By Andrea Michelson --> Goodwipes has never been shy about their mission to dethrone Big Toilet Paper.
Founders Sam Nebel and Charlie Siciak started their efforts as “baby wipes evangelists” on the Florida State University campus back when wiping was taboo. At a Brandweek Brand Doing Cool Sh*t Experience session, Nebel and Goodwipes svp of marketing Meredith Diehn shared how the brand is using humor and non-traditional partnerships to continue disrupting the toilet paper industry.
Recent Goodwipes collaborations have included a team-up with Liquid Death featuring limited-edition sCREAM Soda-scented wipes and a “Buttler Sweepstakes,” where the winning customer gets a live-in butt-wiper. The tagline, “Death to Dry,” gets at the brands’ shared mission to hydrate (albeit in different ways).
“Sometimes it doesn’t necessarily make sense at first glance, and that’s the whole point,” Diehn said at the Brandweek session. “We want that little bit of shock value, and then when you peel back the layers you say ‘oh wait, this actually does make a lot of sense.’”
Partnerships like this, Diehn said, are meant to achieve two strategic objectives for the brand: fame and disruption.
Goodwipe’s campaigns, Diehn said, are created by a marketing team that includes three in-house creatives alongside outside agencies on bigger campaigns.
In another campaign this year, Goodwipes approached Olipop for an April Fool’s collaboration that ended up having a clearer through-line than expected. The campaign launched a limited-edition scent of wipes inspired by Olipop’s Peaches & Cream flavor, with the tagline “Treat your butt as good as your gut.” Given that the prebiotic soda brand emphasizes the importance of fiber in a healthy diet, the association with bathroom habits came naturally, Diehn said.
Diehn also spoke about striking a balance between “crass” bathroom humor and clinical explanations of butt health. Getting people to change an everyday behavior is a challenge in itself, and talking about what happens in the bathroom adds another layer of taboo.
“It’s almost like the brand needs to rip [off] the Band-Aid and give the permission to have the conversation,” and not just in private, Diehn said.
In some cases, it’s a matter of tapping into conversations that are already happening. Diehn pointed to “mini-moments,” like the “hot girls have IBS” trend or runners pooping during races, where online communities have come together to talk about what happens in the bathroom, no holds barred.
“We’ve found these little cohorts where we can speak authentically and have the conversations that are already being had, without trying to create a new one,” Diehn said.
The next major Goodwipes campaign will run around the holidays, reminding folks to stock up on bathroom essentials before company comes to visit.
Andrea Michelson is the healthcare marketing reporter at ADWEEK. She previously covered the coronavirus pandemic for Business Insider and was part of the New York Times Covid mapping effort in 2020.
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