The Challenge
When Canadians sneeze, it’s: “Could you please pass me a _______?” And even though Scotties sells more facial tissue than any other brand, Canadians are still asking for Kleenex. In fact, Kleenex pulled out of the Canadian market in 2023. Which means that although Scotties is probably the box in their homes, no one’s asking anyone to “pass them the Scotties.” It’s a dangerous position for a brand to be in. For now, they’re Canada’s #1 selling tissue, but it’s a position that doesn’t offer them any price elasticity, loyalty or brand love. Our job, therefore, is to increase unaided awareness in order to decrease misattribution. And with only 19.8% unaided awareness, people aren’t connecting emotionally to the brand, so we need to connect and give them a reason to care. In other words: We need Canadians to get the name right. We also needed to engage with a younger target. The category skews older, with the facial tissue category not being as relevant in the lives of 18-36-year-olds, so we needed to engage them in a way the brand had never done before.
The Solution
Brands love to change their names to get attention, but a famous person changing their name to get attention for a brand? That had never happened, until now. Canada's #1 tissue brand, Scotties, was suffering from widespread misattribution; consumers overwhelmingly ask for "Kleenex". As part of our broader "Get The Name Right" campaign, where the core challenge was to increase brand awareness, we leveraged the phonetic and cultural resonance between Scotties tissues and NBA and Toronto Raptors superstar Scottie Barnes. Scottie Barnes publicly changed his name to "Scotties BarneS" (with an S on the end) across his social media channels, during a press conference, and during a Raptors broadcast, refusing to answer to anything but Scotties. This multi-platform stunt created significant cultural conversation, turning a brand problem into a playful, engaging mystery. The reveal connected his name change to the brand's mission. This unique approach allowed us to transform a brand problem into an active, culturally relevant conversation. It tapped into the power of sports fandom, turning engaged fans into organic brand advocates who would actively correct misattribution, making the brand's fight for recognition their own.