Kleenex: The Saga of a Super Brand

Kimberly was the first company to manufacture and market facial tissue products. The Kleenex brand was so successful that it became synonymous with the facial tissue products and was even included in several standard dictionaries as a common noun.

The brand identity was so strong and so often used interchangeably with the commodity that it had to promote itself as the 'Kleenex brand' (Refer to Exhibit I for the logo of Kleenex). Kleenex accounted for nearly 10 percent of Kimberly's total sales revenue as of January 2007.⁶

The campaign involved a series of advertisements in multiple media channels showing the people sharing their emotions by talking about what made them cry. A blue couch was placed on the sidewalks of major cities where the people were invited to sit down and share their emotions with a host.

A pack of Kleenex facial tissues was placed before the person to help him/her to wipe his/her tears. People who expressed their emotions in an ad-worthy way were given small rewards and the shot was used in the television advertisements and posted on the Internet...