Scott Naturals didn’t call in Tom Cruise to make its campaign mission possible. The Kimberly-Clark brand used digital and product sampling as its secret weapons to get budget-savvy moms to try its environmentally friendly paper products in its Secret Swap program.
“It was all about having mom secretly swap out her rolls at home so she can prove to her family, and therefore herself, that these products can give her the mainline quality that she’s looking for, yet enable her to go green,” says Alma Alejandro, brand manager for Scott Naturals.
To prove that moms could go green without paying a ton of green or sacrificing quality, Scott Naturals put more than two million product samples into the hands of its customers. Alejandro says Scott Naturals relied on direct mail, in-store, event, and door-to-door sampling to convince moms to swap out their rolls. And rather than “preaching” to moms about being environmentally conscious, Scott Naturals decided to engage its customers through digital content, such as with a top-secret mission video, Facebook posts, banners, sweepstakes, printable coupons, and e-commerce specific online ads. Alejandro says that Scott Naturals is even able to fuse the digital and physical realms, such as by showing its video at in-store kiosks to engage customers. Scott Naturals partnered with OgilvyAction for its sampling and in-store marketing, Biggs-Gilmore for its digital elements, and TRIS3CT for its print components.
One of the mission’s greatest tasks was identifying the customer. Alejandro identifies the target as “mainstream, middle green” moms who are open to living sustainable lifestyles but don’t want to sacrifice price or quality. She adds that creating paper products that are a blend of recycled material helps the brand reach this target audience compared to brands that are 100% recycled fiber that might attract “more of a niche green consumer.”
“She’s not necessarily looking for those products or to complicate her life in any way, but want companies to offer more alternatives to her so that she can take that green step by just purchasing those products [without] really having to give up anything,” Alejandro says.
Scott Naturals recently passed its $100 million mark in annual retail sales. And while large, these figures can seem humble compared to its monumental sister brands Scott 1000 and Cottonelle. Alejandro says that allocating resources for the smaller brand and convincing the 141-year-old Kimberly-Clark to stray away from traditional media presented a challenge. In addition, convincing retailers to overcome the bigger basket mentality and value these cost-conscious customers also served as a hurdle, she says.
The campaign, which launched this past Earth Day, will run its in-store sampling components until the end of June and will continue to execute the remainder of its campaign elements until November.
