Turning The Tide On Budgeting Consumers

Tide is giving new meaning to cleaning. America’s best-selling laundry detergent wants budgeting consumers to know that clean clothes are not part of personal hygiene, but part of personal style.

That’s right. Like those shoes you are wearing.

As the economy sputters, the popular brand increasingly finds itself under assault from less expensive detergents such as Purex, Arm & Hammer, and All. Recession-weary consumers are closely monitoring their shopping lists and saving money wherever possible, including their laundry detergent purchases. But Tide wants them to know there is more to being clean than being dirt free.

There are different levels, and types, of cleanliness. Your hair, hopefully, is clean, but if you washed it with bleach your hair would be a different kind of clean. The same principle applies to your clothes. There is how, and how well, your detergent cleans your clothes. Tide insists its detergent offers a better quality clean than its competitors.

Suzanne Watson, of North America Tide, explains, “These are tough times… Making your current clothes look newer longer, cleaner longer, fresher longer, is important.”

Money and style are closely related (just ask the luxury brand industry). In a recession, your style indicates to a great extent just how you, as a person, are reacting to these difficult times being experienced by people across the world. Tide acknowledges that it costs more than other detergents, but it also asserts that it delivers better value – which, in the end, will save consumers money. This is the message Tide wants consumers to understand as they walk into the supermarket.  

Not only does Tide claim to offer a better level and quality of cleanliness than other brands, but it also believes it can save consumers money in their overall wardrobe budgets. Watson says consumers “don’t have to go out and buy a new white T-shirt when there’s one detergent that’s going to keep it really clean day after day.”

White T-shirts, after all, never go out of style. Not even in a recession.