New cleaning services offered for cash-rich, time-poor consumers

One of the world's largest detergent makers has figured out yet another way of tackling dirty clothes - the Laundry Spa. Procter & Gamble is consumer testing the service - called Juvian - in the US. Dirty laundry is picked up from your doorstep, whisked off for some "spa treatments" and then returned.

Other clothes treatments such as aromatherapy are offered while a Juvian concierge helps customers with an in-home evaluation of fabric care needs. Minor repairs such as button replacement are free.

If it all sounds too indulgent, the Juvian website has a feature called the Laundralyzer, which computes the value of the time, products and related costs of home cleaning based on the number of loads of laundry, the cost of your time and the products used. Even for the lightest laundry households, Juvian puts the cost at $17.24 (€18.78) a week, including time charged at $7 an hour. Its basic laundry service costs $17 for about two bags.

P&G's soap war rival Unilever - which has just begun a £500,000 (€634,869) campaign in Ireland for a Flora margarine brand - is also examining new ways to leverage its extensive portfolio of cleaning brands. Its service MyHome, being tested in south London, promises to "clean your drawers and your knickers". The service, a year in operation, differs from P&G's service in that it offers two different home services - an in-home maid service and an out-of-home laundry service.

Hiring MyHome cleaners in for a day to clean an average three-bedroom house costs from £60 sterling (€95.4) while the Persil Service offers a pick-up and delivery service for laundry and dry cleaning.

The company will test MyHome in India and the US. It is thought that in the US MyHome will not include house cleaning, since Unilever has no cleaning brands in the US.

Both Juvian and MyHome services can be ordered from their websites which show the increasing importance of the Web in marketing.

Both companies are developing brands aimed at cashrich, time-poor consumers. Unilever is slimming down its brand portfolio. Last year it said it would cull its 1,600 brands and now it is directing 94 per cent of its £4.39 billion sterling advertising and promotions budget on around 400 focus brands.

The firm still has 970 active brands, 400 of which will either be delisted or merged into other focus brands over the next two years. Last year, the firm spent 13.8 per cent of sales on advertising and promotion. By 2004, the target is 15 per cent.

As well as culling brands, Unilever is developing new ones such as Enjoy!, the upscale ready-meal brand introduced here last week, and Persil Capsules one-dose liquid detergent pouches will be available at the end of March.

Unilever is testing Rituals, a bricks and clicks operation in Amsterdam. The shop and website opened in October last year selling a range of body and home products based around everyday rituals.