Procter & Gamble launches DUO body wash platform
Calling it the “First new cleansing form to be introduced in over 20 years based on evolving consumer habits,” P&G has announced DUO.
According to P&G, consumers correlate particular benefits with particular cleansing products and systems. Bar soaps are generally thought to clean well, body washes are understood to moisturize the skin and have pleasant scents, while exfoliation presumably requires something else entirely—a tool or secondary product. This new product is designed to do all that--clean, moisturize, and exfoliate--at once.
The modern shower
“For over 130 years, from the launch of Ivory bar soap to the introduction of our body wash, Procter & Gamble has delivered innovative products based on evolutions in consumers’ needs,” Stephanie Robertson, associate brand director for Procter & Gamble North America Personal Cleansing, says in a media release about the new offering.
She notes that “the rise of the ‘dual user’ was an indication to us that there is a void in the market, which is leading to compensating behaviors – people using both a bar and body wash.”
“DUOs is our answer to reimagine the shower experience all together,” explains Robertson. The product is a flexible cleaning medium nested between a smooth material on one side and a textured material on the other side. It’s meant to be used in the shower, lathers when wet, gets hung (soap-on-a-rope style) to dry, and is meant to be thrown out and replaced after about 30 uses.
Brands and scents
P&G has launched DUO for Ivory, Olay, and Old Spice. The Ivory branded DUO introduces not only the new cleansing product but also a new scent called Refreshing Clean. The Olay and Old Spice DUO products feature scents that already sell well for those brands: Olay’s Soothing Orchid & Black Current, and for Old Spice, Swagger and Pure Sport.
The products went on sale this month for around $10. P&G’s own product page for the Ivory version of DUO includes quite a few early product reviews “collected as part of a promotion.” The reviews are largely positive though some consumers thought that DUO was too fragrant, too rough, or left a film on their skin.
