Brand purpose and marketing boost DTC toilet paper brand

The continued success of Who Gives A Crap has been achieved by articulating a clear brand purpose and taking a very different approach to marketing than the category norm. 

Sales are up 

Who Gives A Crap is an Australian DTC toilet paper brand and social enterprise that donates 50% of its profits to charities improving sanitation and hygiene worldwide. Covid-19 lockdowns led to a surge in Who Gives A Crap subscriptions – and people are sticking with it post-lockdown. 

“A lot of companies that saw sales increase during the pandemic have seen a reversal of that, in the last 12 months or so,” co-founder and CEO Simon Griffiths told Smart Company. “And that has certainly not been the case for us, where we’ve just continued to grow.” 

Donations are up

After 10 years in business, Who Gives A Crap has now donated more than A$11m to charitable causes, with much of that total coming in the past two financial years: A$5.85m in 2020 and A$2.5m in 2021.

“We’re very proud of where we’re at, but also excited about what the future can look like, and what we need to do to get there and really make a serious dent in the problem,” Griffiths said. He’s thinking in terms of directing “hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars” to the causes it supports.

Key quote

“We saw that there was an opportunity to take a product that everyone needs, and use the proceeds to help people in need – and, by doing that, start to engage people in the conversation around what toilet paper is actually used for, rather than marketing that’s built on puppies, pillows, bears – things that are completely unrelated to toilet paper” – co-founder and CEO Simon Griffiths, speaking to Creative Review.

Sourced from Smart Company, Creative Review

[Image: Who Gives A Crap]