clorox tells a story (and last impressions count)

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“The last day is way shorter than counting to ten.”

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Leena Ahmad Almashat

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Ok.

This is about last impressions being more important than first impressions and a tangible example using Clorox TV commercial <which will not appeal to everyone>. This ad is designed exactly for the audience it was designed to talk to. This means that teens and young people will be bored. It is slow and unfolds and … well … it tells a story. Older people <old as well as aspiring old> … will enjoy .. maybe get a chuckle.

Oh.

And the good news? It is for a household cleaning product.

Oh.

More good news? It is from a staple household brand with gobs of heritage <been around for gobs of years> so it is relevant to whom they are <and subliminally kind of reminds you that they have been around for gobs of years thru a really nice hyperbole-stretched reference>.

 

The commercial was about this new ‘no waste’ cleaner pump spray they have. Not only is it a nice product/packaging idea but they had found a nice storytelling way to talk about it

Clorox new “It” bottle.

The commercial? I would show you the commercial but it is no longer online but here is the premise <from DDB>:

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The ad created a world where Ben Franklin, the most prolific mind of his time, nay the most prolific mind of ALL time, actually did create this product more than 300 years ago. But through some unfortunate circumstances, the bottle was lost. That is until the brilliant minds at Clorox stumbled upon the same invention and once again made cleaning history.

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Suffice it to say the story <message> is relevant to today <no waste, efficiency, good value, best expenditure you could make, etc.> but they also suggest that the idea has always been relevant.

Why is that important?

Well.

First.

People who are saving money don’t really want to feel like today’s circumstances are forcing them to save money. They would like to feel they are just being smart … and being smart is timeless.

Second.

People don’t want to feel cheap. Cheap as in “that last little drop really does matter to me.”

Now.

That is a wonderful little insight … and that wonderful little insight <which apparently I did not come up with> was utilized in this little TV commercial. And I bet research was used … and I finally get to talk about how research can be used well <because I am guessing this is a good example>. Here is my guess on what happened.

 

–          Trivial out loud, aggravating inside insight

clorox last dropThey <researchers> probably had to work pretty hard to get people to not only talk about this … but admit it. It sounds so trivial <the last spray … or … the last little drop>, petty and cheap. People probably didn’t really want to admit it. My guess on how it went:

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You’re cleaning, spraying … it spritzes a little … and then the next squeeze of the trigger … nothin’.

Nada <insert thought bubble of ‘crap’ over users head here>.

You shake the container and … hey … there is still something in there <albeit just a smidge>! So you point, squeeze and … nothin’.

Nada.

You know it is, at best, one more use … maybe even a halfhearted spritz remaining … but it is aggravating <on a variety of levels … you didn’t get to finish cleaning to the level desired –  a lack of completing objective – as well as ‘I paid for it’>.

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Whew.

Even typing this it sounds trivial. Saying it out loud? You sound cheap and petty.

C’mon.

It’s just the dregs at the bottom of the bottle.

Yup.

BUT.

Aggravating nonetheless.

Finding this insight is a good use of research.

Next.

–           It’s not the 1000, it’s the 1 I didn’t get insight.

This may seem obvious after what I just wrote in the first point … but it is a nuance that has to get recognized <and you would be flabbergasted – I just wanted to use that word – by how many professionals would miss this important nuance>. So it is only obvious if you don’t ignore it.

This is a well forgotten Life and marketing truth. It ain’t the first impression that matters … it is the last.

The practical <hack> brand manager is likely to think … “great value … they got 1000 efficient uses for only $x … that is only pennies per pull!”

The insightful brand manager thinks … “they aren’t happy with the product … well … they are feeling less than satisfied as they throw it in the trash <and listen to a little sloshing as it drops into the trash can> … their last impression is tinged with a sense of aggravation or dissatisfaction. Hmmmmmmmmm …. They are defining the product by the one spray they didn’t get rather than the 1000 they did get.”

Does that make an irrational consumer? You bet.

Does it matter anyway? You bet.

Perceptions don’t always match up to reality. You have a choice … manage the perceptions or change reality.

Clorox was smart. They changed reality. They eliminated the ‘one I didn’t get.’ Smart. Really smart. Good use of research <and someone who could actually decipher it>.

 

<note: detergent manufacturers should take note of this insight because all the new ‘free flow’ liquid containers leave an aggravatingly large amount of detergent left sloshing around that you cannot get out>

 

Regardless.

I liked their commercial for a number of reason. Good insight(s). It’s smart.

Meaningful product enhancement <addresses a user problem>.

Clorox Ben FranklinHeritage. Clorox has been around forever. In a nice understated way they remind you they have been around since … well … a long frickin’ time.

They make the user feel smart.

They even have a slight chuckle at their own expense <copy: we did think of this a long time ago but lost it>. And it’s a simple execution … but entertaining. It doesn’t have any of those flashy production techniques nor any of those quick cuts back and forth between random vignettes … but rather it is … well … a story.

In the end.

When told well … stories are timeless. Marketing people should remind themselves of this on occasion. Well done Clorox.

 

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Written by Bruce