Our story in today’s paper that Mars has launched Fling, a chocolate bar targeted at women (”Naughty, but not that naughty”) is part of that contant trend among consumer goods companies to change what they produce and how they market it. Consumers are changing and the company’s selling them products are trying to keep pace with how things are evolving.

One reason, of course, is the global downturn. And to get a sense of how significant an impact it is having, you should take a look at Procter & Gamble, maker of Pampers nappies and Gillette razors. The company has decided to start making cheaper products.

Jenny Wiggins, our consumer industries correspondent, explains:

“This has been a unique crisis,“ P&G’s CEO, AG Lafley, admitted at New York analyst conference last month. “We’ve learned a lot.”

Consumer goods companies like to talk about “brand loyalty.” But the fickle nature of consumers was revealed when they started ditching some of P&G’s premium-priced brands for cheaper own-label versions.

The US company is now planning on making more products along the lines of the Pampers Simply Dry range it launched in Germany in January aimed at “value-conscious” mothers. The line (which Mr Lafley said would “endure beyond the recession”) is priced at €7.99 - about 20 per cent less than its flagship Pampers range.

P&G’s move to re-assess what consumers want (”We have to extend our portfolio vertically and horizontally,” says Mr Lafley) reflects broader changes under way in the consumer goods marketplace.

July 2, 2009 7:00am in Hard times, Marketing/sales, Strategy/ops | Comment