Baby Boomer Segmentation:

Global Household Product Trends continued from page 14
Different strokes
The top ten categories within each region differ significantly,
and none of the overall fastest-growing products shows up
in every regional ranking. In Europe, only the leading category—
brooms, brushes and mops—charted 2005 results
that bettered the global average. ■ See chart 3, page 14.
In North America, disinfectants killed off any competition
in the top ten with a 23% annual growth rate. Only the
laundry stain remover and garbage bag categories also posted
double digit regional growth at 12%.
Automatic dish detergents and automatic dish additives
floated to the top of the Asia Pacific top ten list. In Latin
America, every top ten contender boasted double-digit
growth, but abrasive cleaning pad results scoured all comers
with a whopping 74%. Laundry stain removers were a
distant second in the line-up at 36%.
The Emerging Markets’ winning entry, fabric fresheners,
was in a class by itself with a 277% annual growth rate.
Carpet/rug cleaners and waste pipe openers trailed with
strong 37% increases.
Coming clean
Abrasive cleaning pads, the runaway category growth winner
in Latin America, owes its phenomenal success to a single
country: Brazil. This one country accounted for more
than 95% of category sales, divided among three brands.
Aggressive media support generated a 45% increase for the
leading brand, with the number two and three brands each
expanding by more than 200%.
Global brand dominance was more diffused than in Latin
America, with the top three brands comprising 65% of
category sales and private label brands absorbing an additional
16%.
Hygienic habits
Germ-aphobic Americans kicked their cleaning standards
up a notch, striving for a sanitized—versus merely clean—
household. This microbe-free goal resulted in a 23% regional
category sales increase. As always, convenience played into
consumer decision-making, explaining why 80% of the
absolute dollar growth in U.S. sales (excluding Wal-Mart)
derived from a 60% increase in wipes.
Disinfectant wipes, measured in only five markets, mopped
up consumer dollars on a global basis for a 35% growth in
sales. Their counterpart, disinfectant sprays, expanded at
an average 10% rate in 12 of 19 markets measured. Brand
sales are so heavily concentrated in this category that three
brands accounted for 71% of dollar sales on a global basis.
It’s worthy of note that although only 8% of sales can be
ascribed to private label brands, their sales expanded by
26% in 2005.
Tying up sales
Garbage bag sales expanded at an 8% annual rate, twice the
global tempo, with North America the sole region to wrap the
year with double digit growth (12%). For such a seemingly
mundane category, garbage bags represent an endless source
of innovative benefits from anti-odor attributes to a host of
tying options to stretch-and-flex fabrics that won’t rip.
New features, coupled with raw material cost increases for
the oil-based resins used in manufacturing, combined to
justify the higher retail prices that raised dollar value sales.
Private label products captured a significant share of
16 Fall/Winter 2006