Kimberly-Clark?s Cottonelle is leveraging mobile advertising with a creative new campaign that aims to persuade consumers to try out its products by eventually driving sales through retailers? mobile sites.

The CPG giant?s ads are running within news and female-skewed mobile sites including ABC News, Shape, Better Homes & Gardens, Fitness and Women's Health. The campaign takes a direct hit at competitor Procter & Gamble?s Charmin to win over consumers.

?We understand mobile is one of the most important ways to build a relationship with our consumers and spark social sharing, which is why mobile works so well for #Moreisbetter,? said Wayne Pirman, commercial program manager at Kimberly-Clark?s Cottonelle, Irving, TX.

?Mobile is an effective medium for Cottonelle to get this competitive advantage message in sheet count out to the consumers and it helps them make educated decisions on their toilet paper purchases,? he said.

The campaign is powered by Kargo.

On a roll
The Cottonelle ad shows a picture of a product next to the hashtag #Moreisbetter, and copy on the ad reads, ?Pull the toilet paper to see more.?

The banner ad expands to a full-page ad when clicked on, and the landing page loads two pictures of rolls of toilet paper. One is a Cottonelle roll and the other depicts a roll from competitor Charmin.

The ad is meant to primarily show consumers that Cottonelle products are bigger than the brand?s competitors and therefore last longer. The CPG marketer claims that Cottonelle has 25 percent more sheets per roll than Charmin.

Underneath, a call-to-action prompts consumers to shop Cottonelle products. 

A click-through on the ad directs consumers to Cottonelle?s mobile site where they can compare products and buy them on retailers? mobile sites. Amazon and Target are two of the sites where consumers can shop.

The interactive ad campaign is part of a bigger digital marketing campaign from Cottonelle. 

The brand is promoting the #Moreisbetter hashtag on Twitter and Facebook and is also running the campaign on its Web site.

Additionally, Cottonelle has teamed up with women and lifestyle-focused bloggers to offer prizes such as cash for reader giveaways.

Similar to many CPG brands, Cottonelle does not sell its products directly online and instead directs consumers to specific retail sites to shop. 

Since personal care items can be impulse buys, pushing consumers to these sites is a smart move for Cottonelle.

Following the crowd
Cottonelle?s campaign is nearly identical to a mobile advertising campaign that P&G?s Charmin ran in 2012.

Charmin also prompted consumers to learn more about its products and shop them from retailers? mobile sites through an interactive mobile advertising campaign (see story).

Cottonelle?s new ad campaign is slightly more interactive because it involves a couple of extra steps that show off the CPG giant?s products, but the goal is the same.

Even though it is important for marketers to constantly think ahead of the curve with their mobile advertising campaigns, there is no doubt that CPG brands are one of the marketing verticals that can benefit significantly from mobile advertising.

In fact, a recent report from DG Mediamind found that CPG marketers and automakers outperform other verticals when it comes to engagement with mobile campaigns (see story). 

The reason why CPG brands are getting mobile advertising right is because of the greater focus on engagement rather than sales.

?Mobile shopping for CPG brands does not necessarily follow the traditional mobile shopping path, where the customer can purchase the product directly,? said Cezar Kolodziej, CEO / president of Iris Mobile, Chicago.

Mr. Kolodziej is not affiliated with Kimberly-Clark. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

?It?s more about the conversation and long-term engagement with the brand that leads to the purchase when the customer is typically in-store,? he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York