SAN FRANCISCO - A Clorox executive at ad:tech said that the mobile medium has changed the brand?s DNA and the way that it now looks at marketing its products.

Clorox rolled out the myStain application last year and saw that 50 percent of consumers who downloaded it shared it via Facebook or email. During the ?Mobile Marketing: Big Changes Brought on by Little Apps? session, the executive discussed how mobile impacted the company and how it is using the channel to further build a relationship with its consumers.

?Mystain has changed our imagery, content and voice,? said Amanda Mahan, creative director of digital and content at Clorox, Oakland, CA. ?It?s inspiration for new solutions and campaigns.

?It?s changing our brand DNA,? she said. ?We changed the way that we talk about our solutions.?

The beginning
When the company decided to launch the application, it looked around and saw that there were already several stain removal apps in the market.

However, they were simple and basic and Clorox wanted to stand out in the pack.

?You don?t reinvent the wheel, but give it a twist,? Ms. Mahan said. ?We wanted to make sure our app was different.?

To stand out and further engage with consumers, Clorox developed an interactive game-like component within the app, incorporated an on-the-go advice feature and made sure that the app gave out a humorous and casual tone.

The company found that even before the app was featured in the market, many users showed interest in it.

?You want to think big, but it is OK to start small,? Ms. Mahan said. ?Our initial spend was low and incremental spend was nominal.

?Apps can start a dialogue,? she said. ?It?s not just pushing information to the user.?

Mobile extension
After the company rolled out an iPhone application, Android and Spanish language versions followed.

The myStain application provides consumers with stain removal tips in real time, as stains happen.

The app offers both on-the-go and at-home advice to keep consumers spotless. It is an extension of Clorox's stain-removal strategy.

According to Ms. Mahan, mobile changed the way that Clorox now looks at its products.

?Clorox wants to develop products that people need and they?re using mobile as a tool,? Ms. Mahan said. ?Wine stains were a big thing that resonated with consumers so now we?ve added that to the app.

?Tens of thousands of people were searching for stain removal each month and many were looking for tips via mobile,? she said. ?I knew that a lot of people that were coming from mobile were moms.

?Clorox has this great content and we needed to overcome a perception problem that we?re old and not hip. We were hoping that the myStain app would help solve the problem and make laundry a little hip.?

Ms. Mahan said that companies looking to roll out mobile applications should set reasonable goals.

?You?re not going to get ten million downloads,? Ms. Mahan said. ?Your goals should be about reaching new targets, changing people?s perception of your brand, getting buzz and creating something that your employees can love.

?The last one is especially important,? she said.

Final Take