15 Jun Five Minutes With…..
Product of the Year took five minutes out of the day to catch up with Leanne McLEOD, Brand Manager of Plenty – A Product of the Year 2020 Winner* – to find out more about the New Plenty Handy Towels, a household essential that is specially designed for quick, one-handed dispensing, no matter where the mess!
- 1. You are pioneers of hygiene products – can you tell us a little more about that and how it has shaped your business?
We see Plenty as a household essential for critical home hygiene. Historically, consumers have referred to the products in this category as ‘kitchen towel’ because the assumption has been that these products are used to clean drips and spills in the kitchen only. Plenty has pioneered the term ‘household towel’ by expanding the use of the product well beyond the kitchen. Through multiple innovations it has become a product that consumers recognise as being essential for cleaning throughout the home and even outside of the house as well. Plenty has demonstrably superior absorbency and strength (even when wet) compared to other products in the category. We continue to grow as a brand and we are very proud to be category leaders.
2. You won a POY award in January – how has this impacted on your business?
It’s great to know shoppers love our products as much as we do! Plenty Handy Towels is a truly unique innovation in convenient, compact, hygienic packaging that allows single hand usage. The new packaging format also makes the product more aesthetically pleasing meaning consumers are comfortable to keep it in other rooms within their home. This award helped boost visibility and secure additional distribution with retailers.
3. What does your post-lockdown ’new normal’ Essity day look like? Have you been effected and been able to adapt?
My new normal is constantly evolving, I am a mum to a very energetic 1 year old so balancing work and play time can be exhausting, often working to the ‘wee hours’ when a deadline is due. My managers and Essity have been very supportive throughout the lockdown, they have kept us informed on any changes that might impact us and insist on weekly ZOOM get togethers for a team quiz and check in.
My personal usage of Plenty has hugely increased, my daughters first words will probably be ‘pass the Plenty’!
4. Do you have any new products or developments in the pipeline that you can tell us about?
When Covid-19 stock piling was at its peak in the early lockdown days, we refocused our priorities on ensuring we could get as much product to the retailers as quickly as possible. To do this, we increased production and streamlined the Plenty range meaning we could maximise how much product we could make each day. As things settle down, we’ll begin to re-look at new product development again.
5. Tell us something we wouldn’t know about Plenty and Essity.
Did you know, Essity is a combination of the words essentials and necessities, which describes our paper and hygiene products perfectly! The company prides itself on giving back to the community, we have donated over £2.5m worth of our products to our charity partner InKind Direct who we have supported since 2002. We were blown away a few months back to receive a personal letter of thanks for donations we have made from HRH Prince Charles, I’m considering getting it framed for my desk!
6. You have three words to sum up Plenty – what are they?
One Sheet Does Plenty.. (I know it’s 4 but I couldn’t help myself!)
Thanks Leanne from the land of Plenty! 🙂
* Winner Household Paper Category – Survey of 10,601 people by Kantar