Description: A round floor mop that spins
Main Pitch: "Unique street sweeper action cuts your cleaning time in half"
Main Offer: Two payments of $29.95 for the mop and "Spin Dry Bucket," includes five-year warranty
Bonus: Instant upgrade to "super-articulated" mop
Marketer: Fitness Quest
Producer: Unknown
Website: www.360SpinMop.com
Product (D7) Score: 6 out of 7
Commercial Rating: Good
This product has a lot of potential, but it faces two challenges. One is its price. My recent experience has shown that the mop category is quite price sensitive these days, thanks in part to a proliferation of low-cost commodity mop products at retail and the relatively low price of even innovative products such as P&G's Swiffer. Some 15 years ago, $30 mops worked well on DRTV. But recent evidence suggests this price point no longer works. A case in point is Telebrands' Gorilla Mop, a great concept that even a two-for-one offer couldn't sell. This mop is two payments of $29.95 at the end of the day, making its perceived price four times as high.
The other challenge will come from the resurrection of Smart Invention's Smart Mop. While the two products are different in key ways, they also feature many of the same benefits and demos. Super-absorbency is a big one, and here the Smart Mop has the edge because it taps into the favorable "orange chamois" perception created by ShamWow and Zorbeez. More important, the Smart Mop campaign is presenting a much better value to consumers -- two mops for $19.99 with chamois cloths included -- at a time when value is more important than ever.
Aside from these shortcomings, this campaign has a lot to like. The "street sweeper" analogy and product design represent a meaningful point of difference in the marketplace. The cleverly designed "Spin Dry Bucket" (which works via a foot pedal) makes the product fun, visually interesting and solves a real problem (having to touch a dirty mop head with your hands). At $19.99 with no competition, this item would be a surefire winner.
