Case Study
B2C / Product PR
How we successfully communicated the advantages of smol’s plastic-free and sustainable household products
The brief
smol started its journey in Cologne, with the goal of expanding its visibility in Germany. The start-up from the UK is an eco-friendly company that produces fully recyclable and sustainable laundry and household products, including hassle-free ordering and delivery. Founded in 2018 by Nick Green and Paula Quazi, the company started with a small team and the goal of making the world a better place with sustainably designed and delivered products. All smol products are tested to high industry standards, the detergent pods are microplastic-free due to flustix, and are fully recyclable. Its mission is to help people make smaller changes in their daily lives, as a few small changes make a big difference in the end.
smol reached out to Laika to help them spread their message and increase brand awareness through key national and consumer media, as well as lifestyle and marketing media. The goal was to direct more traffic to their website to boost sales and awareness in Germany.
The campaign
Before we got started with PR for smol, we gathered all our cleaning obsessed Space Dogs together to form a team of washing enthusiasts that know a lot about the existing brands and performances in the DACH market. After getting to know the smol team and their product range, a PR plan was established. It was necessary to arrange numerous exciting launches, including those for the Sensitive Pod and the All-Purpose Cleaner, with the help of captivating pitches and anecdotes about laundry and cleaning. Our goal was to find the right target group for this topic, and convey a better understanding of cleanliness paired with sustainability in everyday life.
To start, we researched the most fitting influencers—with the goal of making smol shine through appropriate optimal collaborations on social networks. As expected, the products were well-received not only by the influencers, but also by their audiences. Thanks to these collaborations, we managed to reach more than 222,000 people. At the same time, we also achieved further success through pitching—our goal being to create targeted attention and generate media coverage from top-tier media. We consistently generated creative topics, thought leadership pieces, and articles to educate German readers about smol and their mission. Our further strategy was to pitch smol as a cleaning brand, and guide others regarding sustainable household cleaning tips and tricks.
During our time working together, smol launched several products. To secure relevant coverage for these as well as their original products, we pitched to our best contacts from tier 1 media and selected lifestyle media outlets. In the end, we secured coverage from lifestyle, national, and e-commerce media such as Focus, Watson, ImTest, allesbeste, and Starting Up.
Along with focusing on sustainability and practical benefits, we always kept in mind how the products are made. We learned a lot about ingredients, sustainability in this field, and that green products on the market are usually not as sustainable and green as they may appear to be. With smol, we are looking forward to changing this and to spread more awareness through the German media landscape.
“The Laika team is a pleasure to work with, showing real enthusiasm and knowledge for our mission and products. They have consistently come up with new content ideas and angles to capture media attention."
Jessica Giesen, smol’s international Director
Selected Media
Umsatztrend: Abo-Commerce
Starting Up
Thank you, smol!
It is a pleasure working with you!