Unilever first began the Cleanipedia website with a mission to create and share content that’s expert-reviewed to ensure it’s accurate and effective, boasting 1,000+ articles so far said to be helping almost 30 million people. Now Unilever is shifting focus to the next generation with major spending power.
Recently Unilever has begun producing content for TikTok and Instagram, engaging Gen Z with Unilever Home Care power brands including Dirt Is Good (DIG), Cif, Domestos, Sunlight and Comfort.
According to the "What Business Needs To Know About The Generation Changing Everything" study, Gen Z will be the world’s highest-paid spending power group in the next decade.
With over a third of Gen Z claiming they get their cleaning and laundry advice from TikTok (After Hours Research Data – Unilever) and this group now accounting for half of Unilever's million+ Cleanipedia followers on the platform, said to present a significant growth opportunity for Unilever's brands.
Collaborating with Content Creators
As part of this initiative Unilever has been providing creators with product know-how, and in return getting insights into their audiences. The company shares:
- Since Unilever started posting on the platform in 2023, Cleanipedia has seen traffic increase by a third, reaching a total of over 2.4 billion views globally.
- Data shows that these fans convert to consumers: In general terms (not Unilever-specific), over half (54%) of users have bought a household product after seeing it on the platform, with almost three-quarters (71%) of these being unplanned purchases. Almost 70% say that TikTok played a role in their discovery of household products.
- In 2023, cleanfluencers sparked a trend for cleaning white trainers with Cif Cream Cleaner, contributing to a 38% uplift in UK adults under the age of 28 buying the brand.
- A younger demographic of consumers is starting to buy Cif. In 2023, 16.5% of Cif Cream consumers were under 34 compared with 12.1% in 2022. The proportion of consumers under 28 also rose to 7.5% from 5.4% over the same period.
Mario Dughi, Unilever Home Care Digital & Design lead, says: “With the continued rise in popularity of #CleanTok, Cleanipedia has become an established authority on TikTok and gone from strength to strength. In the last 10 months, we’ve seen a six-fold follower growth across 13 Unilever markets.
“It has created a gateway for our Home Care brands to build credibility with Gen Z consumers by sharing relevant and authentic content, which is translating into sales. The pandemic saw Gen Z engage with cleaning in a way it hadn’t done before and that trend shows no sign of slowing down.”
