How Many Millennials Does It Take to Clean the House?

Six. Two to go to Target to buy supplies, one to select the right playlist, one YouTube cleanfluencer to clean their own house as inspiration, and two to start scrubbing. (I can say that, because I’m a Millennial, and admittedly not the first you’ll find cleaning the house). 

Age-old household brand names are taking leaps to appeal to Millennials and Gen Z, with ever-growing buying power. Will it be enough to keep their empires alive? 

Strategy One: Tide Goes Techy 

In urban areas, Tide offers drop-off laundry locations for those that prefer not to do their own. The 24-hour service is perfect for keeping up in an Amazon world. This program includes  university locations, because “‘I wish I'd spent more time doing laundry’ said no college grad ever.” This shift takes Tide, owned by Procter & Gamble Co., from product seller to service provider—a fairly seismic shift. 

Strategy Two: We’re cool. Really! 

To really understand a group of people you have to speak their language, right? At least, that seems to be what Procter & Gamble Co., was thinking when they filed applications in 2018 for registered trademarks on “WTF,” “LOL,” “FML” and “NBD,” with the goal of adding teen lingo to packages of Dawn, Febreze, Mr. Clean, and other brands. While it’s not clear what all of P&G’s plans are yet, there is this mysterious, abandoned, yet affiliated Instagram handle. (What other platform would you use to reach Millennials, anyway?)

Strategy Three: It Easy Being Green 

Millennials + environment =

Which brings us to our third strategy—lean into your sustainability initiatives. According to Gartner, nearly a quarter of Millennials check packaging labels to ensure that the product has a positive social or environmental impact. SC Johnson focuses its efforts here.

Aware that consumers are increasingly concerned about allergens and carcinogens, SC Johnson released their first Greenlist in April 2018, as part of its 26th annual sustainability report. The Greenlist is part of the company’s transparency efforts, which are meant to build trust with consumers. The company’s 2018-19 report outlined plans to reduce plastic used in packaging and is reportedly on track to meet it’s 2025 goals. Throughout 2018-19, SC Johnson has worked to increase awareness, and drive collaboration around the issue of ocean plastic.

P&G is also looking to clean up but is taking a different approach, by joining TerraCycle’s Loop program. 

Speaking of… I have a pile of laundry that needs tending to. 

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