Andrex refocuses marketing around ‘intimate care’ in £4.6m campaign
Andrex is launching a multi-million pound campaign that switches its marketing message away from the attributes of toilet tissue to one that speaks about cleanliness and making the brand part of people’s ‘intimate care routine’.
By Sarah Vizard
Video: Andrex’s new campaign shifts focus away from product.
The campaign includes a new strapline “How Andrex do you feel?”, which Andrex says aims to encourage consumers to consider how fundamental being clean is to their physical and emotional well-being. Activity kicks off this month on social media, with TV ads going live from 7 July.
Speaking to Marketing Week, Andrex’s UK and Ireland marketing director Karel van der Mandele claims the move is a first for the toilet tissue category. It will transition away from talking about the attributes of toilet tissue – such as “soft, strong and long” – and into a benefit-led strategy that aims to talk about what toilet roll is ultimately used for.
The campaign includes a new brand promise, dubbed “elevating the standard of clean”, based on research that while most people believe being clean is important, people still find it difficult to talk about.
“No one is talking about clean or the benefits of clean. If you look at the rest of the market everybody is still taking an attribute-led approach. We are taking a pioneering approach by talking about clean,” he adds.
The campaign will feature children talking about their toilet habits with “courage and honesty”, aimed at showing the contrast between how easy children find it to talk about the subject of being clean and how awkward adults feel about it. It includes a new partnership with Mumsnet that aims to “get the conversation going” and will offer opinion from key figures such as medical professionals and psychologists.
Andrex hopes the shift in message will help “break through the ad clutter” and boost sales, both in terms of value and volume. Van der Mandele also says Andrex hopes to drive behaviour change, making it easier for people to talk about cleanliness.
The TV campaign will be supported by digital activity aimed at creating a conversation and debate around the topic. Andrex will be sharing insights and facts on the UK’s cleaning habits so that consumers see the brand as a “rich source of information and inspiration”.
There will also be in-store activations. If the UK campaign proves successful, van der Mandele says it will be rolled out across other markets and “sew the seed” for new product innovations around cleanliness.
For anyone worried about the Andrex puppy in all this, van der Mandele also promises he is here to stay.
“The Andrex puppy is inextricably linked to the brand and he’ll be back on TV screens in July,” he says.
