Design; Persil Tablet (Unileaver)

When it comes to design innovation in detergents it is mainly scientific based good performance and practicality is generally still the most important thing to consumers when buying a washing detergent, thus companies need to design better detergents that produce cleaner results. So it is up to detergent companies to use design innovation to produce detergents that are practical, environmentally friendly and that will produce good results on lower temperatures thus being more eco friendly.
Persil were the first company to produce a detergent that was in the form of a tablet, however there was much more to this new innovating design than the fact that it was more easy and practical to use. Persil manufactured by Unilever has a dominant 27% share of the fiercely competitive £1 billion UK household detergent market, where design and innovation is crucial. Unilever considers design to be crucial in pulling together the research, development and manufacturing operations to develop the product, which will secure the most market share (Competitive advantage through design MARCH 2002). Yet just as important to the company are its environmental issues which are a huge concern in the 21st century. Its policies include using environmental management tools to evaluate the potential whole life cycle effects of the Persil product, from the extraction and processing of raw materials through to manufacturing, packaging, distribution, use and eventual disposal (Competitive advantage through design MARCH 2002).
Many detergents have been produced over the past few years that are eco friendly but have failed because they do not do their job as well, but Persil created the tablets that were not only eco friendly but also produced excellent results and were extremely practical; all you needed to do was place a tablet in the washer, which eradicated the need of measuring out certain powders and mixing them. The tablet was also kind to skin and was backed by the British skin foundation, which put again Persil further ahead in there sector because parents of young children now new the detergent would not harm there Childs skin thus that is why Persils campaign comprises of the phrase “dirt is good” encouraging children to play and get dirty. Another advantage of the tablets was the fact they were pre measured. Research showed that most people used more than was needed when it came to pouring the powder and so having the tablet at the right amount was again more friendly to the environment, less powder was being wasted so less needed to be produced.