Thursday, April 27, 2006

Italian Homes FIVE Times Cleaner than American Homes- While Shunning Quick and Easy

The ANNOTICO Report

No less than the Wall Street Journal proclaims that the Italians, contrary to so much negative stereotyping, have Homes that are FIVE TIMES CLEANER than American Homes!!!!!!!!

And even though Italy is on the leading edge of automation,  It also seems that Italian Woman are TOO SMART for the Marketing Ploys of the likes of Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and others, and rather than paying premium prices for overhyped and "gussied up" products, prefer to rely on the good old, far less expensive "tried and true" basics.

Further, the Italian women must be convinced that the "new" products will do the job as thoroughly, AND that the fabrics will not be damaged in any way.

CPG: Convenience a dealkiller in Italian households?

Manufacturing News, 

Source : The Manufacturer US
27 Apr 2006

Surprisingly, a nation that is on the leading edge of automation shuns the quick and easy approach to housecleaning. This according to a Wall Street Journal cover story.

Proving that every market is unpredictable, several American best-sellers - the Swiffer Wet mop, the multi-purpose Cif cleaner, and US-designed washers and dryers, have all met resistance.

Market research revealed that the Italians spend roughly five times on housecleaning per week as Americans, and that their mindset is simply different: they prefer thoroughness to convenience; distrust washer/dryers as being damaging to fabrics; and are willing to iron virtually every laundry item, including bedsheets and socks.

Unilever, Whirlpool and Procter & Gamble among others are finding themselves retooling and reformulating for the Italian market. P&G, for example, found that Italian consumers distrusted Swiffer's cleaning ability, but would use it to polish, so devised a Swiffer with beeswax.

Bosch retooled its Maxx 6 washing machine with far more control over temperature and time, and specialty cycles for wool, silk and synthetics. No word yet on the product's success, but Italian consumers need hand-wash-like control before they will trust a washing machine.

 

 

Women in Italy Like To Clean but Shun The Quick and Easy

Wall Street

By Deborah

April 25, 2006  

 

 

MILAN -- Italian women keep some of the cleanest homes around.

They spend, on average, 21 hours a week on household chores other than cooking -- compared with just four hours for Americans, according to Procter & Gamble Co. research. Italians wash kitchen and bathroom floors at least four times a week, Americans just once. Italians typically iron nearly all their wash, even socks and sheets. And they buy more cleaning supplies than women elsewhere do.

All that should make them the perfect customers for the manufacturers of cleaning products.

But when Unilever launched an all-purpose spray cleaner... [Continued and only available to those with a Wall Sreet Journal  Subscription]

 

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