Koh celebrates eight years with cheeky campaign about household chores

Koh is already ticking milestones off its 2024 chore list as it celebrates its eighth year of disrupting the cleaning aisle, with the Australian brand gearing up to unveil its first nationwide TV campaign that will see the business use a tongue-in-cheek approach to push Australian couples to stop the excuses and start sharing the cleaning duties.

Poking fun at the dynamic in relationships when it comes to cleaning, the campaign will kick off on February 11 and is based on research conducted by Koh in January 2024.

Koh asked 1,127 Aussies about the cleaning habits in their households, with the brand finding most respondents feel they do more cleaning at home than they’d like to.

The findings found that 81% of those who identify as female report they do the majority of cleaning at home. Yet, three in four men are happy with the current delegation of cleaning roles.

Out of the respondents who said they do most of the cleaning at home, 58% wish their partner could help out more. 

However, if their partner were to help out, only 68% of female respondents think they would do a good job and 88% claim their loved one’s cleaning standards aren’t as high as theirs.

Koh’s research also uncovered that choreplay is in fact the new foreplay, with one in four Aussie men and women agreeing that cleaning is the most attractive thing their partner can do around the house.

Koh CEO Charli Walters said the goal of the campaign is to create a conversation and disrupt societal attitudes towards cleaning, challenge the status quo, and get people out there looking for cultural change over time.

“We feel like we’ve disrupted the category through sustainability, we’ve demonstrated through the way that Koh is used and I think it’s only a natural evolution for the brand to start having those more deeper conversations in the household,” she said.

From a farmers’ market to 1 million customers

The national campaign represents a new chapter for Koh, which was founded by Justin Alexander and Adam Lindsay as a side hustle at a local Bondi farmers’ market in 2016 and started out as a direct-to-consumer (DTC) product. 

The brand offers starter kits, and refills, for household cleaning products, from surface cleaners to dishwashing and laundry detergents. 

Today, Koh has a following of more than 1 million Aussie customers and claims to be used in one in 10 Australian homes. The brand began rolling out nationally in Woolworths stores in July 2023 due to consumer demand.

Walters told SmartCompany it was important for Koh to become a brand that is growing up and connecting with people, psychologically. 

“So [it’s] definitely exciting from a strategic perspective as we think about building a funnel and growing the brand through new marketing channels,” she said. 

“But what this campaign is really about, at the heart of it, is getting more Aussies sharing the cleaning responsibilities. 

“The campaign itself has quite some controversial tongue-in-cheek conversations, which might rub a few people the wrong way, but are important nonetheless to bring to the forefront of people’s minds.”

Walters said Koh is a bold brand.

“I say ‘go bold or go home’ and this is a conversation that I don’t think a lot of brands will want to touch,” she said.

“At heart of that is a lot of people aren’t happy with the cleaning roles and responsibilities and who’s doing more cleaning than others. 

“Our research uncovered that 81% of women report they do the majority of the cleaning. One reason for this is that they’re just not satisfied with their partner’s idea of cleaning when they do help out.

“One of Koh’s core brand propositions is the idea of simplicity and empowering people in their cleaning game. 

“We feel like we’re ripe to challenge that conversation and be there to be part of the solution.”