Thankyou launches bold new brand and global plan

After the Covid hand wash and sanitiser “gold rush”, Thankyou needed to find a way to stand out. This week, its newly rebranded products and expanded ranges hits retailer shelves.

Thankyou co-founder and managing director, Daniel Flynn

In recent weeks, Thankyou’s personal care products have quietly disappeared from retailer shelves in Australia and New Zealand. However, the hiatus is a brief one, as the brand returns with Thankyou Reimagined – a new brand identity and range of products and – from this week.

It’s part of a series of growth-driving levers the business is now pulling, which includes expansion into Southeast Asia, the United Arab Emirates and Europe and the revival of its direct-to-consumer e-commerce channel.

The business has been eyeing global scale for years. This intention was punctuated with a widely-watched ad campaign released in September 2020, when the business called on Unilever and Proctor & Gamble to partner with them to help make and distribute Thankyou products internationally.

The global firms rejected that invitation – but it hasn’t stopped Thankyou from pushing ahead with its global ambitions.

The social enterprise, which uses its profits to give grants to organisations that serve communities living in extreme poverty, is expanding its range and has introduced new reusable “forever bottles” made from recycled aluminium for its hand and body wash. It has also introduced a natural universal cleaner, plus a deodorant.

Its single-use plastic bottles will still be sold, but will now be made from 98 per cent recycled plastic. It’s also moving into home cleaning products with a hospital-grade all-purpose cleaner. Refill containers – also made entirely from recycled materials – will be available for most products.

The relaunch comes as consumers are increasingly conscious of the social and environmental impact of their purchases, with brand “sustainability” still influencing spending.

A recent EY report found that three in 10 Australians and a quarter of New Zealanders “say that sustainability is very or extremely important when making a purchase decision”.

A 2022 survey of 1000 Australian consumers from Monash University’s department of marketing found that 42 per cent would also pay more for products packaged in recycled material.

Thankyou’s new product and packaging positions the brand as a more ‘premium’ one than its previous iteration, but affordability is still part of its proposition to consumers, according to Thankyou’s co-founder and managing director, Daniel Flynn.

Thankyou's new reusable "Forever Bottle"

Its prices are also increasing, with its popular 500ml hand wash now priced at $10.95, up from $7.95. The buy-in-bulk in-store options and “subscribe and save” options available via its own website have been designed to give consumers cost-efficient options.

“These will be our ways to ­deliver value,” Mr Flynn told The Growth Agenda.

Both retail and e-commerce sales channels underpin Thankyou’s plan for growth.

“It’s a dual approach. We’ve seen the beauty and the benefits of both. I think direct-to-consumer and e-commerce is a great space to connect regularly with your customer and try new ideas. Some work, some don’t. It’s a great way to test products,” Mr Flynn said.

“What retail can do is pretty special as well. There’s an absolute scale and visibility that it can bring to a brand.” Its retailers in Australia will continue to include the likes of Woolworths, Coles and Chemist Warehouse.

The catalyst for Thankyou’s step change started during the pandemic. March 2020 was the best of times – and the worst of times – to be in the business of hand wash and sanitiser products. Thankyou’s supply chain “fell apart”, just as demand for its products surged. The business could only produce 30 per cent of normal sales volume. Demand for other products saw rapid growth, such as its hand sanitiser, which increased by 400 per cent.

It scrambled to find new international suppliers – which it did with enough success to be able to donate $10m to charity by the end of the 2021 ­financial year.

Since then, the hand wash and sanitiser category has seen a slew of newcomers looking for a slice of the action and to meet the demand. According to Mr Flynn, this influx of product created a sameness in the category, which, along with supply chain issues led to a decline in Thankyou’s sales after the Covid boom.

“If you look at the shelves right now, there are more brands than ever. I would say from that, we felt the decline,” Mr Flynn said.

“It was like the gold rush, right? Everyone comes in, everyone throws a lot of money at it. It really destabilises the category.”

New Zealand-based branding and packaging agency Marx Design worked with Thankyou to create the brand’s new distinctive look and took inspiration from Japanese and Scandinavian design to create a “timeless” and “minimal” aesthetic.

“We want Thankyou to be a statement in your bathroom or in your kitchen or in your house. And we want that to feel timeless, versus just trend-driven.

“Yes, it‘s different. Yes, it’s a step forward. But I think we need to take that step forward. We’ve analysed products across the US and Europe – this needs to take its own place and have its own identity, and that’s what’s been created,” he said.

Thankyou Group is owned by the Thankyou Charitable Trust and has raised $17.57m since it was founded in 2008.