Innovation Insight: L’Eaundry Fragrance Laundry Detergent

The worlds of laundry detergent and fine fragrance collide in a new high-concept launch from The Deli Garage – L’Eaundry Fragrance Laundry Detergent.

This week Gama looks at an unusual attempt to define a new ultra-premium niche for washing detergent, by aligning laundry care wih upscale toiletries. Advising consumers to “treat your second skin the way skin should be treated”, L’Eaundry Fragrance Laundry Detergent is more redolent of a high-end toiletry than a household product, from its minimalist but stylish bottle design through to the labelling of the two varieties as “pour homme” and “pour femme”. The ‘male fragrance’ is described as "the mystic scent of pure alibanum" while the ‘female fragrance’ features “the sunny scent of ripe green figs”.

The question of whether laundry care can sustain an ultra-premium brand – and, at a price of €79 (over $100) per bottle, L’Eaundry appears to be aiming to be just that – may be open to debate, but there are certainly elements of the brand’s concept and positioning that could inspire those looking to establish a laundry care product at any kind of above-average price point. Specifically,  L’Eaundry Fragrance Laundry Detergent draws links to other premium goods – notably designer fashion, via a slogan asking “What's the point of buying great clothes if you treat them like old rags?”. Similarly the products’ overall look and feel bear comparison with luxury bath soaps, tempting The Deli Garage to suggest that much-loved clothes might also like to “relax in a hot bath after a long day”.

While L’Eaundry is self-conscious – perhaps verging on the ironic – in its ultra-upscale positioning, the concept does serve to highlight the relative lack of premium options more generally within the laundry care market, and, particularly in relation to scent, suggests how this opportunity might be exploited. Mass-market laundry care brands could look to develop more sophisticated and aspirational scents by borrowing from the language of fine fragrance, or perhaps even through through well-judged tie-ups with established fragrance brands. These fragrance producers, for their part, could look to the possibilities of scent outside of conventional toiletry categories, carefully expanding into new areas such as laundry care in order to maximise the integration of their brand into consumer lifestyles.