🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 14 nominations and counting! Our partnership with Netflix, Baskin Robbins, Missing Pieces, and the Duffer Brothers resulted in some of the best work I've ever been a part of. If all these initial nominations are any indication, it's going to be a great awards season for the entire 22Squared team, and our creative-first clients at Baskin Robbins. #strangerthings #22Squared #baskinrobbins #netflix (at 22squared) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_nRwRaBZMY/?igshid=ynb8gvxm5pyb
22squared, an Atlanta-based ad agency has found a way to creatively re-purpose the damages left after Hurricane Irma, by introducing a series of inspiring billboards, which were created by piecing together remnants of other billboards, left behind in the storm.
North American Effie Winner Spotlight: American Standard and 22squared’s “Flush For Good”
American Standard and 22squared partnered up to get people talking about the power of American Standard toilets - literally and figuratively. By introducing their Flush For Good campaign, American Standard showcased the strength and durability of their Champion toilet, while getting consumers directly involved in their company's mission to improve worldwide sanitation.
For every Champion toilet sold, American Standard pledged to donate and distribute a specially designed latrine pan in a developing country, lacking proper sanitation.
Flush For Good took home an Effie in the Agricultural, Industrial & Building category in the 2014 North American Effie Awards competition.
Campaign Summary: In a category focused on style, the toilet had been relegated to a bathroom accessory that no one wanted to talk about. American Standard aimed to change that with Champion – a toilet powerful enough to flush golf balls and save lives. Our challenge was to increase awareness, distribution and sales of Champion, while improving the brand’s image. So we created the “Flush For Good” campaign, highlighting talk-worthy facts about the power of the toilet. The result? We surpassed goals, elevated the brand, and almost ran out of toilets!
How do you define effective marketing in one sentence?
American Standard: Brands matter. We’ve had the best-flushing toilets on the market for years, but our competitors put more into their marketing than we did. The business didn’t begin to turn around until we elevated the marketing.
22squared: We believe effective marketing starts with an idea so true, so moving, it's nearly impossible not to pass along; it's the drop that creates the ripple, and it gets people talking, growing brands exponentially.
Can you tell us how you reached the big idea for Flush For Good and the strategy for bringing your idea to life?
American Standard & 22squared: American Standard was built on a vision of raising the standard of daily living, which inspired the company’s SaTo innovation (a hygienic latrine pan that prevents disease transmission in developing countries).
But most people don’t realize that toilets can actually save lives, even though 40% of the world lacks safe sanitation and 2,000 people die every day as a result. When we talked to shoppers in the category, no one really talked about toilets or what they could do. The only conversations happening were all about style.
Meanwhile American Standard had this incredibly powerful toilet (Champion) that could flush golf balls, but no one knew. And sales were stagnant.
American Standard CEO Jay Gould knew the strategy had to elevate the toilet–give it a purpose to get people talking about it. So the idea behind the campaign was “This toilet is more powerful than you think,” and Flush For Good became a movement for people to spread the word. The toilet’s powerful performance would get buyers listening, and the “Buy 1, Give 1” initiative (A SaTo donation for every Champion sold), would get people talking. And every communication was powered with surprising facts about the toilet and the sanitation crisis to fuel the conversation.
You set out with the objective to improve worldwide sanitation by providing a 1:1 exchange for the sales of Champion toilets and donating specially designed latrine pans for distribution in developing countries. Can you tell us more about the role social responsibility played in the Flush For Good campaign?
American Standard & 22squared: The social responsibility initiative was truly a crucial element of Flush For Good. It not only made the campaign stand out in the category, but also gave new meaning to American Standard’s 150-year reputation of improving lives through sanitation.
From a strategy standpoint, the 1:1 effort broadened the marketing opportunity. For non-routine purchases like toilets, it’s important to speak to in-market shoppers, but also be top-of-mind among a broader target audience. Flush For Good allowed us to start a conversation with conscientious homeowners who were one toilet mishap or remodel away from being in-market. And with our social media efforts, we enabled this audience to become advocates for the brand and the cause without ever having to buy a toilet.
What about the Flush For Good are you most proud of?
American Standard: Without question, the best part is the life-saving difference we are making simply by being true to our purpose as a company: raising the standard of daily living at home, at work and around the world.
22squared: The campaign really exceeded our expectations in more ways than one. Most rewarding was the fact that an estimated 2.5 million Bangladesh residents will have an opportunity to improve their quality of life because of SaTo donations. On top of that, we increased Champion sales by 62% during the promotion, got some real momentum behind an iconic brand, and started new conversations about the sanitation crisis abroad.
American Standard CEO Jay Gould, recently profiled by Fortune magazine as “America’s Toilet CEO,” led the Flush For Good effort through a strong belief that businesses can succeed and thrive by identifying, promoting and living by a true purpose. The branding effort not only impacted sales, but also propelled an unprecedented turnaround in employee commitment, while helping the company to attract top talent to what has been widely viewed as a commodity industry. Truly, brands matter.
To read more about Flush For Good, visit the Effie Case Database.
Myself and a co-worker, together with the Sustany Foundation, helped 22squared to complete a sustainable business program and we received our green certification at the beginning of 2014.
Social Media Plays both at the Top and Bottom of the Marketing Funnel
Can you buy viral success? What’s the organic lifetime of content posted on different social platforms? Chris Tuff, SVP, Director of Emerging media and Partnerships at the standout advertising agency, 22squared , was one of the first in advertising to see the power of working directly with Facebook and other social platforms. In Part II of this blog, he and Anametrix CEO Pelin Thorogood, talk about the “dos” and “don’ts” of promoting brands in social media, and how to be a “welcome intruder” in the lives of consumers.
