A traditional Chinese wedding ceremony shows newlyweds unexpectedly demonstrating their Brita confidence.

Launching two new multicultural campaigns this fall, Clorox Canada is demonstrating how its ongoing strategy of connecting with new Canadian consumers in culturally relevant ways is smart, progressive marketing.  

Over a decade ago, Clorox Canada implemented a new approach to demographic market data, positioning itself as an early adopter of multicultural marketing to reflect the country’s increasingly diverse population.

It started with the company’s desire to reach new audience segments for its Brita and Clorox brands: new Canadians and multicultural communities. They are both brands that service our basic, universal needs for clean water and clean spaces. But as Chris Budinszky, VP of marketing for Clorox Canada, notes, effectively reaching those audiences required the exact opposite of universality – specificity. “We believed that our brands could help a market segment that was often underserved,” he explains. “In our view, brands that speak to diverse audiences in relevant ways have the opportunity to enhance perceptions, but also build trust and that long-term loyalty.”

The stovetop mess needs Clorox when love happens and the Chai, an iconic Indian Tea, boils over.

Budinszky says that while the work began as a strategic choice to reach more consumers, it is now a necessity. Canada’s multicultural population has grown, he notes, and working with Balmoral Multicultural Marketing provides Clorox the insights into the audience segments and cultural nuances that allow the brand to reach multicultural Canadians effectively. The result of those valuable insights is Clorox Canada’s first new campaign since 2012 specifically focused on Chinese and South Asian communities for its line of household cleaners.

Budinszky says the campaign’s focus is on showing how the cleaning products work in real-life scenarios – its traditional approach – with the twist of focusing on holidays specific to different market segments. 

“While multicultural Canadians shop the cleaning product category in the same way as other Canadian consumers, we learned they might not have the same awareness of Clorox Canada brands depending on their country of origin,” Budinszky says. “They are, in many cases, more familiar with competing brands. As a result, we’ve built a strategy to drive awareness, specifically for the Clorox brand, around culturally relevant holidays.”

The “Start Clean” campaign includes three distinct concepts adapted into nine different online videos (OLVs) in Hinglish, Cantonese and Mandarin. Each ad shows a culturally significant activity delivering a spontaneous mess that needs Clorox’s Clean-Up or Disinfecting Wipes. The campaign features specific flights for Diwali and the Chinese New Year. 

In Hinglish, Cantonese and Mandarin, the “Start Clean” ads show culturally-significant activities or occasions delivering a spontaneous household mess requiring the cleaning power of Clorox.

For instance, an unexpected mess quickly happens in “Cricket” (Hinglish) and “Ping Pong” (Cantonese and Mandarin) when children play the games indoors. “Chai” (Hinglish) and “Congee” (Cantonese and Mandarin), depict chaotic stovetop messes when the Indian tea or Chinese rice porridge boil over. And “Diwali” (Hinglish) and “CNY” (Cantonese and Mandarin), illustrate the kind of small messes kids generate on these festive family occasions.

Cultural relevance was also key in the new campaign Balmoral developed for Brita, Clorox Canada’s line of at-home water-filtration products. The “Brita Confident” campaign targets South Asian, Chinese, Filipino, and West Asian audiences with messaging that taps into a desire for clean water. 

It features nine original online videos featuring ordinary situations at culturally specific ceremonies, such as South Asian and Chinese weddings, as well as classically Canadian winter activities like skating. In each, people demonstrate their confidence that Brita can deliver clean, great-tasting water wherever they go. 

The ads will run through March 2025 with targeted flights for Diwali, the Chinese New Year and Ramadan. 

Shot in Hinglish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Taglish, Arabic, and Farsi, “Skating” has “Brita Confident” families participating in a traditional Canadian pastime.

The idea for the creative came from the insight that many new Canadians don’t have an inherent trust in the water coming from the tap, Sharifa Khan, founder and CEO of Balmoral says. “Concerned about water quality and taste back home, they had habitually filtered their drinking water before immigrating to Canada. So, we based the campaign on this understanding, knowing these new Canadians prize the flavour of filtered water and would be receptive of Brita’s flavour-focused message and household water-filtration resources.” 

Budinszky says the campaign’s focus on clean water in addition to improved taste is unique and an insight the brand discovered through Balmoral. Highlighting the confidence that Brita can offer in improving the quality of their water was the best way to connect with them in a relevant way where they’re coming from, he says. 

“Our relationship with Clorox Canada is strong,” Khan says of Clorox Canada’s long-term relationship with Balmoral. “The trust and respect we have for their leadership, and the company’s focus and commitment on connecting with ethnic audiences, motivates our entire team to be curious, productive and driven to succeed on their behalf.”