Kimberly-Clark.com/ CARS2 and enters the code within the black box on the specially labeled items, they receive free gift vouchers by mail, which can be redeemed for the above-mentioned rewards and more at participating retailers. Products can be purchased in multiple transactions, and codes can be entered until Sept. 30, 2011.
Along with the retail promotion, Kimberly-Clark supported the movie's release through social media, teaming up with five influential parenting bloggers to host a “Cars 2” contest. The competition gave five families the opportunity to win a summer road-trip package, complete with Kimberly-Clark necessities, the original “Cars” DVD and a portable DVD player. PG
An 'Oasis' of Opportunity
Next-generation value brands are emerging as a important category for retailers these days, as evidenced by recent Nielsen U.S. retail scan data results that found Oasis Brands' Paseo bath tissue was holding its spot as the fastest-growing brand in the nation over the past six months.
Matt Crum, VP of marketing for Winchester, Va.based Oasis Brands, says: “Our customers, as well as this recent retail sales data, validate that we are heading in the right direction and have tapped into the shifting consumer attitudes, values and behaviors during this new economy.” Affirming that Paseo bath tissue “has tapped into the needs of retailers as well as consumers' newfound resolve for purposeful and responsible purchase decisions,” Crum notes that the brand boasts “a flexible, nimble business model and [a] willingness to invest in brand development.”
Paseo bath tissue distribution is currently concentrated in the western United States, where it experiences its highest sales rates and continues to rank second in that geographic area, says Crum, noting that in stores where the brand has experienced its most significant share gains, “more than 95 percent of growth came from other national brands, with less than 5 percent of share gains coming from private label.”
Since August 2010, when Oasis Brands first reported category increases where Paseo was sold, sales results continue to reflect a growth trend in next-generation brands and a steady decline for legacy brands, observes Crum, adding that Oasis brands “continue to meet the expectations of an ever-changing consumer market.”
In addition to bath tissue, Oasis, founded in May 2010, offers a full line of consumer tissue products, including Paseo paper towels, facial tissue and napkins, as well as many private label offerings in the tissue categories, such as facial and bath tissue.