Tag: Kimberly-Clark

India – Kimberly-Clark is set to strengthen its presence in India by scaling up operations and boosting investment at its Bengaluru-based Global Digital Technology Center (GDTC), with a strategic focus on advanced innovations and digital transformation.

Kimberly-Clark revealed that over the next three years, its GDTC will expand its AI/ML capabilities and digital solutions to enhance operational efficiency and customer engagement, further supporting its global ‘Powering Care’ strategy and commitment to consumer-centricity.

The Bengaluru GDTC is driving Kimberly-Clark’s tech advancements while contributing to India’s innovation ecosystem by partnering with startups, universities, and industry leaders to develop cutting-edge solutions.

“Our Bengaluru GDTC is a testament to Kimberly-Clark’s deep-rooted commitment to innovation and the immense breadth of Indian talent,” said Zack Hicks, chief digital and technology officer at Kimberly-Clark. 

“In just five years, the centre has evolved into a key growth engine for our digital strategies, delivering AI-powered commercial and supply chain solutions and pioneering advancements in modern manufacturing. Looking ahead, we remain focused on further investing in India, leveraging the country’s outstanding talent and technological expertise to shape the future of Kimberly-Clark and pioneer industry-leading innovation in our core categories,” Hicks explained. 

Founded in 2018 with a $2.5 million investment, the Bengaluru GDTC has grown eightfold in five years, focusing on digital capabilities like AI, ML, data analytics, and cloud transformation. The center leverages AI/ML to optimise sales predictions, refine e-commerce pricing, and automate processes like order entry. In 2024, Gen AI platforms boosted employee productivity by 25%, while AI-driven sales analytics improved execution by 10% in regions including Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. These innovations enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve accuracy.

The GDTC recently hosted its third Digital Hackathon, ‘UNLOKC 2024,’ bringing together Kimberly-Clark employees and tech partners to create digital solutions for business opportunities in supply chain, marketing, and finance.

As Kimberly-Clark’s largest tech hub, the Bengaluru GDTC will remain a key driver of global growth and innovation, attracting top talent and expanding its capabilities to shape the company’s future and its tech ecosystem.

Australia – Designed to promote healthy conversations about men’s health, Kimberly-Clark has recently announced its partnership with Elmwood, a global design consultancy based in Australia.

This collaboration introduces an initiative addressing the sensitive themes surrounding bladder weakening among adult men. In particular, the launch of DEPEND’s latest underwear product lets men go about their everyday lives without worrying about bladder leaks. 

For this product, the campaign features a blend of humour and colloquial expressions, relating to an iconic movie for the intended audience, which was derived from a thorough and deep understanding of Australian and New Zealand cultural nuances. 

Talking about the campaign, Jason Braddy, creative director at Elmwood Singapore, said, “The DEPEND brief offered a unique challenge. How do we place the brand into a consideration set for an audience who doesn’t want to talk about the issue and doesn’t really know where to start?

“Our response was to develop an idea that would be both relatable through humour while building memory structures by celebrating the brand’s distinctive assets,” he concluded.

Devki Khosla, senior account director at Elmwood Singapore, added, ”The consumer is at the centre of our approach. Once we mapped out the motivators and barriers of our target, we combined these messages with best practices across platforms to drive performance and results.”

Leah King, DEPEND Brand Manager at Kimberly-Clark, said, “Together, we have created a brand campaign that will encourage open conversations and help combat the stigma and silence, which are still often associated with discussions around men’s health today.”

For over 35 years, DEPEND has been the trusted partner to millions of men and women worldwide in caring for their bladder leakage, enabling them to confidently reconnect with the life they aspire to live and make the most of it.

Australia – Kimberly-Clark’s sanitary brand Poise has embarked on a campaign aimed at shattering the societal stigma surrounding the often-neglected issue of bladder leakage. 

The extensive Poise Pledge campaign includes an industry-first Pelvic Floor Support Hub that provides evidence-based instructional materials as well as an unheard-of, free 12-week exercise regimen to strengthen the pelvic floor.

We Are Different, an earned-first creative firm, designed the campaign with assistance from Hello Social, Mindshare, Elmwood, and Mamamia.

Gabrielle Davidson, marketing director at Kimberly-Clark, said, “There are thousands of Australian women experiencing bladder leakage, yet the majority feel like they’re suffering alone and in silence. The Poise Pledge is not just about breaking the stigma, but offering women real support with our dedicated Pelvic Floor Support Hub. We’re hoping it sparks conversation, shows women they’re not alone and encourages them to take action.”

Meanwhile, Stuart Terry, founder and director at We Are Different, commented, “We feel privileged working with a brand that’s brave enough to advocate for its audience, start conversations no one else is having and, importantly, create a campaign that offers real-life support for women with bladder leakage. The integrated campaign looks to normalise bladder leakage and position Poise as the champion for women experiencing this condition nationally.”

Vietnam – Huggies, the diaper brand of baby and child care company Kimberly-Clark, has partnered with INCA, GroupM’s brand-safe influencer and content marketing arm, to launch a new campaign for its latest diaper product in Vietnam – Huggies Thin & Soft. This campaign aims to get Vietnamese moms to talk about diaper ‘quality’, ‘absorbency’ and ‘thinness’, which are unique attributes not typically associated with children’s diapers.

INCA noted that urban Vietnamese mothers place a high value on imported goods, and are excited by innovations hailing from Japan and Korea. This is also where Huggies turned their focus towards mom communities, whose small but powerful word-of-mouth influence could collectively spark powerful conversations.

Through the new campaign, INCA and Huggies have selected two hundred nano and micro-influencers who had a dominant share of voice and strong influence on more than 20 mom communities to incite conversations endorsing the value of thin and soft attributed diapers, before reviewing ‘the thinnest best-selling diaper brands from Korea’. 

The campaign was hinged on the fact that mothers turned to other mothers within their communities for advice and product recommendations. These influencers would then privately share Huggies sale links with other mothers in the communities.

Uyen Nguyen, Huggies’ senior brand manager for Vietnam, commented partnering with INCA was crucial in helping them build relationships with mothers in Vietnam through word-of-mouth, one of the most reliable and trusted channels mothers rely on.

“The campaign demonstrated the immense potential for soft & thin diapers, something unheard of in the Vietnamese market. This campaign exceeded all expectations, and we look forward to partnering with INCA again in the future,” said Nguyen.

Meanwhile, Loan Menuge, INCA’s lead for Vietnam, shared that through their brand-safe technology, they were able to align with Huggies’ campaign goals and forge deep connections with creators and consumers to drive business outcomes for the clients. 

“We are pleased that Huggies is now the top diaper brand known in Vietnam for its thinness, quality, absorbency as well as other interesting attributes and that we are able to bring comfort and innovation for mothers and their children,” said Menuge.