For many years, brand purpose has become progressively important for consumers and businesses alike. Whether tackling social or environmental issues, consumers expect brands to show a commitment to a cause and help to drive positive change.

However, in recent months the distrust of brands has increased, and we have seen a huge backlash towards purposeful marketing with a raft of brands coming under criticism for being tasteless and only doing it for the short-term wins.

Consumers are now looking for brands to move beyond brand purpose and instead become educators and activists, stepping in where governments are failing by creating authentic movements they can become actively involved in. For a brand to make noticeable impact, they need to prove they are dedicated to a cause that is rooted deep in their philosophy.
 

With this campaign, Persil are successful in retaining the brand values they have held for decades. Picking up a Cannes Lion award last year, the advert is able to further deepen Persil’s positioning that ‘Dirt is Good’. Born from the powerful insight that children spend less time outdoors than prisoners, Persil have encouraged parents to let their children go out and get dirty whilst learning about the very best the world has to offer.

Where Persil are able to succeed in this campaign is by approaching it from a completely different perspective to its competitors; making children and parents feel good about dirt completely contrasts with something that just highlights its ability to clean clothes. Through this campaign, Persil have managed to create a light-hearted message, yet carve out an authentic sense of purpose and movement of its own, by talking about an issue that’s genuinely important to its audience. It isn’t just a short-term tactic; it’s one that’s at the heart of and in the DNA of the brand, which is why it resonates so well with consumers.

By Jack McFall, Junior Strategist, jkr London

Free the Kids, Unilever, MullenLowe (Cannes Lions Winner 2016)