Co-Opetition: It's a good thing!

Since the invention of baby wipes in 1970 there's been an immense surge of wet wipes on a global level - GLOBAL.

These days, you can find a wipe for just about every household chore and every body part...

Besides the familiar baby wipes, there's wipes to clean cell phones, clean floor and kitchen counters, antistatic wipes to clean your computer screen, antiseptic wipes to clean your hands, cosmetic wipes to remove your makeup, specialty wipes that prevent goggles from fogging, self tanning wipes, before or after sex wipes, and of course, wipes for when you can't shower.

While big corporations (Kimberly Clark & Clorox) hold the largest share of the market, there are some small, creative companies that are breaking into that share with some very cool ideas. Some are in direct competition with Action Wipes and others are what I consider "Co-Opetition". Co-Opetition is when a brand competes with Action Wipes for the consumer dollar, but actually compliments it at the same time.

I decided to write this post as many of our fans have discovered these unique wipes one way or another (more often than not, via Twitter) and ask... "Hey, have you seen these?" So let me, show you, how you can use these unique wipes together with Action Wipes...

Purpose: Cleaning Cell Phone
Hate the gunk that builds up on your cell phone over time? Or have you ever thought about the germs left behind when someone else "borrows" your phone? Then Celly Smellys are what you need to clean both gunk & germs off without doing damage to the phone. Now, if that call you received got you all hot and sweaty, then use an Action Wipes too! Celly Smellys are sized 4"x7", are LCD safe, come in multi-packs of 15, four (4) fun scents to choose from and cost about .33 cents each.

Purpose: Degreasing Hands
There are times when Action Wipes are just too big for the job -like when you just want to clean your hands after changing a flat tire, or slipping the chain back on your bike, that's where Grease Monkey Wipes come in handy. Like Action Wipes, they are individually wrapped, so they are convenient and easy to carry in your purse, tool kit or store a couple with your spare tire. Now, if you spent a little too much time changing that tire and you find you need a shower too - then by all means followup with an Action Wipe! Grease Monkey Wipes are sized 8"x7", citrus scent and cost about $1.00 each.

Purpose: Refresh

You know how you can get that refreshing spa scent at home? By hanging an Herban Essentials towelette from the shower head while you shower. The steam helps the essential oils drift through the room just like in a spa. They're also great for when you just need a little refreshing. Unlike Action Wipes, they do not contain any cleansing agents. If you need to clean off the stinky sweat scent - use Action Wipes. Herban Essentials are sized 4.75"x7.5", come in five (5) different scents and cost about .75 cents each.

Purpose: Cleaning

Don't like any kind of scents? Then try Wysi Wipe, a dry, compact (3/4") wipe that expands as you add water. Wysi Wipe contain no wetting solution, scent or cleansing agents, so they're good at wiping off sweat, but not the odor. To clean off the odor - use Action Wipes. Wysi Wipe comes as a small tablet that expands to 9"x10" soft wipe after adding water and costs about .21 cents per tablet.

I hope this helped you understand the differences. If you have a favorite wipe that compliments Action Wipes, tell us about it and we'll spread the word.

And remember... Your face is not a baby's butt!

The Competition

They say copying is a form of flattery. I think it's a lack of creativity!

Recently, I've noticed some competitor networks coming to our Action Wipes website and spending quite some time going through our web pages. Two that really stand out are The Thymes Limited and Johnson & Johnson.

So, what are they looking for?

J&J is a household name - they are a HUGE corporation with great baby products, K-Y Jelly and Neutrogena to start. They started coming to the site in June, having landed on our home page by googleing the key words "refresh soothe". Our tagline of course is "Clean. Refresh. Soothe." We've been using it since the day we created Action Wipes.

So maybe they're thinking of doing something with "refresh & soothe" and their Neutrogena brand of products. I think their current tag line, "Touch and be Touched", along with their commercials is sexy and alluring. I wish I had come up with that tag line!

But then I noticed they kept coming back, only this time it was direct, so they must have bookmarked our site. The second time, they spent more time looking at our Slick Lube. One of the things I love about J&J is that they've brought sex into the mainstream with their K-Y Jelly commercials - even though they're a little bit over the top. I mean COME on, who really starts making love at 8pm and keeps it going till 3am?? And without the little blue pill or the one that keeps it up for 36 hours?? Wow. Oh yeah, that's right, it's because silicone lubricant last much longer than sticky water based lubes. Hmmmm, we personally like our C&M Couples Create Passion Personal Lubricant.

Anyway, this has been going on for months...they keep coming back, having taken a look at all our products by now. Jeez, why don't they just call and hire me as a consultant??

The Thymes Limited is not as big as J&J, but they're certainly not small and are a little more bold when it comes to competitor Research & Development. (You typically see their bath & body products at places such as K-Mart, Walmart, Target, specialty boutiques... ) They first came to our site by googleing "essential oil wipes" and landed on our Essential Oils and Aromatherapy page. From there, they explored further and they too returned later - having bookmarked our site. However, they weren't satisfied simply reading about our products - they wanted to actually smell, feel and experience them...

So within a couple of weeks, we receive an on-line order from Madam X for a 15 ct pack of Action Wipes, which sell for $9.50. For shipping she chose UPS Ground, which was a little over $10.00 and would have taken 4-5 days to deliver. So as I typically do when ever someone chooses UPS and I know U.S. Mail will be more cost effective and quicker delivery, I immediately sent her an email and asked if she would prefer U.S. Mail. Offering to make up the cost difference by sending an extra pack of wipes. She wrote back and agreed to the U.S. Mail, but asked for a refund of the difference.

Through out this exchange, I had not paid attention to her email address - until she asked for a refund. Now typically, most buyers choose the extra pack as it's a really awesome deal - so I check out the email address and find that the extension is xxxx@thymes.com. I then check the delivery address and guess what? It's The Thymes Limited headquarters in Minnesota. Now COME on...I'm not a genius, but I'm not stupid either. (However, I do know women with extremely high IQs, but they're still stupid. I call them "stupid smart women" (SSW).) Do you really think I can't figure out what they are up to?? Of course they're in the process of developing their own wet wipes!

Needless to say, I refunded her the money - all of it, including the pay pal fees and advised I could not put my heart into delivering my baby into their hands for R&D purposes. I know they'll find a way around me if they're really interested, but let them work harder at it! What would you have done??

We'll save the Burt's Bees story for later...