Did you see that Proctor & Gamble announced it plans to open as many as 2,000 Tide Cleaners stores over the next two years? Billed as “full-service, on-demand laundry solutions,” the stores will offer not only wash and dry outlets as well as dry cleaning, but also drop boxes in apartment buildings and delivery services. It already operates 125 locations, mostly franchises, so this represents a dramatic expansion of the program. P&G, in typical CPG marketing-speak calls it “a holistic service.” Whatever happened to just calling them laundromats?
And, by the way, if this all strikes you as a radically different brand extension, it’s not. Back a couple of generations, the companies that make washing machines — I think Westinghouse and Kelvinator were two of them — did exactly the same thing, branding laundromat locations with their names. It all made sense then, just as it does now for Tide. But it’s nothing new. If you think so, that’s just Stupid.
Here’s the Adweek story with more details: https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/hate-doing-laundry-no-sweat-tide-just-announced-itll-do-it-for-you/
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