Dawn is dishing out some criticism at its competitors in a new campaign.
The Procter & Gamble-owned dish care brand launches new digital creative this week touting the product as more powerful than two bottles of a rival, nonconcentrated product. TV, print and in-store ads—carrying the same theme—first began rolling out last month. The competitor in the ads is unnamed, but the tall, slender bottles strongly resemble Colgate-Palmolive’s lower-priced Ajax brand.
The approach is a new one for Dawn, which, until recently, had focused its marketing message on highlighting new product attributes.
One such campaign, for instance, describes Dawn Hand Renewal with Olay Beauty as dish soap that “transforms the look and feel of your hands in just five uses.” Dawn’s latest move, though, comes as some data show Ajax has grown a bit faster than Dawn.
P&G maintains the campaign—which carries the tagline, “One bottle has the strength of two”—isn’t “aggressive” per se, but simply meant to entice consumers as they continue to skimp down on household purchases in a downturn.
Dish care sales, for the most part, have been bubbly in a recession, as more consumers eat in and stay at home. (Translation: More dishes to wash.) Dish care advertisers, taking their cue, likewise upped spending by 53 percent to $58 million last year, per Nielsen, which doesn’t include online expenditures.
For the 52 weeks ended June 13, dollar sales of Dawn, the category’s No. 1 dish detergent, grew 18.3 percent to $147.1 million. Sales of Ajax, meanwhile, rose 22.8 percent to $99.7 million. Private label is right behind with an increase of 12.3 percent, or $45.7 million in sales, during that period.
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