Dirt Is Good and Usain Bolt Rethink ‘Fast’ with Launch of Persil Wonder Wash

Unilever Power Brand, Dirt Is Good (DIG), also known as Persil, OMO, and Skip, is prompting consumers to rethink ‘fast’ by launching a multi-million-pound marketing campaign to support the launch of Persil Wonder Wash. As proven drivers of growth, Unilever’s 30 Power Brands are prioritised for investment across marketing, R&D and digital capabilities to ensure they are ‘unmissably superior’.

Wonder Wash, Dirt Is Good’s biggest innovation in a decade, is Unilever’s first liquid laundry detergent specifically designed for outstanding performance even in a 15-minute washing cycle. So, who better than the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, as the face of the campaign across TV, social, digital, out-of-home and point-of-sale formats. Bolt will feature in a hero film, set to run across TV and online, reinforcing the ‘Fast just got better’ message as he goes about his fast-paced daily life, as well as in a dynamic, place-based out-of-home creative that prompts commuters to think differently about using a short cycle setting on their washing-machine.

Persil will also partner with more than 200 creators of #CleanTok – the most popular hashtag on TikTok with 122 billion views – as part of the campaign inspiring other ‘cleanfluencers’ to put laundry front and centre in their content.

The campaign will balance both traditional and online channels, a significant departure for the traditionally TV-first brand and will employ a distribution strategy that over-indexes on eCommerce channels in comparison to other Dirt Is Good products reflecting how the brand is continuing to reach new, younger audiences.

Wonder Wash’s fast-act cleaning has been developed as a result of the growth in the popularity of malodour-retaining athleisure wear, compounded by hybrid-working patterns adopted since the pandemic, which has led to a shift in the type of laundry consumers are doing. Changes in habits, including the reduction in daily commutes, has meant that while clothes still pick up invisible grease and grime, the majority (70%) of the clothing washed now contains no visible stains but is soiled with invisible dirt like sweat and pollution. 

As a result, over two thirds (78%) of washing machine owners choose a cycle that lasts less-than-30-minutes at least once a week and this, coupled with the rise of washing machines with cycle settings as short as 15 minutes, has created a new consumer need – an effective product that can deliver outstanding performance and freshness even in the shortest cycles (15 minutes) and without leaving sticky residues.

Changing consumer behaviours and needs has also led to the evolution of the brand’s communication idea. The new ‘Play On’ strategy takes Dirt Is Good into the territory of top performance by championing the value of sports to unleash human potential and drive personal growth, determination, and resilience whilst making laundry as effortless as possible and helping people get on with their lives.

Tati Lindenberg, marketing vice-president, Dirt Is Good, said, “We created Wonder Wash, our biggest innovation in a decade, to harness the fastest-growing consumer laundry behaviour – short cycle washing – so the campaign needed to be unlike anything we’ve ever done before. From the start to the finish line, the brief was about landing ‘fast’ across all communications, and who better than Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, to help convey this.”

“This new campaign, alongside the recently launched ‘The Autograph’ featuring Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka, confirms there is no better home for embracing top performance than the world of sports as it gives us the opportunity to show our technical abilities on the toughest stains: mud, grass, blood and sweat. Plus, it shows that Dirt Is Still Good”.

Wonder Wash will launch in the UK, Ireland, and China from mid-April across all major retailers before expanding to other markets, including France, later this year. Other markets will follow in 2024. The campaign will launch in-stores in mid-April, with TV and out-of-home launching across the UK and Ireland in mid-May.