Time.com: Why You'll See Tons of "New and Improved" Products Soon

Call it the recession lesson. The downturn caused many newly thrifty consumers to detour into the world of cheap toilet paper, store brand shampoos, and other generic necessities. And you know what these consumers discovered? The cheaper stuff isn't half-bad. Often, the cheaper stuff clearly gives more bang for the buck. So why would consumers ever go back to paying significantly more money for something that does basically the same job?
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Because they're having trouble competing in straight-up face-offs with generic products, the manufacturers are rolling out new items--or rather, "new and improved" items.
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P&G, the world's biggest ad spender, plans a 20% increase in "consumer impressions," or instances when consumers see its ads, during the fiscal year ending June 30. The Cincinnati-based maker of Pampers diapers, Crest toothpaste and Pantene shampoo says it will introduce 30% more "significant" innovations in products this year.

It will be interesting to see what P&G thinks these "significant" innovations are.  Unless there's true noticeable improvement, I don't think that some minor changes, a new label, and an advertising campaign is really going to win back customers.  The recession has cut pretty deeply and the old way of doing things might not work this time.

Related article:
Time.com: Making P&G New and Improved (2008 interview with Former CEO A.G. Lafley