The food-processing division was sold in 2006, but Henkel has brought some of its own brands to U.S. With that acquisition, Henkel gained a product portfolio that ranged from Purex detergent and Dial soap to Armour meats. foothold with its 2004 acquisition of Dial Corp., formerly one of Arizona's largest corporations. Henkel, a consumer-products giant in Europe, gained a U.S. Henkel's Scottsdale staff, along with counterparts in Germany, have been addressing these and other details ever since the company envisioned bringing Persil to North America several years ago. But focus-group testing found that this was an attractive feature for many consumers, allowing people to see what the product looks like. Even the name can be tricky, though American consumers said they found 'Persil' to be neutral, said Caroline LaBarre, Henkel's director of marketing for laundry care in Scottsdale.Īnd there are many other little details. For instance, Americans generally aren't accustomed to clear laundry bottles, LaBarre said. In the U.S., grass stains and greasy foods figure prominently - not to mention all those dirty socks because Americans are prone to walking around without their shoes on.īottle design and labeling also can have a major impact with consumers. In many Asian countries, tea is also a major culprit, Hartleb said. In Greece and Italy, cleaning often focuses around olive-oil issues, while in South Korea, the national dish of kimchi causes much soiled laundry.

The company's chemical engineers, market researchers and others had to think through a lot of pesky details.Įven the stains that trouble consumers vary around the globe, which means the company had to optimize the formula for Americans.Īndreas Hartleb, senior vice president and general manager of Henkel's laundry and home-care product group in Scottsdale, said that in France, for example, a top detergent needs to get out red wine stains, which are common. It's Henkel's flagship global product.īut adapting Persil to the U.S. It's not like the company had to reinvent the wheel on this one - its Persil laundry detergent has been around since 1907 and ranks as a top brand in many countries. Those are some of the questions the Scottsdale staff of Henkel wrestled with, and continue to ponder, as the parent company undertakes a major product launch in North America. What should we call it, and how should the label read?.Should we go with a liquid or powder, and what color?.What size and shape should we make the bottle?.But a lot of decisions must be made, such as: launch of Persil detergentĬonsumers rarely think about all the preparation that goes into a major product launch, even for something as commonplace as laundry detergent.

Michael Burke on the popular daytime soap.Watch Video: Scottsdale center plays key role in U.S. Specifically, he started his career putting those stunning good looks to use on the soap opera Guiding Light: Between 19, Hermann played Dr. The Persil ProClean guy is Peter Hermann, and Peter Hermann is an actor who has been in the ‘biz for quite a number of years. But, after watching the commercial over and over again (bless you, DVR), I found myself wondering: Who is the Persil ProClean guy? And, furthermore: Why does he look really kind of familiar? The way he holds that bottle of laundry detergent so still, he doesn’t even disturb the surface tension? Man, that gets me every time. It doesn’t hurt that often these actors are also really, really ridiculously good looking. Sure, I’m a sucker for the sweet commercials and the ones that make me choke up just a bit, but the ones that I fall for every time are the commercials with those actors who have such command, that all I can do is sit there slack-jawed and in awe.

Generally, by the end of my annual Super Bowl festivities - which, for me, is more about eating chips and watching all of the commercials - there are usually just a few moments of advertising genius that stand out in mind.

Purcell laundry detergent