In March 2020, finding a can of Lysol disinfectant or a bottle of Purell hand sanitizer felt like uncovering buried treasure. With COVID-19 quickly spreading to a global pandemic, people turned to a familiar form of protection when it came to germs—cleaning.
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) represents the $59 billion cleaning product industry. Members include the makers of Clorox and Lysol, as well as Unilever, Procter & Gamble and many more. When the pandemic hit, the ACI found itself as one of the most essential voices within the news and communication landscape.
Brian Sansoni, SVP, communication, outreach and membership, never endured such a media frenzy in his 20 years with ACI.
“[It was] the most intensive time for media requests coming into ACI on all facets of cleaning—hygiene, disinfecting, laundering,” he said. “We went into crisis mode at the end of Feb. 2020. And fortunately, we had the resources, skill sets and talents to respond rapidly."
Sansoni confirmed that ACI is no longer in crisis mode, but inquiries have not let up all that much. Questions continue to include: how to use products, their properties, how businesses and schools should reopen and more.
“Cleaning touches so many aspects of our lives,” he said. “It’s critical for us that [ACI] represent a strong, solid, evidence-based source of information.”
Building a Fact-Based Strategy
Stakeholders connect on many areas of cleaning. The public demanded insight on the cleanliness of venues from hospitals to grocery stores to public transportation. Details about cleaning also touched scientists, chemical producers and supply chain representatives assisting in creation and distribution of necessary materials.
The ACI communication team saw the importance of not only answering a flood of questions from the media, but providing fact-based, unified messaging for the entire industry to support. Fortunately, Sansoni said, ACI’s member companies employ many different experts, including chemists, toxicologists, and microbiologists, among many others. Over the years, they've created a tenable body of information.
“On staff we have six scientists with various levels of expertise, many of whom have been around the industry for a long time,” Sansoni said. “We have a library of information we have built up...that we can quickly refer to. It allows for rapid response when news orgs are calling, looking for that piece of info.”
Similar to many organizations, ACI's communication priorities shifted during the pandemic. One of the first things it did was reorganize its information trove. It emphasized offering basic information largely unknown to the public. For example, disinfectant sprays and wipes need to air-dry to be most effective.
ACI's reorganization of information led to a revamping of its website, which expanded to include COVID-19-related cleaning topics. In addition, it amplified expert voices and knowledge from member companies.
Member companies, Sansoni said, certainly delivered when it came to promoting unified messaging. Brand examples include Lysol and the Mayo Clinic working with Hilton to provide what the hotelier called a “new standard of cleanliness.” Clorox worked with United Airlines on an airport terminal disinfectant system through its CleanPlus program. And Ecolab Inc., the global water, hygiene and infection-prevention solutions provider, renewed its partnership with the American Hotel & Lodging Association to help combat COVID-19 challenges.
“Whatever business you are in,” Sansoni said, “using products safely and effectively shows you care about stakeholders.”
Utilizing Digital Tools
The ACI also used various digital assets to spread messaging on its website and social media. These included a video to condense basic home hygiene aspects at a time when consumers may have felt bombarded by information.
When restrictions were lifted in some regions, the ACI began providing messaging to small businesses and offices. The emphasis was on concise, clear information about cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting.
“Working with company experts, the CDC, and other agencies, we created a toolkit called ‘Healthy Returns,’” Sansoni said. “We provided the information on our website in digestible formats. Businesses could share with employees using posters...as businesses wanted returning employees to feel safe.”
And to help with distribution, it partnered with other organizations to raise awareness of the toolkit, including the National Retail Federation, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, National Association of Counties and others.
The ACI noticed another area really needing support for reopening—schools. For that it turned to school staffs to determine what messaging was needed.
“We did a focus group with the National Association of School Nurses to hear about their challenges in different types of districts, and cohosted a webinar with the national PTA that featured experts from CDC,” Sansoni said.
This resulted in ‘Healthy Schools, Healthy People,’ released with the CDC, to promote proper hand washing in schools, expanded cleaning and hygiene. The program includes the ‘Commit to Clean’ toolkit, which offers resources for school administrators and educators. It's designed to help highlight the importance of cleaning, disinfecting and hand hygiene. All materials align with key public health guidelines to keep students safe.
Managing Misinformation
And as with any campaign launch in these times, the importance of direct, clear, factual messaging takes prominence. ACI has made an effort to lead the conversation on cleaning, including media outreach, partnerships and even influencers.
“We’ve amplified our outreach to media organizations, and when our surveys came out we would share those with the media to generate coverage," Sansoni said. This included reminding people about proper use of products, and how to store them safely.
And because more people work at home and school their kids there, ACI saw an opportunity to create content about cleaning safety and storing products. The result was a collaboration with Safe Kids Worldwide to provide guidance for parents and caregivers.
In addition to Safe Kids, in October, ACI partnered with Good Housekeeping on a virtual summit called “Discover Cleaning: Inside & Out.” The event featured NGOs, bloggers, researchers and industry experts talking about the most important aspects of cleaning in relation to health.
ACI also worked with science influencer Jason Tetro, aka “The Germ Guy.” Tetro focused on messages about safe and appropriate use of products. He even landed several high-level media placements, including a Dec. 2020 story in the Wall Street Journal: “Will People Keep Cleaning When the Pandemic Ends?”
So far, clear messaging and creative delivery have worked for ACI, and it can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“So many aspects to this were not in crisis playbooks,” Sansoni said. “And a lot of new playbooks were created or substantially updated. We can’t take cleaning and hygiene for granted anymore.”
Nicole Schuman is senior editor for PRNEWS. Follow her @buffalogal