Grove Collaborative Aims to Make Customers Into Advocates

When people hear the words "organic" and "sustainable" applied to items such as cleaning supplies and personal care products, there's a tendency to assume that also means they're both expensive and inferior in quality. Grove Collaborative, a company that delivers a range of natural household goods to customers' doors, is working to change this perception. Ahead of her appearance at Brandweek’s Challenger Brands event, Samantha Howe, vp of brand marketing at Grove Collaborative, talked about taking on more established brands, keeping morale high via Zoom and the excitement that comes with making healthier products more accessible. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Adweek: What is the main idea behind Grove Collaborative? How does it stand apart from legacy brands? Howe: Grove believes no one should have to choose between what’s good for them and what’s good for the planet. We not only want to do what’s less bad; we are committed to producing more good. One way that we are ensuring this is with our Beyond Plastic initiative to become 100% plastic-free by 2025. To create a more sustainable future, we know this is a crucial step in the process and something that our competitors and other legacy brands have not been as vocal about in the past. What need are you trying to fill? What innovation have you brought to the space? Natural products have not always reached price and performance parity when compared to conventional products, leading consumers to stray from natural products in favor of major brand names that were potentially harmful to people and the environment. At Grove, we are making natural products more accessible and available so that everyone has the opportunity to make better purchasing decisions. Not only do Grove products perform, they’re also healthier for both the customers using them and the environment, as well as priced competitively so they’re attainable for everyone. Describe the typical Grove Collaborative customer. The Grove customer is anyone who wants to make the switch from conventional to natural, safer and more sustainable products for their home and their family. We know that more and more people are interested in transitioning to natural products, and we are making it easy and convenient for anyone looking to take the first step toward a healthier, cleaner lifestyle. How has business been during the pandemic? Throughout the pandemic, Grove has seen a heightened demand for soap, hand sanitizer and other cleaning products. Orders jumped by about 50%. While our business is doing well, giving back to our communities is imperative during this time. Grove has been able to make hand sanitizer donations to local New York and San Francisco hospitals, monetary donations to Feeding America and has given period product supplies to the nonprofit organization I Support the Girls. What are some recent challenges you’ve faced and how did you overcome them? Hiring and scaling a team when you are all fully remote and have been for longer than anyone anticipated is just hard. Staying connected with old teammates and bonding with new ones via Zoom, staving off the sense of burnout and finding that human connection is an ongoing challenge. It's something that, as a leader, I am very aware of. We talk openly in the team about how we are feeling, and I encourage everyone to take days off as they need and just unplug. And then we try to have fun—we’ve baked bread together via Zoom, and next week we are doing a Bob Ross paint class, which should be fun because I am a horrible artist! So we are trying to have moments of joy in this crazy year. What advice do you have for anyone with a business idea that challenges more established brands? We always tried to stay true to our values and genuinely try to do what's right for our brand every step of the way. Our customers feel that difference—they feel connected to us, and I really believe that's key to breaking through. If you keep your customers as your biggest advocates, you won't fail. Anything else you’d like to add? Only that working at an organization that is truly trying to do something positive in the world is so exciting and impactful. It’s what motivates me every single day because the problems we face around climate change and plastic waste in the world are nowhere near to being solved, and I really believe we can help make it better—especially at scale.

Challenger Brands

Road to Challenger Brands: Grove Collaborative Aims to Make Its Customers Into Advocates

The home products delivery service plans to do more good, not just less bad

Paul Hiebert

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Paul Hiebert