maurice troute

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Change is Crap!

Why do companies insist on changing their products every 6 months?

Case in point: We have 2 year old twin girls. We use a lot of diapers and wipes as you can imagine. We have decided that the Pampers wipes were our best choice. They are not the cheapest but not the most expensive. They also seemed to really help in keeping diaper rash to a minimum and they had aloe for a babies bottom that is as smooth as, well a babies bottom.

Then they started changing them. Every once in a while they would include in the box of 5 packages (the box was clearly designed to hold 6) a note telling you that this box had an "improved" wipe and to please phone them with comments, but who has time. We first started to notice a change in the feel of the formula in the wipe. Before there was a residue, for lack of a more accurate description, that was left after use. I am sure that was a combination of the Aloe and the dimethicone (silicone oil). Then the wipe material started to change. First ins feel or weave then in size and thickness.

After all of these "improved" formulas, it seems they have finally settled on a final version. We are not pleased. The wipe is smaller dryer and does not dispense from the plastic case Pampers provides for use with the refill packs. It constantly pulls two or three sheets at a time.

So why must companies constantly change their products? Why is it that every time I try to find my deodorant at the store I am forced to look closely to realize that they changed the packaging and my ability to just glance at the shelf and pick the package that I see every morning in my bathroom drawer is "improved", what was wrong with it before? I liked it and I assume that others did to. When will companies work as hard to keep an existing customer as they do to win new customers. Are they really trying to draw people in at the point of sale with some splashy new package. It's rather annoying to say the least.

Now I am not naive, I understand that all of this change is profit motivated, but how much incremental increase do they really see. How many customers do they lose because of this improvement. I choose a product because I like it and it works for me. I continue to use that product because it continues to meet my needs. But if you change it, you run the risk of not meeting those needs. When is good enough enough? Seriously do we need six blades on our razors!


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