P&G unveils Lever capsules spoiler

Procter & Gamble is hoping to steal a march on rival Lever Fabergé by launching liquid detergent product Ariel Liqui-Tabs later this month.

Industry sources claim the household goods giant will roll out the first stocks of the soluble washing packs at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Safeway on February 26.

Lever Fabergé is launching its new washing product, Persil Capsules, in April, as exclusively reported in last week’s Marketing Week.

The P&G product dissolves in the drum of a washing machine without leaving a residue on clothes. It is understood a pack of 12 Ariel Liqui-Tabs will cost £3.49.

The official national launch date for the product is understood to be March 12, although P&G refused to confirm this. Liqui-Tabs will be supported by a press, TV and poster campaign worth about £8m.

An industry source says: “It’s certainly going to be a real battle to attract customers. Being the first on the shelves will help but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll end up market leader.”

P&G marketing director for fabric and homecare Mark Brickhill says Liqui-Tabs are the “next generation” of unit doses. He adds that P&G is determined to be the “innovator of the technology” after it was beaten to the launch of washing tablets in 1998 by Lever Fabergé.

Brickhill says: “That will never happen again. We are confident the consumer will see Ariel as the leading brand.”

A spokesman for Lever Fabergé says: “We’d be very surprised if our competitors weren’t working on a product that offers liquid users some form of more convenient, pre-measured dose.”