One of America's oldest brands is getting a new look!  Proctor & Gamble announced plans to roll out a new logo and package for Ivory Soap.

The remake is part of an effort by the Cincinnati-based company to breathe new life into Ivory. It comes at a time when Americans are scaling back on spending in the down economy, but are looking for little, cheap ways to pamper themselves, by say, taking a long, hot shower. As P&G has focused on bigger, faster-growing brands, the white bar of soap has lagged behind its rival Dove and faced increasing competition from the likes of Dial and Irish Spring.

In the last few years, Proctor & Gamble has taken a hard look at some of their brands, selling off some that are no longer performing like they used to.  Crisco and Sure are two brands that P&G sold off to improve the bottom line.

But, the Ivory Soap brand is somewhat of a tradition at Proctor & Gamble.

Ivory was the first brand mass-marketed by P&G. It is the namesake of a P&G research and production center called “Ivorydale.” It’s deeply entrenched in American pop culture as a sponsor of early television soap operas and the first televised major league baseball game. It even is a part of training of new marketing employees at P&G, who can learn about how Ivory reached consumers before mass media with free samples, children’s coloring books and recipe booklets.

“Ivory is where our origins are,” Hochman said. “It has a special place in a lot of people’s hearts around here. It’s incredibly important to keep it alive and growing.”

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