After years of stagnant growth, Finish needed to take a bold stance in 2023 to change trajectory. Finish has focused on the functional - clean dishes, product efficacy, no pre-rinsing, and helping to save water. Our challenge was to help Finish stand out and make an emotional connection with consumers in a very functional category.
For the first time ever, Finish embraced the mess that leads to dirty dishes and positioned itself as an essential co-host for cooking and cleaning. The solution was inspired by our consumers - they love to cook, hate the clean-up, and prioritize family time. As the hero of the meal, Finish tackled the tough kitchen messes so families could celebrate mealtime connections.
To claim and reinforce Finish’s place in foodie environments, we broke down silos across media channels and created an ecosystem organized under influence, spanning micro-influencers, celebrity and IP.
It started with a consumer challenge - we created and deployed the 24 Hour Challenge to demonstrate product benefits and water savings all in one. Consumers were asked to cook a meal, load the dishwasher, skip the (pre) rinse, and wait 24 hours -- and watch Finish tackle those tough dried on stains, while families saved up to 20 gallons of water with each load.
Next, Zenith put Finish at the center of key food and family hosting moments by partnering the brand with 2 iconic foodie brands and a top tier set of influencers. We saw an untapped whitespace for Finish in Bravo’s Season 20 Top Chef - a reality competition show where chefs compete against one another in culinary challenges and are a judged by a panel of food and wine experts. We integrated the 24 Hour Challenge into editorial moments via “Quickfire Challenge,” an iconic segment native to the Top Chef brand. Our custom segment for Finish highlighted Finish’s water conservation tactics while communicating brand benefits in the show’s authentic voice. Out of Show, we created a connection with Top Chef celebrity talent Gregory Gourdet, a beloved Top Chef alumni as well as chef, writer, restaurateur. Finish had presence via Gregory taking the 24 Hour Challenge and creating custom recipes for the foodie audience. Content was distributed on Social, Linear and Digital. In addition, Digital sponsorship unlocked 1P data capture, a bonus for Finish and a priority in building growth audiences. Additionally, we partnered with our IAT to leverage Gregory Gourdet’s authenticity across owned and paid efforts.
With paid influencers, we introduced the 24 Hour Challenge via relatable voices that could demonstrate and endorse finish as the best clean-up solution. Our goal was to drive consideration and get others to take the 24 Hour Challenge. Our creators brought the challenge to life with fun, ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) videos. Creators chopped, sliced, sizzled, and baked their way to delicious recipes, then waited 24 hours for Finish to do the dishes, leaving them sparkly clean!
And finally, Finish tackled the biggest hosting moment of all – Thanksgiving - by teaming up with Food52. Together, we brought readers The Ultimate Holiday Helper—a talent-hosted video and education-driven content series designed to shine a spotlight on the new Finish Ultimate product and encourage consumers to take the (now updated) Ultimate Challenge. Through a combination of talent-led videos, on-site content, e-commerce extensions and digital media, we positioned Finish as the ultimate holiday helper, increasing awareness and purchase intent amongst our Millennial Foodie audience.
The 24-Hour Challenge strategy drove strong business results for Finish with sales increasing +15% YOY for Finish Quantum (as of week ending 9.23.23, premium monodose category) (Nielsen IQ). With the Finish Ultimate launch, Total Finish Monodose Detergent Point of Sale $ in Q4’23 grew +7.2% QoQ and +2.3% vs Q4 2022. Overall, 2023 FY Household Penetration (HHP) for Finish grew +140bps vs YA.
Top Chef Results:
Influencer Results:
Food52 Results:
Our bespoke foodie ecosystem not only drove sales and HHP growth for Finish Quantum and Ultimate, but carved out a unique, ownable content territory for Finish for years to come.
