Innovation Insight: Bounty Kitchen Towel with Dawn

Multifunctional benefits in household goods are Gama's focus this week, as we look at the launch of a new household towel claimed to feature the added 'power' of dish detergent - Bounty Kitchen Towel with Dawn.

Newly introduced in the US by P&G, Bounty Kitchen Towel with Dawn is promoted as “the first, and only, paper towel infused with the cleaning power of a dish detergent”, and, as such, an alternative to traditional cleaning wipes, cloths or detergents. In line with a number of recent launches in household care, the product leverages the added value of cobranding, describing itself as “an ultra-durable Bounty paper towel with the grease-fighting power of Dawn dish soap”.

Alongside moist wipes – an established segment within household cleaning that has enjoyed a degree of success in recent years – Bounty Kitchen Towel with Dawn is one of a growing band of products looking to supplant traditional cleaning rituals with simple and accessible convenience-oriented solutions. SC Johnson, P&G’s rival in the US cleaning market, was one of the first to invest heavily in the ‘ad-hoc’ cleaning concept with the launch of its 'Touch Up' series for bathroom, kitchen and glass cleaning: using pump bottle technology, the system allowed consumers to dispense the product on to a cloth or paper towel with a simple push. Importantly, it was implicitly recommended to leave the product out on display – as with kitchen towel – to encourage regular use.

In addition to convenience, Bounty Kitchen Towel with Dawn focuses heavily on cleaning efficacy, through an “activated by water” tagline and a claim that the product “produces results that are four times cleaner than a used dishcloth”. In this way, the brand is playing on heightened sensitivity around hygiene in the home, pointing up the benefits of disposable solutions over reusable cleaning cloths, where germs can accumulate over time.

Bounty Kitchen Towel with Dawn reflects two key tendencies in the household cleaning market – convenience and hygiene – and once again serves to highlight the changing nature of usage patterns in the FMCG space. As consumers continue to adopt less strict and regimented habits in relation to household care, so companies will need to maintain constant evolution in their product lines, meeting the demand for simple, quick and effective solutions that are fully aligned with modern home cleaning behaviours.