Clorox Case Study

What was the role of sustainability in the growth strategy of Clorox from 2007-2012? Why?

In 2007, under the leadership of new CEO Don Knauss, Clorox developed the Centennial Strategy honoring the company’s 100th anniversary. This strategy focused on health and wellness and environmental sustainability as key emphases for Clorox moving forward. Clorox executed this strategy through key acquisitions of Brita and Burt’s Bees, and through the internal development of the Green Works line of household cleaners. The sustainability focus was derived from current ‘megatrends’ happening in the marketplace and Knauss and his team believed that a company focus in this area would accelerate sales.

Why is GreenWorks experiencing difficulties in reaching the business objectives and growth ambitions? Be specific about the problems you believe they have with their strategy or tactics.

Despite a strong launch, GreenWorks is experiencing difficulties in the marketplace. I feel like this is due to problems in the marketing mix; specifically, in placement and promotion.

Placement: GreenWorks is being sold alongside traditional cleaning products in retailers such as Walmart and Target. Clorox put too much emphasis on distribution at Walmart. The 2007 Cambridge Group study helped to identify the eco demand landscape to determine the target customer as the ‘Emerging Eco Guardians’ followed by secondary targets of ‘Eco Committed’ and ‘Personal Purists’. These environmentally conscious consumers are not best targeted at Walmart stores. The Walmart customer is price driven and while they may be tempted to try the GreenWorks products, they are unlikely to regularly pay more for a cleaning product no matter the beneficial claims. Clorox was not doing enough at the point of purchase to communicate their value proposition of sustainability and health and wellness. Customers were seeing the products side by side with other offerings at lower costs and choosing price over sustainability....