Bar Soap or Liquid Soap?

As a confessed marketing madman who thinks different, I'm always pondering branding strategies, marketing messages, hot products, and changing business trends. One of the rambling thoughts I've pondered recently is the movement to use liquid soap instead of bar soap. Clearly this is today's soap trend.

I grew up on bar soap. We used Zest, Dial or the ever-popular Irish Spring. I can still remember their commercial noting in a "precious" Irish accent that: With two deodorants... it get's a strong man fresh! Click here for this 1979 classic. Check out that chest hair! Are you kidding me?

Liquid soap is a brilliant example of marketing for the companies who make it. It's much more expensive and you go through it faster. This is a trend that just wasn't around as I was growing up. However, my 16-year-old son would never think about using bar soap. It's not part of his culture. He is typically drawn to the "manly" liquid soaps like AXE or Old Spice. However, whenever the Juicy Pomegranate & Mango Infusions soap is available, the stuff disappears. What ingenious product/marketing team came up with this scent combination? Even I am seduced by the smell and the "real extract of pomegranate," "natures anti-oxidant rich fruit" with "moisture beads." It's intoxicating! But geez...it's soap!!

Click here for a video that shows you what happens in my house with liquid soap and my crazy son.

Another trend in recent years is bagged lettuce. It's just lettuce cut up in a bag, but we pay much more for the convenience of not cutting the lettuce. It's worthwhile to keep this in mind as we ponder clients who we "think" won't pay for the convenience of dealing with a promotional products professional. We will save them time and bring the value added benefits of offering effective branding solutions. It's not always about price. Bagged lettuce goes to prove that as a society, we WILL pay for convenience.