Dirt for Good: How Persil evolved its brand purpose

Are you working on your Brand Purpose entry for the WARC Awards for Effectiveness? Here's something to inspire you! Read on to find out more about 2021 Gold winner, detergent brand Persil.

Persil: Dirt for Good

The challenge: For more than a decade, Persil's Dirt is Good platform was focused on encouraging messy play for child development. In 2020, as part of Unilever's Clean Future programme, the brand decided it was time for a more outward expression of Dirt is Good. That meant a radical reinvention of its product packaging and formulations; plant-based stain removers would replace fossil fuel-derived ingredients and packs would be made with 50% recycled plastic, and be 100% recyclable. Persil's first task was to encourage consumers to replace its much-loved core product with this cleaner, greener alternative.

The insight: Persil's research revealed that kids, and their families, were deeply concerned about the environment but felt isolated and under pressure to act. Enabling child development today would mean helping kids overcome anxieties and feel empowered to act on the world they care about.

The execution: Dirt is Good needed to empower kids, and their parents, to act on climate change just as it had on play and learning, so it evolved in Dirt for Good – a platform for change, pledging partnerships with schools and NGOs, and promoted it through TV, VOD, OOH, social media and display.

The results: Persil was able to land its Dirt for Good brand purpose proposition while maintaining the Dirt is Good platform and stain-removal credentials, driving consideration and achieving the brand's highest-ever market share of 28.8%.

Dive deeper

In partnership with On Strategy Showcase's Fergus O'Carroll, WARC has interviewed Tati Lindenberg, Vice President of Marketing, Dirt Is Good at Unilever and Rachael Stets, Global Strategy Director at MullenLowe, to uncover behind-the-scenes insights on the work.

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