Dive Brief:

• Clorox is giving its cleaning brand a new purpose in an ad campaign that debuts today, per news material made available to Marketing Dive. The effort is called “Clean Matters,” and includes a 90-second brand film and related video ad spots showcasing the “transformative power of clean,” according to Clorox.
• The brand creative highlights the inherent change that comes from cleaning, which sets the stage for new possibilities. According to Clorox, the ads are the first from the brand featuring real people in their homes captured in unscripted moments. The TV campaign will kick off during the premiere of NBC’s “The Voice” with a 30-second spot in the first hour and two 15-second spots in the second hour.
• The full campaign includes four TV spots: one 60-second, one 30-second and two 15-second ads; 90-second, 60-second and 30-second spots that will run in theaters before the movie “Coco,” and a digital element promoting the brand across programmatic and social media.

Dive Insight:

Bleach is a commodity item that competes against cheaper store labels that promise many of the same benefits. At the same time, bleach and other traditional grocery cleaning products have an image problem as natural cleaning products make their way onto store shelves and consumers' shopping lists. In this light, the new Clean Matters campaign from Clorox appears to be a savvy attempt to make an emotional connection with consumers by turning the focus away from the practical benefits of its products and instead showcasing a deeper meaning for cleaning. 

Clorox has used emotional appeal in previous campaigns, such as a 360-degree video effort in partnership with AOL that illustrated the lack of safe drinking water as part of the brand’s The Safe Water Project. By capturing unscripted moments when cleanliness is an important element — from a baby's first bath in the kitchen sink to a doctor heading into surgery — the Clean Matters campaign takes this approach to a much wider audience. 

“Clean isn’t just the opposite of dirty, it is the start of something new," Clorox said in a statement about the brand purpose provided to Marketing Dive.

Clean Matters was developed by FCB, which became agency of record for Clorox last year. This is the first big brand work under the new relationship, per Adweek.