Kleenex was introducing a new, 3-layer tissue called Kleenex Cold Care (KCC). However, they were struggling with how to persuade consumers to try this new tissue over other alternatives in test marketing efforts despite it being a uniquely differentiated product feature: KCC was the only tissue with 3-layers of protection. Yet, consumers were not motivated by this functional strategic messaging.

I was the lead consultant on the project and was the point person for helping KCC find a motivating selling proposition for the new brand. The process was to analyze the database of advertising and corresponding business results that was available to me. After ranking thousands of ads and confirming that the point of difference approach "should be" working, I looked further into the top performing ads that were coded to contain points of difference by watching them. I noticed that the best performing ads were delivering an emotional point of difference, not a functional or rational one! So my recommendation to KCC was to strategically position as: "You'll be a better mom by keeping your kids hands cleaner from germs by using our new tissue which is the only one with 3 layers of protection". Magic ensued!