Ivory soap debuted in 1879 as an American soap to compete against expensive, luxury soaps from Europe. For nearly a century, Ivory soap has used a tagline (in one variation or another) that identifies Ivory as 99.44% pure — so pure, it floats! A logo refresh, new package design, and ad campaign created by Wieden+Kennedy, was intended to reinforce consumers’ focus on the pure message in a clean and simple way.
First up, the new logo is certainly simple as you can see in the image below. Honestly, it seems too generic, but where this brand refresh shines is in the advertising creative.
“The inspiration for this campaign came from the observation of how, over the years, in an effort to make life simpler, we have somehow made life more complicated. Taking a humorous look at what are called “Ivoryisms” – these honest truths include a series of simple and straightforward messages that reintroduce Ivory’s perspective on keeping things clean and simple.”
You can see some of those “Ivoryisms” in the print ad samples below.
These bold and simple messages are excellent. They capture people’s attention and represent things people can relate directly to in their own lives. There is no doubt that the “loofah” ad above will strike a chord with a specific target market (for example, men). Another hits people where it counts — their wallets, and a third is likely to resonate with audiences who don’t like overly-fragrant soaps that smell like perfumes.
The video element of the advertising campaign is equally simple. Again, the Ivoryisms take center stage with no visual distractions or cluttered messaging. Two samples are included below.
Focused brands are powerful brands, so it makes sense that Ivory would contract its brand focus to its original brand promise of purity. That clean and simple message says it all, and in today’s overflowing soap aisle at the supermarket, a pure, clean, and simple soap is just what many customers are looking for.
What do you think of the Ivory brand refresh?
Images: WK.com
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
I have used ivory soap and shower gel for years. Recently you changed the container of the shower gel so that I cannot tell when the container is almost empty. I would suggest either returning to the easily recognized container or have q clear strip down the side to see how much product remains such as you have on the tide containers. Thank you.
Hi Gretchen
I understand the problem – it is irritating when you can’t see when you need to replace something, and even more so if you run out of it completely…
However, we don’t represent Proctor and Gamble (the manufacturers of Ivory soaps/gels), so can’t help you. Could you contact them direct? Their contact page is here: http://www.pg.com/en_US/contact_us/index.shtml (if you’re US based – if not, then just change the country using the dropdown at the top of that page).