Why "rinse and repeat" makes sense!

Marketers do make it hard for consumers sometimes it seems to me.

I am of the keep-it-simple school and really think that with all of the huge amount of clutter and messages going on, the best thing to do is to keep it really simple. Especially when it comes to naming products and also giving cues to how to use products.

I am always reminded of the story of how the shampoo market was grown in size by just 3 words. The 3 words were "rinse and repeat" that were added to on-pack instructions and communication. I do recall many years ago as a kid and teenager, when I had hair!, following those simple 3 words and so using twice as much shampoo.

I have recently got involved in marketing of an anti-age line (RoC) and one thing that was clear is that consumers use the major anti-wrinkle product infrequently and more as a treatment. To really work, as it has the absolute best active ingredient on wrinkles in the market, it needs to be used everyday. My question is: why didn't we call the cream something like "daily anti-wrinkle" cream or moisturiser? That alone would have helped communication.

Clinique are the masters at naming their products in a way that tells consumers so much about what it is and does (for example: dramatically different moisturiser).

We are all so caught up in trying to think of clever bells and whistles we forget it is still best and most efficient to call a spade a spade.