Grove Collaborative: Brand Positioning Case Study

Cleaning products aren’t usually something to get excited about.

But what if those products actually gave you the feeling of a cleaner home… just by buying them?

And what if those purchases provided you with the motivation to clean?

And it matched your values? And it seemed sort of… cool?

Meet the subject of this week’s Brand Breakdown: Grove Collaborative.

💼 The Brand: Grove Collaborative

Grove Collaborative is a D2C company that makes natural and sustainable cleaning products. They’ve positioned themselves as a lifestyle brand that helps you create a clean home — not just clean up messes.

💛 The Heart (Mission & Vision)

Grove Collaborative’s mission is to “transform household products into a force for good.” They do this by providing natural and sustainable cleaning products. Safe for their customers. Good for the planet. 

👤 The Head (Strategy & Positioning)

Grove Collaborative is not your typical cleaning product company. They realize that their high-end customers are telling themselves a story with every purchase. With Grove, you’re not just buying a bottle of soap.

You’re joining a movement toward less plastic waste.

You’re making a purchase that affirms your identity as a socially conscious consumer.

That’s not for everyone, but it is Grove’s target persona — which is what matters.

To this end, every product they sell must pass their four-point standard: uncompromisingly healthy, beautifully effective, ethically produced, and cruelty-free.

This sets them a part from competition that largely competes on price in stale, crowded grocery stores.

💡Pardon the interruption… but we decided to go even deeper on this one. Want to see all 10 Pillars of Positioning for Grove Collaborative? Check them out here.

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✋ The Hands (Tactics):

Grove Collaborative has mastered their brand messaging strategy.

It’s crystal clear and crazy consistent.

As soon as you land on the home page you’re greeted with a hero headline introducing you to their mission of sustainability. But it gets better…

You get an email from them and it invites you further into a shared purpose. This screenshot is one section of their email. Everywhere you see red is a strategic messaging effort.

Why is this clarity and consistency so important? Because marketing is changing. Attention is the new currency and everyone is competing for it.

It’s not enough to slap your brand’s purpose on an “About Page.”

It needs to be abundantly clear. But more importantly, it needs to be communicated with empathy.

That’s why this final tactic from their Instagram account is so brilliant.

Most cleaning brands can’t attract 600k followers. But when you make cleaning “cool” you can.

This post is one of the popular “clean with me” videos with a humorous twist. The influencer jokes that the only thing you need in order to have a clean house is to not have kids, a husband, or pet 😆

Grove has even partnered with Drew Barrymore (one of the more “down to earth” celebrities) that creates an even deeper connection with their millenial audience.

Purpose. Empathy. Connection. All the ingredients of a well executed messaging strategy.

How You Can Steal His Strategy

Sell the vacation, not the plane ticket. Grove Collaborative sells the promise of a clean home, not just the cleaning product. That’s because people are more interested in the promised result (the vacation) than the process that gets you there (plane ticket). A few more examples…

• If you sell baseball bats, your promise could be “home runs.”
• If you sell coffee, your promise could be “comfort.”
• If you sell a gym membership, your promise could be “wellness.”

What’s your product, but even more importantly what’s your promise?