Abstract

This case is about the ‘Let It Out’ (LIO) campaign launched by consumer packaged goods major, Kimberly-Clark Corporation (K-C), for its tissue brand, Kleenex. Marketing experts considered Kleenex to be a super brand. The brand identity was so strong that it had become a generic term for tissue paper, requiring the company to use ‘Kleenex brand’ to refer to its product. However, with the sales for the category shrinking since 2001, K-C decided in 2006 to rejuvenate the Kleenex brand. In late 2006, the LIO campaign was launched and it tried to make an emotional connect with the target audience through the use of ‘real people’ in its ads. The case details how the campaign was initially launched and, later in 2008, how the theme of the campaign was extended in 2008 to cash in on the Olympic frenzy and the roll-out of new Kleenex branded products. Many experts have considered the LIO campaign an innovative one and said that the campaign would go a long way in increasing the target audience’s involvement with the brand. However, others were not impressed and criticized certain elements of the campaign. Some others felt that the real challenge facing Kleenex was the commoditization of the brand and they suggested that K-C had to come out with something more than the LIO campaign to address this issue.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand issues and challenges in promoting a low-involvement product such as tissue, and how consumer involvement with the product can be increased
• Analyze the ‘Let It Out’ campaign and discuss and debate whether the campaign was able to achieve its objectives. Understand the pros and cons of using ‘real people’ in the ads
• Understand the pros and cons of using various appeals (in this case, emotional appeal) in ads. Understand the challenges faced by brands whose brand names have become synonymous with the generic term for the product
• and Explore strategies that K-C could adopt in the future to address the issue of commoditization of its brand.

Keywords

Consumer behavior, Low involvement product, Superbrand, Commoditization, Emotional branding, Real people, Marketing research, Consumer research, 'Let It Out' campaign, Advertising, creativity, Kiberly-Clark, Kleenex