The Amazing Marketing Of Scrub Daddy
Why people love it
Who doesn’t know about the charismatic sponge that is Scrub Daddy? Not many I can assure you. They have conquered the world with their cute and clever designs and durable materials.
I want to talk about this brand not as a person who knows the complexity of business and marketing — because I don’t — but rather as a consumer who painfully can’t afford a dishwasher and has to clean her plates by hand. Let’s cut the chase and see how they did it.
The Design
Scrub Daddy’s design is very clever in combining both cuteness and utility. The cute design stands out from the other boring square shape sponges that we all see. If something catches our eyes then the probability of us checking it out increases.
The utility factor comes in when we realize we can use the mouth to clean tableware like spoons. The eyes can be used as a grip so you can have a better hold of the sponge, I love this because I lost count on how many times I accidentally drop a sponge due to bad grip.
Material
Scrub Daddy is made from a polymer foam called FlexTexture. This material has quite the interesting gimmick.
When you put it in cold water it hardens to make it easier to clean stubborn stains on surfaces like a stove.
When you put it in hot/warm water it softens, this makes it easier to manipulate to clean stuff like cups or deep bowls.
This way you don’t need to buy multiple products to clean your dishware
Packaging Design
When you first see the sponge in the supermarket, you will be greeted by a beautiful orange box with the name “Scrub Daddy” in huge yellow letters.
Below the logo you see this adorable and charismatic sponge. This is way better than seeing a random sponge covered in plastic.
The eye-catchines of a packaging makes us interested in a product, if we are interested we will think more about buying it, if we buy it we will try it and once we try it we will see if we like it or not.
The truth is we do judge a book by its cover, so it is better to have packaging that stands out among the crowd.
Marketing
Social Media has contributed a lot to Scrub Daddy’s success. While its pitch on Shark Tank made a lot of people interested in the brand, what really made it popular were influencers.
They became viral in TikTok and Instagram, arguably the most famous social media apps. When people see these cleaning influencers or cleantokers use these sponges and the results they create they will want to buy them, this exposure proved very beneficial to them.
Even I, who do not use social media like X, Instagram, or TikTok, have been exposed to people using it on YouTube.
Surprisingly, it is the sponge itself that has the better promotion. Like many other products Scrub Daddy has its own social media account, and their content is rather interesting.
“Unhinged” is the best way I can describe their content. Scrub Daddy has published a lot of funny memes and skits. Including a skit of the Scrub Daddy Mascot with the Duolingo owl holding some owl-shaped sponges or another skit of the Scrub Daddy CEO running half-naked while holding a giant Scrub Daddy.
Making the brand not take itself so seriously and making people laugh in the process makes them more curious about it and want to buy its products.
Some comments say that buying a Scrub Daddy makes washing dishes a more fun task.
Basically, people see influencers use the brand, they check the brands social media, see all the funny content and decide they want to support the brand by buying their products.
At least that’s what happened to me
Conclusion
Sometimes, the best Marketing Strategy is having fun with your product. Duolingo started to make more content related to the whole “Take your classes or the owl will kill you” meme and make Anime references to connect with the consumers.
People loved it. Embracing the fun side of your brand will make people think, “Wow, this brand is so fun, maybe I should check it out.
If you are like, say, Disney and rule your brand with an iron fist, then people will only think that you are rejecting a very important part of the community.
Thank you for reading so far and I hope to see your comments and feedback, it would mean so much to me
