Unilever’s Comfort brand has launched a new botanical-inspired range – Comfort Scent Booster Elixir and Comfort Botanicals Fabric Conditioner – that uses a “breakthrough formulation” that is claimed to deliver “multi-sensorial freshness” and leaves no residue on clothes, even in cold and short cycles.
Both product ranges are designed to work together and are available in three matching Botanical scents – Heavenly Fresh, First Blooms and Summer Bouquet. The brand stated that with 60% of consumers using a quick wash at least once a week, the Botanicals range is designed to increase penetration by recruiting new and lapsed users to the segment by providing a premium tier proposition that is suitable for use in short cycles.
Comfort Botanicals Fabric Conditioner is the brand’s first transparent fabric conditioner and utilises new patented CrystalFresh Technology, containing 40% fewer ingredients. It is claimed that the formula can improve the breathability of fabrics and has been designed to be effective with towels and sportswear.
The product is formulated to be 95% biodegradable and contains no artificial dyes, directly responding to consumer’s environmental concerns.
Meanwhile, the Comfort Scent Booster Elixir uses a new beads-infused transparent formula, which delivers up to ten times more fragrance while leaving no residue on clothes, even in short or cold washes. The 93% biodegradable formula, is poured into the fabric conditioner drawer, on-top of the fabric conditioner.
Nadine Slyper, Laundry Marketing Director, Unilever, said: “With more than three-quarters of washing machine owners now using a quick wash at least once per week, Comfort Botanicals has been designed to tap into the consumer need for products that deliver longer-lasting fragrance and effective performance in these cycles. As a result, the collection encourages the use of short cycle laundry regimes when used alongside other relevant products, like the newly launched Persil Wonder Wash, which offers outstanding results even in a 15-minute cycle.
“Using a breakthrough formulation and providing next-level multi-sensorial freshness, both ranges look to recruit new and lapsed shoppers to the fabric conditioner and scent booster segment, as well as appealing to those searching for laundry products with fewer ingredients*. The matching fragrances also aim to grow basket spend for retailers by building laundry regimes with products that work together.”
The launch is being supported by a £9m marketing investment with a nationwide ATL campaign and TV advert going live from May to August, in addition to in-store shopper assets, e-commerce advertising and sampling. Shopper activity includes branded gondola ends, bays, stands and aisle takeovers, as well as front-of-store and experiential activations, including scented flower shop-style counters in Asda and scented flower bowls in Tesco. Both activations aim to educate shoppers on how to use the products and provide sachet sampling.
