Upscale Cleaning Products Go Traditional

The household cleaners category is one of the latest in which fashionable brands are starting to appear on shelves in mainstream supermarkets and drugstores. Some dish soaps, spray cleaners, room deodorizers, linen sprays and similar products now carry an upscale image (and corresponding price tag). The basic idea is to target consumers who value aesthetics with a package design that fits their home's decor.New Age Household CleanersStonewall Kitchen, York Center, Maine, produces Grapefruit Thyme scented dish soap, Lemon Parsley hand gel, and Grapefruit Thyme window and countertop cleaner. Each transparent liquid is noticeably lighter in color than such traditional brands as Dawn dishwashing liquid or Sparkle glass cleaner. Stonewall Kitchen joins other New Age brands, such as Method and Caldera, and a number of retailer brands, including Williams-Sonoma, which use packaging to differentiate their brands from traditional products. Martha Stewart is even in the game, with Martha's dish soap.Such New Age brands are becoming an emerging subcategory, making an old packaging shape new again. Many of these brands are using the plastic bottle shape called the Boston Round. Around for decades, it is basically a straight-sided bottle with a classic, rounded curve at the top that tapers up to the closure.Today, those bottles are being made of PET, which produces a high-gloss surface. With the Boston Round in particular, the way light reflects off the surface in stores enhances the character of the liquid inside. Coupled with straightforward paper labels, the packaging has become characteristic of the subcategory.The high clarity of PET bottles also highlights the subtle colors of upscale household cleaners. I would suggest that the visual characteristics of the bottles present the colors so vibrantly that shoppers can almost see how Grapefruit Thyme scent smells.The subcategory of upscale household cleaners is probably already forming in the minds of consumers: It offers a different value proposition than traditional household cleaners and commands a higher price because of its characteristics (i.e., colorful, fresh and natural).It would not be the first time marketers have carved out a segment within a category and leveraged packaging to underscore the difference between them and traditional, established items. SoBe and Jones Soda, for instance, have done it. So have New Age salad dressings, such as Brianna's and Gallas Gourmet, which have begun to get shelf space on mainstream supermarket shelves.The traditional salad dressing bottle is known as the "banjo" bottle -- think Kraft or Wishbone salad dressings. Brianna's, however, opted for a glass container based on the Boston Round to call attention to the brand. Today, in upscale stores such as Whole Foods, the Boston Round commands as much shelf space in the salad dressing section as the traditional "banjo" container.Household cleaners could be the next category to undergo such a transformation.Holiday Promo Pack Features PremiumEach year, holiday promotional packs for distilled spirits are a given. Among the offerings for 2004 is a windowed carton holding Glenfiddich Scotch and two cut-glass tumblers. William Grant & Sons Inc., New York, distributes the brand in the U.S. The carton background is black, a color often associated with high-end products. Designed by The Bailey Group, Jacksonville, Texas, it features die-cut windows that highlight the bottle and the glasses.Glass Jar Defines High-End ChiliA packaging innovation for chili hits shelves with Bush's Best Homestyle Chili. It debuts in a glass jar in a category previously dominated by metal cans. Positioned as a premium product, a 15-ounce jar retails for $2.69 compared to about $1.69 for some competitive canned products.Bush's leverages every inch of the package to sell the product -- even the cap. Called a "deep skirt" cap, it extends down farther than traditional caps. On the edge, Bush's prints the phrase "Quality you can see and taste," reinforcing the visual quality the glass jar offers. The jar is squared, not round. Packages are shifting to such shapes because they allow more efficient use of shelf space.Hologram Yells "Kaboom!"Kaboom household cleaners have gone to a holographic label to emphasize the brand's cleaning ability. Products include liquid toilet cleaner, and shower and tub cleaner. The brand, from Orange Glo International, Greenwood Village, Colo., is in supermarkets and discount outlets. The hologram works because it supports the "explosion of clean" concept behind the Kaboom name. The brand also establishes an unusual color combination -- purple and lime green. The brand does stand out in the category.Jim Peters is a writer and consultant with 25 years in the packaging field. He is president of J. Peters Associates Inc. Click here for his contact information.