Follow the leader

Giant consumer packaged goods company, Proctor & Gamble has a new milestone to celebrate. Their air freshener line, Febreze, just became their 24th product to hit $1 billion in annual sales, despite the fact that sales in other categories have dropped.

While the economic slowdown has resulted in consumers searching for cheaper detergent, toilet paper and other household products, they are spending more to make their homes smell nice. Analysts say that it is because people are spending more time at home.

An interesting sidebar is that Febreze is outperforming established competitors Glade and Airwick. The reason for this is that Febreze products have a wider range of scent intensity combined with odor neutralizer. While some consumers want to have a noticeable ambient scent, others simply want to eliminate unwanted odors or disseminate a light fragrance. Glade and Airwick only address the first need.

Currently, Febreze is looking at possibly developing their own scent delivery devices for the home. This could open up a huge market that has heretofore been neglected by the scent marketing industry – the home market.

Smaller, less expensive diffusers for the home can do very well, especially once P&G spends millions of dollars creating a demand. Of course, it would necessitate creating retail distribution channels, but the sheer volume could make some companies very successful. Among the fragrance offerings, a smart company would, like Febreze, have a range of fragrance levels to appeal to a broader market.

Certainly, food for thought…