Share a Square and Refreshingly Clean Slate: Cottonelle and United Way Worldwide
When Americans began hoarding toilet paper in 2020 as a reaction to the Covid-19 lockdown, Cottonelle brand used the newfound attention to toilet paper as an opportunity to calm fears and to stop people from hoarding and begin sharing. #ShareASquare turned toilet paper into a symbol of kindness and care, while simultaneously building brand awareness. For each consumer who interacted with the #ShareASquare campaign, Cottonelle donated incremental funding to United Way Worldwide to encourage program participation.
At the end of the year, Cottonelle built on this newfound brand awareness along with consumers’ desire to leave 2020 behind and make a clean, new start in 2021. Cottonelle is know for “wiping away” what you don’t want, leaving you feeling “refreshingly clean.” The campaign engaged consumers on social, urging everyone to start 2021 with a #refreshinglycleanslate. For each social post, Cottonelle pledged to donate an incremental $20.21 to United Way Worldwide’s COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund.
United Way Worldwide fights for the health, education, and financial stability of communities, and the organization has a presence in 95 percent of U.S. communities and in 40-plus countries and territories around the world. For those already struggling financially, the COVID-19 pandemic was a true crisis.
On March 22, employees, as well as Kimberly Clark (the corporate home of Cottonelle) began the #ShareASquare campaign, which launched officially a few days later. Paid media through Facebook and Instagram followed along with television commercials which spread the campaign nationwide. Across three weeks, the idea spread fast; people not only engaged, but there was a 24% increase in Instagram followers for Cottonelle along with a 35% increase to cottonelle.com. Social media increased by more than 40%. The campaign raised $100,000 for United Way Worldwide, the result of 10,000 social media mentions, while brand favorability rose. More than 1 million toilet paper rolls were donated between March and June which helped to make this essential product available to many individuals and family in need.
The brand’s #RefreshinglyCleanSlate also had spectacular results: the highest number of brand mentions in brand history and a change in the way consumers spoke about the brand.
Cottonelle raised more than $2 million through the #ShareASquare and #RefreshinglyCleanSlate campaigns, which enabled the United Way COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund support communities around the world with access to food, shelter, vital information and other essential services.