How MNML Laundry Leveraged Neuroscience and Trends for an International Launch

After more than 10 years in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) space, brand expert Nicole Short knew that a growing number of people were hungry for ways to improve their everyday well-being...and realized there was a big gap in the market.

"We're already buying candles, we're doing things to change how we feel in our homes and our environment," said Short. "But we've never really thought about washing our sheets with something different."

Mixing Science with Scent

Short's realization led to the creation of MNML Laundry, a neuroscience-backed, functional fragrance-imbued range of products. Along with her two co-founders, Short blends extensive CPG experience, scientific testing, and wellness trends to develop products that turn the chore of doing laundry into a sensory experience that has all-day benefits.

"We use fragrances that are proven to improve your mood, your sleep, and your well-being," said Short. "We've put them into our range of laundry products—we have capsules, detergent sheets, laundry liquid, and scent boosters."

The core concept behind MNML is that fragrances have a scent memory. If you've ever been walking down the street and suddenly caught a whiff of a scent that reminded you of a person or place, you experienced scent memory in action.

"We wanted to create a routine around fragrance where you could put on a scent every day and you could use it as a way to motivate yourself in the morning and trigger a positive brain response," said Short. "Or the smell would remind you of calming down and sleeping."

The brand initially launched with two scents: Chamomile Calm, intended for use on bedding, and Citrus Burst, meant for use on clothing.

MNML scents are actually a patented technology, too—so while lavender or chamomile oils in a room diffuser might help create an environment of calm, it's not the same thing as using MNML laundry products on bedding.

Short and her co-founders actually worked with a team of university researchers to test how people responded to different aromas.

"We did research with a leading university in Bristol. They used brain sensors to test how people slept with no fragrance experience and then how people slept with the sample fragrances that we created," said Short.

The researchers found that MNML's chamomile-based fragrance helped test subjects fall asleep easier and supported a better night's sleep. (The same was true for the company's other relaxing scent, Lavender Dream.)

But the process of validating a "daytime" scent like Citrus Burst proved to be a bit different than when measuring sleep quality.

"(The researchers) came up with a way to measure well-being across five different categories," said Short. "They assessed how people felt against these five markers before and after using our fragrance."

Taking a Customer-First Approach

MNML's line of scents and products has continued to expand over time, with each addition guided by consumer demand.

Short believes in letting consumer responses—like the desire for all-day scent experiences— guide the evolution of products in any CPG market.

"People were washing their bedding and sheets with Chamomile Calm and were messaging us saying 'can I wash my clothes with this as well? I just really love the smell," said Short. "At the end of the day, the customer will tell you whether they want something or not. So the quicker you can get a new product to market and learn from what they're telling you, the better. And then you adjust and adapt as you go, because otherwise you can get so lost that maybe you never launch."

Planning Future Demand Through Trends

Of course, to lead true category disruption like MNML, CPG founders need to take a forward look at what consumers are likely to want next, too.

"Data is very important, but data about how you're selling and what's happening in the market can only tell you what's happened in the past," said Short. "Trends and topics help you be able to see into the future. It's a mix of looking at yes, here's what I'm seeing in the past, but what's going to happen in the future? What are these emerging trends?"

Rather than trying to comb through raw trend data on her own, Short uses Exploding Topics to pinpoint the specific trends that will matter most to her customers.

"I always want to make sure I'm connected to lots of different information to form ideas about what's going on in the market, what's moving, and what's changing. And Exploding Topics is a key part of that," said Short. "It's a digestible chunk of information that comes through regularly, and I can use it to connect the dots from other trends I'm seeing and validate ideas."

In fact, Exploding Topics helped the MNML team decide on the packaging for their laundry products.

"It's a constant creative input, which is really helpful when you're developing new products," said Short. "When we were developing the concept of MNML Laundry, we would see trends coming through Exploding Topics around eco-friendly laundry and a shift toward paper and cardboard packaging—which we were also really passionate about and working on."

This validation gave the MNML founders confidence that they were on the right path to create a product (and a package) that customers would want.

"It's very, very helpful and it's a key piece of a broader puzzle that we're always trying to piece together," said Short.

Evolving From DTC to Retail

Understanding what their target market is going to be interested in is also a reliable way for the MNML team to get their products in front of another important audience: retail buyers.

While MNML does sell its product directly to consumers via its website, the product is also available in major grocery stores across Australia and the U.S. And in order to get products on retail shelves, a chain's buyers have to like the lineup.

"[In retail] we're always selling to the buyer first. It's important that we align with what the buyer is trying to achieve. If we have a product like MNML, which is aligned with some of the trends we're seeing in the market around well-being, and that connects with the buyer who wants to grow that aspect of the business, then it's a great fit," said Short. "After that, it's making sure the product is the right fit for the customer."

Looking to the Future of Laundry

Short and her colleagues continue to keep a close eye on consumer trends, ensuring that MNML's next steps align with what people want.

"It feels to me like there's a real shift going on in the market, where wellness is moving on from supplements and skincare and it is moving into more parts of the home," said Short. "I think it's super interesting to see how that's going to look in the next few years. I think people now are expecting all of their products to do more than just basic jobs, to do more than just clean."

And while MNML may be a pioneer in the laundry space, Short believes there's a lot of potential for other entrepreneurs to explore the integration of wellness with other parts of daily life.

"I think there's a great opportunity for other founders to start companies and new product ideas to come to the market," said Short. "I'm excited to see how it unfolds over the coming years as this trend catches up to all the other aisles in the stores."

You can learn more about how wellness overlaps with your industry or areas of interest using Exploding Topics, too—sign up for your free seven-day trial of Exploding Topics Pro to begin gathering useful insights just like the founders of MNML Laundry do.