Seventh Generation has given Maya Rudolph top billing in a new $15 million advertising campaign aimed to persuade consumers that the company’s household and personal care products are clean and friendly to the environment.
Vermont-based Seventh Generation is launching its biggest media campaign ever and going on television with ads for only the second time since it was founded in 1988, the New York Timesreports. Why? The privately held company sells premium detergents and dish liquids that only a slim portion of the population buys, and now it’s getting more competition from retailers like Walmart (WMT) who have private-label lines, as well as manufacturers including Clorox (CLX) and Church & Dwight’s (CHD) Arm & Hammer.
The ad featuring Rudolph is titled “Come Clean” and features the actress and comedian scoffing at competitor brands that are composed of bright cleaning liquids, calling them “laser-beam blue” and “spray-tan orange.” Instead, Rudolph touts Seventh Generation’s clear liquids as natural. Seventh Generation, says Rudolph as a mother of four, is the perfect fit to “raise consumer awareness about what clean really means.”
“The company is challenging consumers to think about what goes into the products they’re using in their homes and around their families, igniting a movement to make product choices that are both safe and effective,” Seventh Generation said when announcing the campaign.
That’s been an evolving conversation: While consumers say that efficacy is by far the biggest motivator to buying a household cleaning product, 26% of respondents in a recent Nielsen survey said organic/all-natural ingredients are “very important.”
Some natural-goods makers have had their claims questioned of late. In particular, Jessica Alba-backed Honest Co. has been sued a few times, while the Wall Street Journal recently reported Hain Celestial (HAIN) is dropping claims that the company’s natural shampoos and skin cleansers don’t contain a cleaning agent commonly used in mainstream brands, after it was discovered those promises weren’t entirely accurate.
