Company
Dropps
Project
Brand Marketing and Product Launches
Dropps Brand
Dropps is a sustainable laundry and dish detergent brand competing in categories that are ripe for challenger brand reinvention. In these low-interest, efficacy-driven categories, green and/or sustainable brands have always come with a trade-off on efficacy and/or price. As a result, the share of the category for green brands is only 2.7% for liquid laundry and 4.8% for dishwashing detergent. By contrast, the share green brands in the liquid hand soap category is 30%.
That's where Dropps comes in. As the original inventor of the laundry pod and a certified B-Corp, Dropps has had a long history of innovation and challenging the status quo. Dropps' vision for cleaning is that you can have it all: effective, affordable eco-superior. Not one thing at the expense of another. Better for you, better for the planet, accessible for all.
As head of Brand and Innovation, my work was to help to continue the growth of DTC subscription-based model with best in class retention and continue the 5+ years of sustained growth. I was responsible for brand planning, new product development, consumer insights, communications, and creative development and execution.

Results

BRAND ADVANTAGE STRATEGY
How should Dropps take advantage of increasing the green market share in the massive $12B+ U.S. opportunity in laundry in dish?
Believe
Buy
Belong
Believe


Among the eight segments that were discovered, we found the greatest potential amongst Eco / Naturals First, Innovators. and House Proud segments. We conducted teh same survey among Dropps customers, and found that we had a base of Eco / Naturals First (61%) and a smaller segment of Innovators (6%). Overall the tradeoffs that the Eco / Naturals, House Proud and Innovators segments face is having to deal with tradeoffs between sustainability and an effective clean.
On one hand, conventional detergents use toxic chemicals and use big bulky plastic jugs that clog the environment. On top of that, are not fit for purpose and instead try to attack the cleaning problem through overdosing, instead of only what is necessary. On the other hand, sustainable cleaning brands are much better for the environment, but fall-down in effectively get the cleaning done the first time. 83% agreed with "I would be completely satisfied if I could find household cleaning products which are effective AND good for the environment".
BUY
Current Detergent Options
DROPPS

Putting brand positioning into action, the brand messaging and assets needed to reflect it's unique value proposition. The Dropps message was delivered in a tone that reflected an Outlaw archetype with an Everyman sensibility. Their message was that big cleaning brands had a dirty little secret—they were getting away with pushing poor value, stupidly complicated products that can harm us and poison the planet.
And this message was delivered by none other than Jonathan Propper, founder and CEO, who was willing to strip down naked to deliver this "Naked Truth" about cleaning products. This ad, has been our top performing ad since it was released.
Dropps vision to reinvent to reinvent/remake cleaning for good showed up in their relentless focus is on what actually works, what’s easy to use, and then eliminating all the rubbish you don’t need and shouldn’t pay for. Their products worked in harmony with nature to deliver high performance but are also sustainable, accessible, and make your life simpler.
Their brand assets had to reflect this point of view—living clean, living green, eliminating waste, and leaving no trace.
The brand needed a toolbox of core assets that went beyond the visual identity and uniquely communicated our brand what it stood for. One particular brand equity or asset cannot say everything that could ever be be said about Dropps. Instead, each encapsulates a singular aspect of the Dropps brand power, and tells a specific part the brand story. They work in concert as a modular system that can be assembled as appropriate by product, channel, and consumer.










Consumers have a general perception that sustainable cleaning brands do not work as well as conventional brands. We wanted to understand the primary barriers behind this perception and what it would take for someone to switch to a more eco-friendly option. When asked if they would switch from their current brand to a more eco-friendly option at the same price, here is what we discovered about their most important considerations:






As a smaller brand without any retail presence, clearly our biggest opportunity was to help people discover the brand. Just 3% of the general population was familiar with Dropps. But purchasing eco-friendly / sustainable products was a priority for only about half of the general population (45%), which contrasted sharply with our Dropps customer base.
In fact, we found that Dropps consumers tended to think about their laundry and dish chores more than that of the average person in general. Knowing this allowed us to be more targeted with who we tried to reach. We aimed to discover Dropps customer look-alikes that had similar concerns and in which our "powerfful cleaning with nature" brand message could resonate with.

BELONG
Dish and laundry care are low-interest categories, as evidenced data points such as 85% agreeing with the statement "consistent results keep me coming back to my tried-and-tested cleaning products". However, there is an opportunity to build brand love that will enable the brand to turn buyers into advocates. As we create content that deliver on the value proposition and brand values, our goals is to develop develop a richer emotional territory to win on for longer-term brand building.
For that, we need to dive deeper into what emotional benefits can Dropps drive. Emotional benefits will ultimately be the main driver of consumer choice in the longer term.


House Proud and Innovators resonate with the sentiment of feeling like a brand they are buying into will in the end, make them feel safe and protected. Dropps can deliver that in helping to get the job done and relieve some anxiety of their never-ending household chores. Our testing also showed that when all respondents were presented with a product concept that ensured "all the cleaning power" but formulated to be "better for you, ypur family, and the planet" with bio-based ingredients and eco-friendly packaging" Eco Naturals and Innovators were most drawn to this concept.
Our brand ladder then builds off of some tangible product features like plant-powered ingredients and cardboard packaging to help consumers feel empowered and reassured.




We approached content with an "inside-out" marketing approach where our content just reflected the values we believed in. We also wanted to talk about clean as not just a chore that needed to get done, but a how you did it reflected a choice in a lifestyle. This was reflected in how the products could be integrated naturally in people's lives, and allowed us to build relationships with influencers that align to the same values






