Charmin’s Sit or Squat and the Power of Answering a Universal Question

Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is about Help Not Hype

by Jay Baer

Chapter 3 

Friend-of-mine Awareness

Charmin’s Sit or Squat and the Power of Answering a Universal Question

I’m not sure what it is about restrooms that make them so utterly fascinating to some young boys. When I was between the ages of eight and eleven, my family made a summer vacation pilgrimage each year from Arizona to Nebraska. On the way to visit relatives, my younger brother asked to stop at nearly every restroom along the way. You’d have thought each gas station, truck stop, Stuckey’s, or map-festooned rest area was a Disney-produced wonder given his constant enthusiasm for them.

History repeats itself. Or maybe it’s genetic. My own son has now claimed the scepter and sash as champion family-restroom hunter. Alas, he has many chances to defend his crown. He’s a travel hockey player, so on ten weekends each winter we pile into the car and head out for a semi-obscure town in Indiana, Ohio, or Kentucky for games and tournaments. Unlike my mother, who sadly had to endure my brother’s fervor for the loo in a pre-Internet age, my wife has a secret weapon: the Sit or Squat app from Charmin.

Sit or Squat is a hilariously useful application for determining the relative suitability of public restrooms. Put in an address or location on your Apple or Android device, and a map appears featuring toilet paper rolls that are either green (sit-worthy) or red (definitely a squat). Grey rolls have insufficient data to make a determination. Users of the application can rate restrooms, and even upload photos to add a layer of verisimilitude to the proceedings.

And when faced with the paradox of choice that is the toilet paper aisle in my local grocer, I don’t always choose Charmin, as sometimes I’m seduced by sales and special offers. But I always remember Charmin, and think of the Sit or Squat app every time I see their products. Youtility doesn’t overcome all other product and price dynamics, but it gives the brand that extra edge, the tiebreaker that allows it to ultimately sell more by “selling” less.

The current version of the Sit or Squat app debuted in 2012 and, like the PCH Car Seat Helper app, has been lauded as worthy in dozens of parent-oriented magazines and blogs. But long before this app, Charmin had a commitment to potty-related Youtility.

“For years, Charmin has been dedicated to meeting consumer needs with clean public restrooms,” says Laura Dressman from the Family Care Communications department of Procter & Gamble, manufacturer of Charmin. “This commitment started in 2000 with ‘Charminizing’ public restrooms at state fairs, then the mobile unit ‘Potty Palooza’ from 2003 through 2005, and from 2005 through 2010 the Charmin Restrooms in Times Square, which offered clean, free, and family-friendly stalls during the busy holiday shopping season.” (Hey, Laura, can we get some of those delivered to ice rinks in Kentucky?)

Because it relies on input from the pottying public to populate its database, Sit or Squat gets better as participation increases. According to Dressman, more than 170,000 restrooms have been added by consumers in just six months since its April 2012 relaunch. Some downloaders of the app object to Charmin’s data integrations, however, and several poor ratings for Sit or Squat on iTunes center around the requirement for users to connect their Facebook account before leaving a review. This process automatically posts the review to the user’s Facebook page (unless they tweak their publishing settings), which can create some awkward moments, even in a social media world where too much information is de rigueur. Said one reviewer on iTunes: “I used this app and the next thing I know my friend is calling me saying, ‘You used the McDonalds bathroom?! Gross!’ I was soooo embarrassed!”

Charmin, of course, benefits from the awareness of the brand and the Sit or Squat application that occurs when usage is posted to Facebook (the app also requires age verification, and the terms of service allow P&G to upload data to third parties for analysis). But is that increase in awareness and data access worth the ire it causes among a segment of Sit or Squat’s downloaders?

This is the slippery slope of Youtility. At some point in the creation of every marketing program that relies on friend-of-mine awareness, you’ll be faced with the option of whether to add Trojan-horse elements (like Charmin’s Facebook sync and data collection) that make the Youtility more immediately beneficial to the company. Balancing these benefits with the drawbacks of customer backlash and potentially appearing disingenuous are important considerations in the planning and execution phases.