Coco Chanel used to say that before leaving the house, every woman should check herself in a mirror and remove at least one accessory from her ensemble. That’s part of the reason she became a style icon: She knew when too much was enough. Not so for Kimberly Clark/Cottonelle in their new (largest) non-traditional advertising campaign EVER…
Hat tip to Adrants, whose initial coverage led to tear jerking laughter for me and my family. Since then, in an attempt to be fair, I’ve done a little more research. I can’t help but come away with the opinion that this is one of the most over accessorized campaigns I’ve ever seen!
Up front, it sounded like a clever idea for the puppy-advertising brand. As summarized the concept is something like this …
“Life’s rough on your bottom. Be kind to your behind with Cottonelle.”
Not bad, right? The schtick — Make your own pledge to be kind to your behind in exchange for a chance to win a luxury give away. We’ll also give you free coupons!
Cute. Lots of advertising potential! But then they began to accessorize…
First (and the most understandable move, in my opinion), they merged the idea with their “adorable mascot” the infamous Cottonelle puppy. I understand – continuity.
The thing is, they made the mascot into a spokespuppy. Note the freakish new voice, which they’re using on the new commercials and on the web site.
This is where Coco begins to twitch. At least they don’t make his mouth animate when he talks! (Shudder)
Then they added more stuff: On the web site, where you can create your own pledge and enter to win… they’ve got totally unrelated bells and whistles that don’t really boost the experience at all. In fact, some are totally disconnected from it. .
For example, you canattach a garish, nearly illegible cartoon to your pledge. It appears they are drawn on toilet paper. Many show people sitting on toilets. I wonder how much they paid for this crap? (Pun intentional) Here’s an example courtesy of the website…
Incidentally, I have a friend with a sleeping disorder that had a similar incident in college. She missed her finals and it took four hours to get the sensaton back in her legs
Then there’s the outdoor advertising component. Does anyone else feel this gets lost in context? They bought a wrap in the subway…. but to really make a statement, why not outfit some of those hard seats with cushions – or brand some restroom space and make them cleaner, more comfortable…and graced with Cottonelle? That’s what Charmin did in Times Square. This is entirely forgettable.
Then, my favorite accessory: The mobile component. Nope. Sorry. It’s not mobile as in wireless – as in the ability to find any restroom within 1000 feet of your phone, compliments of Cottonelle…. It’s mobile as in motor vehicle! Meet Cottonelle’s “Comfort Haven Bus.”
According to Ad Rants, the bus will engage in a cross-country tour stopping at locations across the United States: “The bus will offer visitors access to “relaxation stations” where people can see first-hand — and hopefully in privacy — how soft and comforting Cottonelle can be.”
Somehow, “Come poop in our bus” just seems a little far fetched to me (pun intended). But it it gets even worse, folks. The bus has fur!
Come poop in our PUPPY bus? Okay, now you vote: which of the following does the Comfort Haven Bus most resemble?
Lest, I digress, they’re not done, they’ve also added an on-board fitness trainer who will give people who sit down a lot some helpful advice to “loose the caboose.”
AND… just to show you they’re not done accessorizing, they retained Judith Greer from ABC’s “Miss Guided” as a kickoff celebrity. Now, I like her. She’s funny, but what she has to do with toilet paper escapes me.
All this to say, this whole campaign is just, well — OVER ACCESSORIZED. Sometimes, we just need to know when enough is enough. Otherwise, we find ourselves on – or over – the edge of ridiculous.
Well I will say this, while overboard, at least it’s memorable. I’m also hoping the bus is extremely well ventilated.
Can I just say, you (and this campaign) “cracks me up?”
As much as I love dogs, that bus is flat-out weird. In fact, this is worse than over-accessorizing. I’m suddenly imagining my eccentric aunt, who crazily applied lipstick beyond the contours of her lips. That’s the kind of weird un-focus this whole thing has…
Memorable it is, Paul — but is that such a really GOOD thing?
Annie – You reminded me of Shari Otari in the SNL skit where she plays the twitching lady at the pharmacy… did you ever see that? Hysterical.
I’d say it is Cottonelle on way, way too much coffee and too big a budget. A bad combination, really.
But I guess if you are going to do a full court press you have to be a bit over-the-top.
Something good has come out of this campaign: Your very funny blog post. Thanks Cottonelle for being a muse to Leigh.
Neil – Yes, I can just SEE them all at the table in the conference room. BRAINSTORMING. Let’s add THIS and THIS… oh- and CARTOONS – only – get this – they’re drawn on TOILET PAPER! AHHH! That’s part of what makes this so funny. We’ve all been there.
what does a puppy know about cleaning its ass anyway? It’s – ironically – got a human picking up the mess (and not with Cottonelle either).
Anyone remember when Sheryl Crow joked about limiting how many squares of TP we all should use in order to reduce paper waste in landfills? I think Cottonelle should have gotten her as spokesperson – “Cottonelle is so thick, soft & strong, I’m down to one square! Even for the heaviest loads!”
But yeah, to the point at hand, they DID over-accessorize
The real question is will this full court press work?
Is there any way to track whether Cottonelle succeeded?
I guess it is hard to find data on another company’s marketing efforts.
Neil,
You raise another really good point. The thing is, a silly few marketers are measured on their true ROI. Heck – most agencies aren’t even paid based on results! I may post an article about this in the near future. So, while I’m sure they have “metrics” – I’m highly doubtful that they will be able to attribute this to a direct rise in toilet paper sales. It would be great if they proved us skeptics all wrong and published some data here for us! Heck, they may get us all driving fuzzy vehicles soon!
- L
I shudder to think what the effects of success would be with this.
Well, on the bright side, endless material for fun Marketing Prof’s posts.
Boy – this campaign and the road trip are really backfiring (pun intended again) on Cottonelle. Check this out:
http://kleercut.net/en/node/933
Yes, and here is an interesting story that leads me to conclude that green is the new gold.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080418/us_nm/usa_oil_pickens_wind_dc;_ylt=AkulcMRwQqMmfAIauDyR_rGs0NUE
Jim Collins’ book “Good to Great” now has a whole new level of meaning for me. “Get the right people on the bus” indeed.
Good integrated marketing examples are usually tough to find because a lot of product and service providers hold back. They have a good central brand idea, and don’t quite activate it enough to make the potential impact. This is just the opposite. While integrated (in the softest of ways), it’s just strange. Not sure I’d be remembering what the brand likely intended.
Thanks for the humorous post – I almost spit my coffee out at the Dumb & Dumber reference.
Its not “Atreyu”, Its “Valcor”. Thats like confusing Hans Solo with Chewbacca. GAWD!
Oh NOOO – Valcor huh? Sorry Dorotea! Printing my retraction here for posterity! It’s been quite a few years since I saw this movie.
Mike – thanks for the comment. Glad you didn’t ruin your tie over it.
Dan,
You inspired a Weird Al Yankovitch (sp?) tune, which is now spinning through my head… to the tune of “Another One Bites the Dust”
“Da da DUN DUN DUN
Another one rides the bus(ah)!
Du da DUN DUN DUN…
Another one rides the bus(ah)!
And another one’s on. Another one’s on. Another one rides the bus!
HEY – He’s gonna sit by you!
Another one rides the bus!”
I’ll spare you all my dancing.
You mentioned the puppy’s voice…isn’t it Zac Braff of “Scrubs” and “Garden State”?
Too funny. I actually read that somewhere. I still think the voice is a bit disturbing. No offense, Zac.
Yes, indeedy, Aren’t we all searching for a new place to – um – do our business. Wow! A bus with free toilet paper! Hold me back! (or rather hold “it” until I can get there?
Way, way, too much info and way too many images – yes, TP is a vital part of life…and the “be kind to your behind” is a cute idea, but I don’t need visual aids such as you show from their web site.
I’m already at the age where I’m telling friends – “whatever we do, however old we get – I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT BOWEL MOVEMENTS WITH YOU!” (cute puppy or not…)
And the voice is not only disturbing – it’s just dumb. This little guy is selling toilet paper…and then he sits down and licks his butt.
All that said, I still think this is a better commercial than the Charmin’ Bears scrubbing each other’s backsides for those “little left behind bits” Gag.
Here’s a situation where the fundamentals of business were ignored by an out of control marketing department. This effort ignored many facts that could have been covered with either a SWOT or PEST analysis and saved KC dollars and the public humiliation they have subjected themselves to–that being said, all will be forgiven if they can demonstrate increased market share and ROI with the campaign. They are certainly getting some free press out of it.
Mary, Patt -
Thanks for your comments.
Patt – Very much agree with your comment “Here’s a situation where the fundamentals of business were ignored by an out-of-control marketing department.” I have seen this so many times during my tenure as a consultant… Seems like CPG and pharmaceutical companies are some of the worst offenders.