Overview
- The health & hygiene industry consists of a wide range of products, but the leading brands in this category focus on soap and skincare products
- Ritual and indulgence are the most prominent Brand Intimacy archetypes in the industry
The health and hygiene industry is made up of a large variety of products, including soaps, fragrances, makeup, hair products, toothpastes, sunscreens and more. Because the market is so diverse, leading companies such as P&G are involved in all aspects of it, while others like Colgate excel in more specific areas.1
In the U.S., the most important players in the health and hygiene industry are involved in the soap and skincare categories, led by Dove, Rodan & Fields, Neutrogena and Olay.2 Yet big companies such as Amazon and Target also stand out in the industry for their health and hygiene products offered in large quantity and variety.
Olay vs. Dove
According to the 2018 Brand Intimacy Study, the archetypes that dominate in the industry are ritual, which describes a brand as being ingrained into a user’s daily actions, and indulgence, which centers on moments of pampering and gratification. As seen in Dove’s Brand Intimacy profile, these archetypes stand out, along with fulfillment (delivering superior service, quality and efficacy). Olay has similar dominant archetypes: ritual, indulgence and identity (reflecting an aspirational image or admired values). The importance of ritual is not surprising, because consumers tend to keep long-term relationships with health & hygiene brands that have delivered value to them. The role of indulgence in this industry may be related to its increasing prices, which have made buying health & hygiene products less of an everyday action and more of an indulgence.
Read our detailed methodology here, and review the sources cited in this article here.
To learn more about MBLM, click here.