There was a collision at the crossroads of flexible packaging innovation and market projection recently.
Companies know to remain relevant in their specific sector; they must push the boundaries of consumer convenience. Often the best conduit for this is through packaging innovations.
Take the recent innovations in detergent packaging. The release of Proctor &Gamble’s Tide Pods in 2012 marked the first fundamental shift in how people use laundry detergent since the introduction of liquid detergent since the 1980s.
Procter and Gamble acknowledged the drive for convenience was the prime motivator for the shift from shelf-pouring detergent to the “unit dose” pod stating, “After listening closely to families who use our products, we knew we had to deliver a product that would…enhance daily life.” It was also a way to stay competitive in the $6.5 billion a year American detergent industry.
The technology behind the pods are a water-soluble film designed to withstand human touch, to be sectioned off into three distinct chambers (for cleansers, brighteners, and fabric softeners), and dissolve in water of any temperature. P&G’s $2 billion a year R&D budget made this doable after about eight years of trial and error.
There is no doubting the pod’s success. P&G’s estimation of $300 million in sales during the first year was exceeded. All the other major consumer goods companies unveiled their version of the pods.
But here’s a problem the consumers goods companies did not foresee: the pods are working too well. The Wall Street Journal reported, in an article title “Is Innovation Killing the Soap Business”, that the “unit dose” pods are preventing consumers from overuse. Were once someone doing their laundry would have poured in detergent freely (we all do it), the opportunity for overuse is gone—along with 5.1 percent of sales.
It’s an interesting conundrum, but a great example of how flexible packaging innovations can improve consumer habits and usability.