Clorox swaps big campaigns for systems of continuous relevance

By Elena Vasquez

Brita, a Clorox water filtration brand, delivered 22 million engagements and a 1,742% year-over-year increase in organic impressions, according to data Chief Marketing Officer Eric Schwartz shared on Oct. 22. Schwartz presented the model at the Association of National Advertisers Masters of Marketing conference in Orlando. Clorox has marketed cleaning and household brands since 1913.

Clorox has replaced annual campaigns with systems of continuous relevance that identify opportunities to learn, adapt and improve. Appointed CMO in March 2022, Schwartz set two tests: “intentional but flexible” and “insightful but bite-sized.”

What replaces the annual campaign?

Clorox built the model around an engine powered by people, enabled by AI automation (software that speeds decisions) and amplified by agency partners. Its people, called “brand lions” inside the company, spot signals and turn them into action. Partners across creative, media, technology and measurement help identify, execute and scale opportunities.

“The approaches and intuitions that came along with growing up in a world that was about big-bang campaigns actually can work against us all now,” Schwartz said. “If the world is going mad and traditional campaigns aren’t enough anymore, what replaces them?”

“It’s not about showing up once with a big idea. It’s about showing up consistently in the moments that matter for choice,” Schwartz said. “Instead of taking months to frame a brief and get a dozen decision-makers aligned to queue up and launch a yearlong campaign, how do we create something different?”

“Less time talking, less time deciding, more time doing and learning,” Schwartz said. “Ideas get into market faster. Learning happens faster, and improvement happens while those opportunities are still alive out there in that fast-moving world. All of this drives better consumer experiences, stronger business results. It catalyzes growth.”

How did Pine-Sol turn social into a testing lab?

Pine-Sol, the nearly 100-year-old cleaning brand known for its signature scent and cleaning power, built “OMG Da Pine,” a social-first brand world on Instagram and TikTok. The platform uses original audio and meme graphics to read consumer signals.

The brand was previously nearly dark on social. Pine-Sol now averages more than 150 organic posts a month and tests content with more than 80 cohorts, defined groups of consumers. Its engagement rate averages 13%, according to Schwartz.

After one year, the brand moved its alter ego into commerce. Four limited-edition products on TikTok Shop sold out in hours. Pine-Sol then carried scent learnings into traditional retail with a seasonal apple cinnamon-scented product launched for fall.

“Listen, adapt, expand and follow where consumers take the brand, and the results speak for themselves,” Schwartz said. “The most important one for CMOs is the marketing mix analytics that showed that we were increasing dramatically our effectiveness and our efficiency in the world of social as a system.”

How did Brita find a Gen Z truth?

Social listening showed that Gen Z consumers, many living alone for the first time, treat hydration as an achievable act of self-care during complicated, overwhelming moments, according to Schwartz. That insight produced a social-first content model generating more than 100 assets per month.

Brita tested a lo-fi 3D shark animation and an original pop song. Both reached 10 million views before the brand spent on paid media, according to Schwartz. The experiments sparked “At Least I’m Hydrated,” which pairs hydration with daily struggles through awkward animations, stock backdrops and deadpan humor.

Results reached 22 million engagements, an 8.17% engagement rate and a 1,742% year-over-year increase in organic impressions. Media mix analysis, which measures channel contribution, showed Brita’s effectiveness and efficiency was “off the charts,” Schwartz said.

“At this volume, our algorithmic reach provided signal, as did engagement and dialogue, continually shaping the interaction and the content we created,” he said. “It was a whole different pace, a whole different metabolism for us inside the organization.”

“Brita’s approach worked because the team turned a real Gen Z truth into platform-native content, and then used continuous listening and learning to scale what resonated with that audience,” Schwartz said.

What changes when a launch stays live?

Clorox launched Clorox Pure Allergen Neutralizer in January, a line of air and fabric sprays, with a campaign created by agency BBDO Chicago. The team used AI to read in-market signals and optimize ad creative around the occasions and products driving consideration and trial.

Clorox reworked the creative asset without a reshoot or a traditional campaign post-mortem, and Schwartz said speed and savings were not the point.

“Even on big, well-supported launches [and] campaigns, the Clorox Pure team didn’t launch and walk away. They launched, they learned, they optimized and they kept improving while the content was still live,” he said. “The content is no longer finished at launch. It’s built to keep getting better.”

Around the World Cup this summer, the TSA weighed in on international travelers packing ranch dressing in carry-ons. Hidden Valley replied with its own content within hours and developed a plan.

Clorox tapped social, PR and a team of interns to build an organic content machine that generated more than 600 pieces of social content. The broader effort produced more than 6 billion impressions and 2,500 media placements, and helped turn around market share that inflation had dragged down.

“That’s what happens when the relevance engine really starts to pur. Years of brand building gave us the foundation, and our people made it relevant in real time, with partners helping amplify it,” Schwartz said.

What should other marketers change?

Schwartz offered three steps for marketers across sizes and budgets:

• Move away from campaign calendars toward continuous learning loops.
• Remove friction between signal and action.
• Act before certainty exists.

Taken together, the three steps replace a planning-led model with a response-led one, in which the distance between a consumer signal and a live campaign change shrinks.

“Our old instincts won’t keep up. Sometimes they won’t even be right,” Schwartz said. “The only solution to match the pace is learning to build systems of continuous relevance.”

The test ahead is scale. Pine-Sol, Brita and Hidden Valley must keep improving live content as consumer signals shift.