Nov 2, 2010

Bathroom Blogfest 2010: On bathrooms stuck in the 60's and unrealistic advertising


For the past five years a group of bloggers - experts in marketing, customer experience and service, public relations, library sciences, museums, home & interior design, life, retail, flooring and healthcare - have been blogging about what could improve the overall bathroom experience for end users. What started as a group of 10 – 12 bloggers has this year expanded to 40. This blog fest has proved to be a real effective medium for accessing a diverse set of views on a subject in a short span of time. The content is rich with people posting pictures and their experiences around great looking washrooms and what is desirable. It happens every year in the last week of Oct. I am late in posting this – though have been contributing for the last 4 years and did not have the heart to break the chain J

“This year’s theme “Stuck in the 60s?” is inspired by Mad Men, the show that has captured the imaginations of many for its portrayal of life in the 60s when social and cultural taboos meant that many critical aspects of life – like bathrooms – were ignored, glossed over and treated dreadfully,” said Christine B. Whittemore, who manages the Bathroom Blogfest. “The result is that end users suffered. By calling attention to modern day instances that are “Stuck in the 60s?”, we can reinforce the value associated with being more responsive to the end user experience.

But what happens if for the end user – life is really still stuck in the 60s? For a lot of people living in India and South-east Asia, the reality is that their washrooms still have stone / cemented surfaces (as opposed to tiles). The sanitary wear is not always in ceramic…it could stone or some toughened fiber like material on which hard water creates white stains / patches. For a lot of these houses bathrooms are not about squeaky clean shiny surfaces or fresh fragrances. Stains and odors are a reality they live with and bathrooms are forgotten areas of the house – forgotten by everyone else except the woman of the house whose job it is to maintain the minimum standards of hygiene.

This is a fairly large segment of the market that currently is out of the loop of branded bathroom cleaners. They use harsh local products like chemicals to get rid of tough stains and the acrid smelling bleach to kill every other odor in their toilets. For a marketer this is a fairly attractive untapped marketing opportunity.

Where does the problem lie?

Current communication through advertising and to a certain extent even current product formulations do not acknowledge and address this reality. Adverts generally show aesthetically done up, fragrant smelling, spa-like, large bathrooms on which a mere spray and wipe ritual by the lady of the house and the magic of the product would restore it to its former pristine state. Consumers don’t buy this story and buy their product. For starters their bathrooms do not look like the one in the adverts. No matter how of the magic formula is poured – a dark cemented surface is not likely to transform into something else. For the few who even try such product – do not find much evidence of the product working. The ads talk about ‘shine’ as evidence or ‘germ kill’. Both these markers for product performance are difficult to believe. ‘Shine’ is an intrinsic property of certain surfaces and absent in others. Products cannot greatly alter this condition. ‘Germs’ are not visible. In the absence of a visible code for germs - consumers understand ‘germs’ in terms of ‘bad odor’. If a bleach like product neutralizes all odors – germs have been effectively killed. What is the need for a specialized branded cleaner then?

For a long time we have been given to believe – that advertising cannot be realistic. Things will only sell if advertising is aspirational. Aspirational yes…but how much is the question?

Food for thought: What is the brand’s outlay on advertising vis-à-vis product development? No amount of glib talk can compensate for a poor / irrelevant product.

You will find other bloggers contributing to the blogfest this year in the list below

BloggerBlog NameBlog URL
Susan AbbottCustomer Experience Crossroadshttp://www.customercrossroads.com/customercrossroads/
Paul AnaterKitchen and Residential Designhttp://www.KitchenAndResidentialDesign.com
Shannon BilbyBig Bob's Outlethttp://blog.bigbobsoutlet.com/
Shannon BilbyCarpets N More Bloghttp://blog.carpetsnmore.com/
Shannon BilbyDolphin Carpet Bloghttp://blog.dolphincarpet.com/
Shannon BilbyFrom The Floors Uphttp://fromthefloorsup.com/
Shannon BilbyMy Big Bob's Bloghttp://blog.mybigbobs.com/
Toby Bloomberg Diva Marketinghttp://bloombergmarketing.blogs.com/bloomberg_marketing/
Laurence Borel Blog Till You Drophttp://www.laurenceborel.com/
Bill BuyokAvente Tile Talk Bloghttp://tiletalk.blogspot.com/
Jeanne Byington The Importance of Earnest Servicehttp://blog.jmbyington.com/
Becky CarrollCustomers Rock!http://customersrock.net/
Marianna Chapman Results Revolutionhttp://www.resultsrevolution.com
Katie Clark Practial Katiehttp://practicalkatie.blogspot.com/
Nora DePalma American Standard's Professor Toilethttp://www.professortoilet.com/
Nora DePalma O'Reilly DePalma: The Bloghttp://www.oreilly-depalma.com/blog/
Leigh Durst LivePath Experience Architect Webloghttp://livepath.blogspot.com/
Valerie FritzThe AwarepointBloghttp://www.awarepointblog.com/
Iris GarrottChecking In and Checking Outhttp://circulating.wordpress.com/
Tish GrierThe Constant Observerhttp://spap-oop.blogspot.com
Renee LeCroyYour Fifth Wallhttp://yourfifthwall.com/
Joseph MichelliDr. Joseph Michelli's Blogwww.josephmichelli.com/blog
Veronika MillerModenus Bloghttp://www.modenus.com/blog
Arpi NalbandianTILE Magazine Editor Bloghttp://www.tilemagonline.com/Articles/Blog_Nalbandian
Maria PalmaPeople 2 People Servicehttp://www.people2peopleservice.com/
Reshma Bachwani ParitoshThe Qualitative Research Bloghttp://www.onqualitativeresearch.blogspot.com/
David PolinchockPolinchock's Ponderingshttp://blog.polinchock.com/
Victoria Redshaw & Shelley Pond Scarlet Opus Trends Bloghttp://trendsblog.co.uk/
David ReichMy 2 Centshttp://reichcomm.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Sandy Renshaw Around Des Moineshttp://www.arounddesmoines.com/
Sandy Renshaw Purple Wrenhttp://www.purplewren.com/
Bethany RichmondCarpet and Rug Institute Bloghttp://www.carpet-and-rug-institute-blog.com/
Bruce SandersRIMtailing Bloghttp://rimtailing.blogspot.com/
Steve TokarPlease Be Seatedhttp://stevetokar.wordpress.com/
Carolyn TownesBecoming a Woman of Purposehttp://spiritwomen.blogspot.com/
Stephanie WeaverExperienceologyhttp://experienceology.blogspot.com/
Christine B. WhittemoreFlooring The Consumerhttp://flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.com/
Christine B. WhittemoreSimple Marketing Bloghttp://www.simplemarketingblog.com/
Christine & Ted WhittemoreSmoke Rise & Kinnelon Bloghttp://smokerise-nj.blogspot.com/
Christine B. WhittemoreThe Carpetology Bloghttp://carpetology.blogspot.com/
Linda WrightLindaLoo Build Business With Better Bathroomshttp://lindaloo.com/



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3 comments:

CB Whittemore said...

Reshma,

You ask an extremely relevant question and also help ground us in reality.

Thank you for your faithful participation in this amazing Bathroom Blogfest Community. I really appreciate it.

Any chance you might make it to NYC soon? It would be nice to meet in person some day soon.

Best,
CB

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