Kruger Canada executives were right to be wary. Make toilet paper a fashion statement in a category ruled by fluffy kittens and goofy bears?
This was the vision of corporate vice-president of marketing Nancy Marcus, who was recruited by Kruger in 2000 to manage the rebranding of Cottonelle as Cashmere. Marcus was unflagging in her desire to treat the chiefly female shopper as an adult and to move messaging beyond the product’s functional qualities, like softness and strength.
But she had to push the roll uphill, so to speak. Everyone, retailers in particular, had an important stake in what would become of Cottonelle’s memorable brand name and tag line “You can feel the cottony softness.” The toilet paper category may be sleepy and low interest, but considering it generates $1.4 billion a year (only milk sells more), it’s key to driving in-store traffic. And the countdown was on.
Kruger Canada’s Canadian rights to the powerful Cottonelle name, the number one brand in Canada, were set to run out in 2007. Thereafter, Kimberly-Clark Corp.—which made the 10-year licensing deal after acquiring Scott Paper Ltd. in the U.S. in 1997 and divesting its Canadian arm to Kruger—was free to bring Cottonelle back to Canada leveraging all of the brand’s 30 years of equity for itself. “Our plan was to defend our market share. And yes, we suspected Kimberly-Clark might come back,” says Marcus.
Kruger made the right decision to invest in developing a brand it owned rather than support one that was only being borrowed, says Ken Wong, associate professor, business and marketing strategy at Queen’s University. The company also wisely leveraged Scott’s strong sales force legacy, as distribution partners were key to winning a largely on-shelf war.
But ultimately, Kruger is named one of Canada’s Top Marketers for having faith in strategic creative, along with agency partners John St. and Strategic Objectives, that turned the category on its head.
Marcus had all the evidence she needed. Exhaustive market research showed there was room for more feminine and sophisticated communications in the category, such as equating the luxurious and indulgent qualities of cashmere fabric with the brand.
“In essence, the challenge was to make Cottonelle passé, and in so doing elevate the equity of Cashmere and make the return of the Cottonelle brand that much more difficult,” says Arthur Fleischmann, president and CEO of John St. (Kruger had taken Cottonelle off the market by 2005.) “Fashion was the creative link.”
Since 2004, the annual Cashmere fashion show, featuring dresses made of toilet paper, has drawn Canada’s best designers and a remarkable 450 million audience impressions to date. The final big-bang rollout featuring a TV spot (with a twist) in the summer of 2007—in rewind, a model being dressed in a designer gown of toilet paper ending on the package shot and tag line “Nothing feels like Cashmere”—“made people pay attention to a message they really didn’t care about,” says Wong.
“Plus, the creative has legs,” boasts Marcus. Print ads feature winning designs from each show. Online, Kruger leverages YouTube videos and its website to promote the brand’s forward focus, including this year’s partnership with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, which resulted in the return of coloured toilet paper in Canada this fall with Pink Cashmere. The result: despite the return of Cottonelle, Cashmere’s national share, even though it is only sold in eastern Canada, is currently 29%, compared with Cottonelle’s Canada-wide 3.1%, says Marcus. “We’ve actually grown our share, from 2001 to 2008, by seven points. Our plan was to defend our leading share. And to grow it is testament to everything we did right.”
