• by Les Luchter , 2 hours ago

To help launch Persil laundry detergent’s new TripleCare formula, Henkel has turned to two often-contentious yet longtime friends from “The Real Housewives of Orange County”: Heather Dubrow and Gina Kirschenheiter.

The two, engaging in what Henkel calls their “signature banter,” star in a :30 spot from Omnicom’s UM that’s airing in a 13-week flight over “Real Housewives” outlets Bravo and Peacock.

In the ad, Dubrow finds Kirschenheiter in a laundry room, surprised to learn the latter does her own laundry. “That’s so cute,” Dubrow comments, to which the other retorts, “I like my clothes as loud as my personality.”  Kirschenheiter then runs down the three benefits of Persil’s new formula: “It cleans, protects colors, and reduces pilling.”

A Kirschenheiter social media post, meanwhile, reveals that, while both ‘Housewives’ have been trying to hide their “secret” from each other, each actually uses Persil.  (“Heather is an incredible actress because there’s no way she’s used a washing machine before,” retorts a not-atypical comment on Instagram.)

“We know our consumers love Bravo, so the partnership with Heather and Gina felt like a natural extension for our brand,” Julia Galotto, Henkel’s vice president of marketing, tells Marketing Daily.

“We always find ways to tap into culturally relevant moments that reach our consumers where they already are, for example, at home watching Bravo,” Galotto adds. “We aim to build consumer trust by reaching consumers across multiple platforms with cohesive storytelling that merges functional and emotional benefits. We want consumers to be confident in a detergent that cares for the clothes they love.”

Persil, which entered the U.S. market in 2015 ,competes in the laundry care market against such brands as Procter & Gamble’s Tide and Gain, and Church & Dwight’s Arm & Hammer.

Henkel also sells All Free Clear laundry detergent, acquired with the rest of Sun Products in a $3.6 billion deal a decade ago. At the time, Henkel noted that it had become the second largest laundry care company in the U.S.

During a conference call with analysts last week, Carsten Knobel, CEO of the German-based company, pointed to “technology-driven innovations” delivering “superior consumer benefits” for its products. “A good example is Persil, our long-established premium brand,” he said.  

“Our focus on premium laundry care is translating into strong brand performance, market share gains, and further profitable growth,” Knobel added.