After tests on the British market, consumer goods giant Unilever is about to launch the compressed version of their aerosol deodorants in France amid a blaze of publicity. This eco-responsible innovation is to reduce the company’s carbon footprint by 25 %, and could convert the market in the long run.
The spray deodorants are now twice smaller than they were (100 ml) and contain 50 % less gas, but exactly the same quantity of anti-perspirant actives: the compressed can also promises to be as efficient as the standard product, and to last as long. “It doesn’t change anything for consumers, but a lot for the environment”, says Marketing Manager Audrey Dassier.
Every year, 4.1 billion deodorants are sold around the world, including 80 % in aerosol containers. Unilever owns 50 % of the global market, and now claims to reduce the quantity of aluminium in the container by 25 %, which represents 800 tons of CO2 emissions, thanks to the weight reduction during transport. Bruno Witvoet, President of Unilever France, makes no secret of his ambitions: “We haven’t registered any patent to leave the door open for our competitors and set the “compressed” can as a new standard”.
These ambitions are driven by excellent results on the British market, which saw 50 % of aerosol deodorant sales switch to the compact size within six months, although both products cost the same price.
A major investment was made in the media – 40 weeks on TV – to advertise the “compressed” can, which will soon be available in France along with the standard product: next January for Rexona, Dove and Monsavon, the three women’s brands that belong to the group, and by 2015 for men’s brands. Then they will gradually be found in Germany, Austria and the rest of the world in 2014.
