Turning Mess Into Masterpieces With Viva
- Social & Influencer
- Creative
- Audience Intelligence
- Alli
- New Product Launch
- Media Strategy & Investment
Translating broadcast integration into sustained organic social advocacy.
Challenge
Breaking Autopilot Habits in a Commoditized Category
In the U.S. paper towel category, purchasing behavior is driven by low-involvement autopilot habits and deeply entrenched incumbent loyalty. Two brands dominate cultural share of voice: Bounty, which anchors its identity in sports and game-day messes, and Brawny, which centers on rugged strength. For Kimberly-Clark’s premium paper towel, Viva, breaking through this routine required establishing a distinct, ownable cultural role.
Viva held a demonstrable product advantage in its cloth-like durability, superior absorbency, and cloth-like softness—attributes that justified its premium price tier. Yet that physical superiority had never been translated into cultural relevance. While competitors owned clear lifestyle moments, Viva lacked an emotional territory that could disrupt routine buying decisions at the shelf. In a category where organic social performance typically languishes around a 4–5% engagement rate and 10% on-brand comment sentiment, earning genuine attention without paid media support presented a formidable bar.
To translate the awareness generated by Viva’s broadcast integration on Project Runway into enduring brand equity, we needed to establish an authentic space for the brand. Our objective was to prove that Viva’s cloth-like durability could inspire genuine, unpaid advocacy among an influential audience—the creative community—and position Viva as the indispensable cloth towel for makers of every discipline.
Strategy
Reframing Mess as a Canvas, Not an Annoyance
Our strategic approach emerged from a fundamental category contradiction. Across the paper towel aisle, competitors frame their products around making messes disappear. But for creatives, a community that includes up to 89% of American adults with a creative hobby, mess isn't an annoyance to be erased; it's vital evidence of the creative process. Paint runs, fabric dyes, damp clay, and charcoal dust represent the physical reality of making.
At the same time, Viva possessed an unexploited product truth. Unlike standard paper towels that disintegrate when wet, Viva’s cloth-like construction allows it to be cut, stretched, dyed, sewn, painted, and woven. It could function not merely as a cleanup accessory, but as an artistic medium in its own right.
Research showed that cultural makers, heavily concentrated among social-first adults aged 25–44 and interested in fashion, evaluate brands through shared values and creative affirmation rather than conventional advertising claims. By repositioning Viva from a utilitarian paper good into an essential partner in the creative journey, we reframed its premium price point as an investment on par with quality studio supplies. Instead of telling artists Viva was durable, we set out to prove it by challenging them to treat the towel as a canvas: weave it, dye it, and turn the mess of making into art.
Execution
Challenging Artists to Create with Viva
We brought the concept to life through “Vivartist at Work,” an organic creator challenge across TikTok and Instagram, structured to move from high-fashion authority into broader creative subcultures.
To kick off the program, we engineered bespoke creator mailers designed to spark experimentation immediately upon opening, packaging rolls of Viva alongside specialized tools for crafting and studio cleanup. We partnered with creators tied to the fashion and design worlds to leverage Project Runway's halo.
These creators documented their unvarnished construction processes, cutting, stitching, and manipulating Viva sheets into structured garments, showing the material’s structural integrity while relying on it to keep workstations clean. Standout contributions from digital creator Joe Ando, fashion designer Kiana Bonollo, and lifestyle creator Brooke Barry highlighted hands-on problem-solving, from precision tailoring to textile dyeing.
Impact
Earning Defensible Cultural Territory and $1M EMV
$1M
Earned Media Value
Across 60 organic posts (32 contracted deliverables alongside 28 organic added-value posts), the challenge generated 20 million views, surpassing the 1.34 million viewers of the televised Project Runway episode. In fact, the episode was the show’shighest-rated of the season, and our influencer amplification drove almost 20x that viewership. This included 30k of paid media.
Engagement quality substantially exceeded category norms. The initiative drove 720k total engagements at a 10% average engagement rate, more than quadrupling the category benchmark of 2.5%. High-intent actions demonstrated genuine interest, generating approximately 25,000 combined saves and shares as audiences bookmarked creator techniques, patterns, and studio setups.
Commentary confirmed that the artistic framing took hold. On-brand comments reached 28%, with followers actively discussing Viva's cloth-like durability, artistic applications, and practical studio utility. Individual creators achieved exceptional resonance, including 856,000 organic views on Joe Ando’s design process, a 24% engagement rate on Kiana Bonollo’s showcase, and 68% on-brand conversation on Brooke Barry’s content.
Engagement built steadily over the campaign lifecycle. The second reveal-and-winner wave outperformed the launch phase across every measure, lifting engagement rates from 8.7% to 12.2% and on-brand comments from 29% to 33%. Overall, the program delivered about $1M in earned media value, with in-kind creator posts driving 1.24 million views at no additional cost. By celebrating the creative mess instead of just wiping it away, Viva earned a defensible cultural territory, cementing lasting brand equity as the cloth paper towel of creatives.
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