SUSTAINABILITY & REVENUE GENERATING

Revitalizing a Brand

Client
The Clorox Company (Parent)

Brita water filters (brand)

Duration
8 years

Role | Title
Consumer PR Lead | Senior Vice President

Agency
Edelman

Team:
Integrated PR team of 15

Challenge: Brita's sales were flat, and its parent company, Clorox, was considering selling Brita off. Brita wanted to be part of the sustainability conversation.

Insight: 30 billion single-use plastic water bottles were purchased in 2005 with less than 12% recycled. At the time, bottled water was getting media backlash with no solution. The problem was that water filters were only part of the solution. People choose bottled water for taste and convenience. Brita provided taste but not convenience.

Solution:

  • Strategic positioning: Created an unbranded social purpose campaign positioning Brita as a sustainable alternative to bottled water

  • Problem-solving: To offer a fully sustainable solution, we brokered a deal between Brita and Nalgene to create an iconic BPA-free bottle called the FilterforGood bottle

  • Social channels: Launched a website, Filter for Good, encouraging people to pledge to reduce their single-use plastic water bottles by one bottle a day, a simple step toward sustainability. Ultimately, developed and managed all of Brita’s social channels

  • Spokesperson: Enlisted the Lazy Environmentalist as spokesperson to help educate Americans about single-use bottled water waste

  • Influencer marketing: Filter for Good expanded its reach in subsequent years by helping the Sundance Film Festival go bottled water-free

  • Partnerships: To emphasize sustainable personal health, Filter for Good partnered with the TV show The Biggest Loser for multiple seasons to encourage people to drink more water for better overall health

Results:

  • Revenue: The Filter for Good campaign delivered double-digit sales within the first six weeks of its launch and ultimately maintained annual double-digit sales for the first time in 20 years

  • Integrated Marketing: Following initial success, the brand asked our team to lead the integrated marketing process, a rarity in PR

  • Sustainability: Eliminated nearly half a billion single-use plastic bottles from landfills

  • Awards: Won a dozen PR awards and the first CLIO for strategic communications in its first year

  • Longevity: Brita’s Filter for Good campaign lasted eight years, becoming one of the longest-standing PR and fully integrated marketing campaigns. Today, Filter for Good is considered one of the top social purpose campaigns in reshaping Americans’ mindset towards sustainability and reusable bottles.