The low income consumers are the most discerning consumers, and when spending from a limited budget they cannot afford to waste money on products they do not trust to be effective . This segment values price, effectiveness and fragrance, and wash manually, hence they prefer soap rather than powder. Unilever already sell Minerva in its soap version which is considered a medium quality product in terms of cleanliness, smell and dissolving power according to Exhibit 1.But this product is still expensive for low income consumers. Unilever should continue working with the brand Minerva and develop a new sub-product inside this brand with a cheaper formulation and a small packaging. That way the Minerva brand will contain two products with the following Portuguese names:
• Minerva Expresso. The original Minerva formula and packaging for detergent and soap targeted to middle income costumers. The usual promotion of this product should change to make customers aware about the new name. Distribution, placement and price should not change.
• Minerva Ação. A new cheaper formula of Minerva soap, maintaining a good quality and fragrance. The key to access to this market is to leverage the Minerva’s brand as a quality product. Packaging should be plastic to reduce costs by a 30% and sizes should be two types: one individual bar and three bars. Low income customers have a limited budget and usually buy consumer goods thinking on a short term. Is for that reason, that a value proposition of a cheap, good quality and fragrance product in a small package is more appealing than a bigger package which usually is more expensive. The price should be $1.40 per kg, a little higher than Bem-te-vi (the traditional laundry soap brand in