Vanish penetration has been in decline since 2018 as 70% of consumers still see the brand as a straightforward stain remover only. Furthermore, it's fighting for relevance as it's a discretionary product consumers need to buy on top of detergents. In a category saturated by performance messaging, we needed to move beyond the purely functional and connect with consumers. We needed a fresh perspective to shift perceptions of the product proposition and drive relevance and usage. We aimed to achieve this via our purpose-led proposition ‘Making Clothes Live Longer’

Vanish penetration has been in decline since 2018 (-102bps). The brand is losing relevance and wallet share - as a premium priced additive - as most consumers (70%) still see the brand as a straightforward stain remover only. But in 2021 Vanish reformulated to offer multiple garment care benefits, stain and odour removal, hygienically cleans and colour protection, however awareness of this remains low (46%). Furthermore, Vanish is fighting for relevance as it is a discretionary product consumers need to buy on top of detergents, many of which were claiming many of the same benefits.

In a category saturated by performance messaging, we needed to move beyond the purely functional and connect with our consumers. We needed a fresh perspective in order to shift perceptions of our product proposition and to drive relevance and usage. We aimed to achieve this via our purpose-led proposition ‘making clothes live longer’.

We had to take a step back and think about why people would care about their clothes living longer lives. Through conducting focus groups, we realised just how emotional our relationships with clothes can be, and so we made the following shifts to our brand purpose strategy for 2023:

From rational education to emotional motivation - tapping into a deeper human truth around our relationships with our clothes.

From focusing on protecting our planet to empowering real people. We didn’t just want to echo another problem but be part of a solution - which started with engagement at a human level.

With this campaign, whilst we were still speaking to a broad mainstream audience, we were also speaking from the point of view of a community for whom clothes really matter, which allowed us to tell a deeply insightful and powerful story.

To make our proposition relevant and engaging, we needed to encourage people to wear their clothes for longer. We identified an emotive truth about our relationship with clothing: we wear favourite garments over and over again.

This is true for everyone, but particularly autistic people: 92% of autistic people have sensory sensitivity, 73% use familiar items of clothing to help regulate their senses and navigate the world. For this community, making clothes live longer really matters.

We wanted to broaden public understanding of autism, empower the community and ensure brand relevance.

Girls are three times less likely to receive an autism diagnosis than boys. We conducted surveys amongst Ambitious about Autism’s network of young autistic people and their families (+2,000 responses), they told us the misconception that autism is a boy’s condition is a factor. We therefore shaped our campaign to celebrate and support girls.

For World Autism Acceptance Week, we elevated the gender gap in autism diagnoses with a campaign devised to broaden public understanding. Nurturing a conversation to celebrate autistic girls and their clothes stories, break down myths and normalise life around autistic young people.

‘Me, My Autism & I’ shattered the misconception that autism primarily impacts boys by platforming many different autistic female voices across the campaign. While de-stigmatising autism at every step through positive portrayals of talents, as well as honest insights into daily struggles. To help all autistic girls feel seen, heard and supported.

Our evocative docudrama film told Ash’s story and the visceral importance of her hoodie. This was joined by other stories across an exhibition, social campaign, and online hub (with articles written by the community). Vanish donated 25p per pack in ASDA stores to support Ambitious about Autism's in improving the pathways to diagnosis for all.

66x pieces of coverage

3.8b reach

+60m impressions on Twitter of 'Vanish' and 'autism' of which 88% were positive

TikTok virality = +5m views

+190% new visitors on Ambitious About Autism website since launch

+2,000% increase in engagement on Vanish landing page (vs previous period based on average daily visit numbers).

82% score ad a 5 or 4 star rating (vs. the norm of 70% tested by 4Youth since Jan 2022).

79% feel more informed about the lived experience of autism since watching advert

68% had a positive perception of Vanish after watching the ad (vs. the norm of 60%)

53% say they will do more research into how Vanish is supporting this cause after watching the ad. (Channel 4 "Mirror On" report)

74% value sales uplift vs. previous promotional period

Vanish share of stain +2% during campaign period

Vanish is providing a total category uplift during the promotional period

Having made the brand connection to support the autistic community, we listened to the community and learnt the eye-opening truth that girls are three times less likely to be diagnosed than boys due to outdated misconceptions. But without a confirmed diagnosis, autistic people and their families can't receive the support they need. Although every autistic person is different, women and girls can be better at ‘masking’ their autism.

The majority of mainstream depictions of autism - include ‘Rain Man’, ‘Atypical’, ‘X + Y’ and ‘I Used To Be Famous’, all of which feature autistic men. Yet, autistic girls and women still remain largely overlooked in an already underrepresented community. 98% of autistic people believe their lives would improve through better representation and understanding Our campaign aimed to help improve women, girl's and non-binary visibility by celebrating their voices and providing support.