Abstract:

This research was conducted in order to explore whether Softlan misleads consumers by its references to 'rinse-away', and generally to assist in the development of Comfort advertising. The specific objectives were:

1. To explore what housewives understood about Softlan from the Softlan advertising, and in particular what significance the visual and verbal allusions to 'rinsing away' have;

2. To identify how housewives position Comfort and Softlan, and to indicate the roles their advertising appears to play in influencing brand choices and interest in fabric conditioners generally;

3. To examine responses to Comfort advertising, and to identify its strengths and weaknesses relative to Softlan advertising.

About this collection:
Peter Cooper (1936-2010) was co-founder of Cooper Research & Marketing, later CRAM International, with his wife Jackie French. Cooper studied Clinical Psychology at the University of Manchester where he became a Lecturer in the early 1960s. He became involved in conducting commercial Motivational Research and by 1968 opened Cooper Research & Marketing in Manchester. Cooper was one of the key pioneers of what we now know as Qualitative Research. CRAM opened its London office in Wimpole Street in 1970 and moved to 53 St Martins Lane, WC2N 4EA, in 1972 where it remained until Peter's passing in 2010. The company changed its name to CRAM International in around 1985/86, reflecting the increasingly international nature of its work. The CRAM/Peter Cooper Archive Collection, which includes commercial research reports and early academic papers, has been preserved by Peter's children, Diana, Helen and Jonathan, and his colleague Simon Patterson. The scanning of the Archive has been supported by ESOMAR, AMSR, Peter's colleague Dr Alan Branthwaite & family, the Cooper family, and QRi Consulting. The CRAM/Peter Cooper Archive Collection is managed by QRi Consulting. The CRAM logo and CRAM International name are Registered Trademarks and the property of QRi Consulting.