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Procter & Gamble: Swiffer

PROJECT

CLIENT

Procter & Gamble

SERVICES

  • Platform & Product Development
  • Strategy

INDUSTRY

  • Consumer

In 1994 we still pushed a heavy bucket and rag mop around the house, watching the soapy water turn dark with dirt well before the job was done.

Challenge

The year was 1994. New technologies and means of communication had begun to transform every aspect of our lives. Yet we still cleaned our floors the same way our mothers had—pushing a heavy, sloshing bucket and rag mop around the house, watching the soapy water turn dark with dirt well before the job was done.

Procter & Gamble recognized that the category of home cleaning had grown stagnant, while dozens of brands competed for market share. In particular, P&G’s line of floor cleaning products, comprised of various mop-and-bucket detergents, had changed little in decades. Motivated by the corporation’s goal to generate $5 billion in revenue from new product lines, P&G’s Director of Corporate New Ventures launched a pursuit that would change the way people approached the chore in the 21st century: “Find a better way to clean floors in the home.”

RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

It’s About More Than Floors

Our team began by conducting ethnographic research with target customers—in other words, visiting their homes and watching them clean their floors. Upon entering people’s houses, we noticed something right away: The floors were already clean! Although they knew the intent of our visit, people still felt compelled to tidy up in anticipation of our arrival. This signaled a fundamental insight into the home cleaning experience: it’s value-laden. Our floors are a reflection of ourselves.

RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

A Messy Way to Clean

Another insight emerged from our research: Mopping floors is a dirty job. It’s also tedious and time-consuming. During our visits, we watched people engaging in a largely unpleasant experience—one that involved direct contact with dirt and water and took far longer than it should have. People changed into old clothes beforehand, in anticipation of the messy task ahead. Then they swept the floors with a broom and dustpan. And once they finally got to work with their mop buckets, people spent just as much time and effort wringing out their mops as they did cleaning the floors.

RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

Solving the Right Problem

The insights from our team’s research prompted an important shift in the project’s objective. Before going in search of the right answer for P&G, our team knew, we had to identify the right problem. People’s struggles cleaning their floors stemmed from the overall process, rather than a discrete product. People needed an easier and faster solution for this universal task. With this in mind, the team shifted their focus—from making better detergents, to reinventing the way we mop.

RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

From Push to Pull

Watching how a mop pushes dirt around the floor, and noting that people always swept before they mopped, Continuum’s team wondered: What if a mop could attract dirt to itself? This prompted them to envision, design, and test an alternative appliance with a disposable pad that used static electricity to attract dirt and dust toward it, without the use of water. Its swivel-head design made it easy—even fun—to maneuver, and the simple pad attachment and removal meant users never had to touch the dirt.

01 / 04

Solution

Continuum helped Procter & Gamble take advantage of an opportunity space in a laggard category of consumer goods, and truly reinvent the way that people clean their homes.

In 1999, P&G launched an entirely new line of home cleaning products based on the design principle of “fast clean.” The Swiffer product line turned what had once been a physically demanding, time-consuming chore into a cleaning experience that is quick, easy, and even fun.

While P&G worked with other partners in the development of the final Swiffer product, Continuum is the only design and innovation partner named on the patent.

11.1 million Swiffer Starter Kits were sold in the first year.

    Launched to the global market in July 1999, the Swiffer generated $100 million in sales in the final four months of that year. By the one-year mark of the product’s release, P&G had sold more than 11.1 million Swiffer starter kits across the United States.

    Results

    To this day, Swiffer is one of P&G’s most successful product launches, as well as one of their most popular home cleaning products. Launched to the global market in July 1999, the Swiffer generated $100 million in sales in the final four months of that year. By the one-year mark of the product’s release, P&G had sold more than 11.1 million Swiffer starter kits across the United States.

    The Swiffer’s design also enabled P&G to leverage a razor-and-blade pricing model to generate ongoing profits from the sale of Swiffer pads and detergent bottles. The Swiffer product line continues to be a leading brand for P&G, generating $500 million in sales annually.

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