Tide Dry Cleaners

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I love it when you see a brand make a bold, expansive move.  I love it even more when that bold expansive move is still true to the essence of the brand.

So you can imagine my glee when I first read about Tide opening up a dry cleaning business.  Tide opening up dry cleaners!  What a logical move for the brand, yet so bold and daring.  I love it.

Tide Dry Cleaners!

When you dig deeper, you see that the brand's dry cleaning concept clearly addresses many consumer concerns about using existing dry cleaning options, mostly around service.  24/7 accessibility, drop boxes, drive through windows, pick up lockers ... all aimed at making the dry cleaning experience more pleasurable.  In this case, more "Tide," bringing a huge competitive advantage to the market.

I happened to have written all about my own local dry cleaning experience in my current marketing book about small business.  There's a lesson to be learned here in local marketing, that's for sure, which is all about personal customer service.

It all makes sense, since if you notice the brand has been positioning itself as a "fabric care" brand for years now, not just as a laundry detergent.  By doing so, Tide was able to open up possibilities for itself, not just keep it limited to a bottle on a grocery store shelf.  Another lesson to be learned for all of us trying to define our brand ... keep it focused on what you know yet keep it open to further expansion.

Bravo!  BTW, franchises are still available!

What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
Author, The Experience Effect series
Professor, NYU