How do you make consumers connect on an unequivocally emotional level with one of the most functional, disposable products in their home?

Paper towels never cross people’s minds until they have a spill to clean up. Focusing on how effectively its products do their job had established Bounty as the category leader, but improvements in competitors' products had eroded this message of superiority. The brand needed to change tack.

The PR agency’s creative solution was to move from winning minds through product, to winning hearts through people. We came up with the idea of using social listening to identify and spotlight individuals who used Bounty paper towels for unique purposes that went beyond tackling spills and messes.

This unusual strategy paid off: the team discovered an unknown 72-year-old artist, Ken Delmar, who used Bounty as his canvas after discovering how well they absorbed oil paint. We gave him his first solo show, and his work with paint and a roll of paper towels engaged more than 750,000 consumers in a heavily-branded video, triggering a nation to look at Bounty paper towels differently.

Active social listening uncovered an exciting opportunity, which was transformed into a great human story as Bounty made Ken’s dream come true and engaged consumers and the media, who spread the feel-good story. The team created a successful, original campaign about paper towels that resonated emotionally and, unlike everyone else in the market, made not a single mention of spills or mess.

For 72-year-old Ken, painting wasn’t a hobby: it was his lifelong pursuit, but he never gained recognition for it. The ‘Bring It’ campaign made his dream come true.

We gave Ken his first gallery show in NY’s Chelsea art district after 60 years of painting. We transformed the space with vibrant paper towel portraits. After a successful launch event, Ken’s show ran for two weeks.

We produced a branded mini-documentary -- a powerful human story -- about Ken for YouTube and Bounty’s social media channels. The video prompted viewers to share on Facebook how they were ‘Bringing It.’

‘Bring It’ exceeded all expectations. Bounty engaged consumers without mention of spills or mess.

Output:

755,000+ YouTube views of film to date. It was selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick, and Guy Kawasaki shared the video -- ‘best ad I've seen on YouTube’. (From a PR agency…)

Facebook content had 17,517,076 impressions, reaching 11,312,454 unique individuals.

655 million earned media impressions including Reuters, NY Post, NY Times, Metro, AMNY, Queen Latifah Show, Daily Mail, NY Fox 5

Impact:

250 people attended Ken’s gallery opening, he sold 10 pieces of art

Bounty gained 5,400+ Facebook likes, 580+ Twitter followers, 340+ Pinterest followers.