Last Tuesday I was in aisle 12 at the local Kroger a sign caught my attention (see visual). It is a sign about toilet paper with a basic question:How do you roll? An interesting question I will talk about in a bit,but the question poses a more interesting marketing challenge:Can you create a brand experience about toilet paper?
Toilet paper is one of the basic commodities we buy. Sure there are differences between brands —either from a brand imagery (e.g. puppies,bears,angels) or within product benefits (e.g. lotion,mega roll,recycled). However,as a low consideration purchase,it is safe to say people rarely (if ever) search for toilet paper information or have discussions with friends about toilet paper.
However,if your looking to talk about TP there is conversation out there. Online there seems to be content about everything —including toilet paper. A web search of toilet paper provides some interesting results. For example there is a Consumer Reports review of toilet paper;a wide variety of printed TP on JustToiletPaper.com;and a YouTube video about How Toilet Paper is Made from the Discovery Channel.
Online there are some discussions —most center around how to TP a house. An example is eHows: How to Toilet Paper –TP –A Friend’s House where the author even make the following TP brand recommendation:
Most stores that sell toilet paper will stock a very cheap brand of toilet paper that you probably wouldn’t want to use in your bathroom. My theory is that the manufacturers of this grade of toilet paper are targeting it directly to the tree-decorating market segment. Don’t let them down –buy this stuff!
I don’t know if the cheap toilet paper brands really make a lot of revenue from pranks,but the author does make an interesting brand delineation between personal and pranks usage.
Cottonelle is thinking beyond pranks,bears,and lotion and trying to engage in a toilet paper debate. Probably one of the few discussions people may have about toilet paper —over versus under. I can actually relate to both sides of the debate. In my husband orientation 20 years ago I was “trained”by my bride to make sure the toilet paper must roll over,not under. Over time I learned and needed no further reminder. As far as the counterpoint,I have a friend who has cats. She has to make sure the toilet paper rolls under otherwise her catnip crazed feline will unravel the entire toilet paper roll.
A core element of the Cottonelle campaign is an online brand experience called CottonelleRollPoll.com. The cleverly simple site asks people if the roll their toilet paper over or under. The site begins by asking users to join the debate by voting their preference (currently 78% voted for over). Within the site users can view results by state;read watch videos of reasons why people prefer over or under;or watch “Roll Poll Throwdown”in which two fictitious characters debate the merit of over versus under.
I like Cottonelle’s effort. It reminds me of Scott’s Halftime Flush during the 2006 Super Bowl. Scott’s built a brand experience around the fact that there is more flushing during the halftime of a Super Bowl than any other time of the year. Hey,owning the flush is not a bad idea if your a toilet paper brand.
A recommendation for Cottonelle’s point of sale display would be a minor tweak to their campaign and provide a mobile aspect to the campaign. I doubt if many shoppers (like me) are taking pictures of the sign in order to remember the URL. Text messaging may be an additional way to engage a shopper in aisle 12 of Kroger.
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