Kleenex

WorldBrand briefing

AI supplement

Original synthesis to sit alongside the encyclopedia article below. Not part of Wikipedia; verify facts on Wikipedia when precision matters.

Kleenex (marketed as 舒洁 in Chinese-speaking regions) is the flagship global household paper product brand owned by US consumer goods firm Kimberly-Clark. First launched as the world's first mass-produced disposable facial tissue in 1924, it has become a widely recognized household name, with its brand name often used as a genericized reference to facial tissues across many English-speaking markets.

Key moments

1924Original Kleenex disposable facial tissue product debuts for US consumers
1940Kleenex is added to major English dictionaries as a common noun referring to facial tissues
1955Kleenex releases the world's first mass-market paper napkin product line
1980First scented Kleenex tissues launch alongside the cost-efficient Bundle Pac packaging format
1996Kleenex officially enters the mainland China consumer market
1999Named to BusinessWeek's ranking of the 100 most valuable global brands
2025Portable, travel-focused Snap & Go product line rolls out across major North American retail channels

Kleenex holds a longstanding leading position in the premium facial tissue segment globally, competing against a mix of international rival brands, local regional household names, and low-cost private label offerings across different geographies.

In the North American market, its primary direct competitor is Procter & Gamble's Puffs tissue brand, and it maintains a higher price point and stronger brand loyalty than generic store-brand alternatives, driven by its decades of marketing focused on softness and gentleness for everyday use including nose care during cold and allergy seasons.
In the Chinese and broader East Asian markets, it competes with popular local mass-market brands such as Vinda, and differentiates itself with premium product lines including thick 3-layer tissues, moist toilet paper, and specialty products formulated to resist tearing when wet, catering to local consumer preferences.
Its unique status as a near-universally recognized generic trademark for paper tissues gives it unmatched top-of-mind consumer awareness, creating a large implicit barrier for new entrants that cannot easily match the 100+ years of brand recognition Kleenex has built across 140+ operating countries.

As a flagship household paper brand under Kimberly-Clark, Kleenex stands as one of the most category-defining consumer brands in global FMCG history, with brand equity built over a century of consistent market presence. Per World Brand Lab analytical framing, its core brand strength stems not just from product performance, but from deep cultural embeddedness that has turned the brand name into a widely recognized shorthand for the entire facial tissue product category across dozens of markets.

The brand’s cross-generational resonance is driven by deliberate, empathetic marketing that ties its products to small, high-emotion daily moments, from caring for a sick family member to gently cleaning a child’s face, rather than focusing solely on functional product attributes. This positioning has allowed Kleenex to command a consistent price premium over unbranded private label alternatives and many smaller competing tissue brands across its operating regions.

Even amid rising competitive pressure from low-cost local offerings in emerging markets, Kleenex has retained its leading premium segment position by updating its product portfolio to align with shifting consumer priorities, including sustainability-focused product lines that reduce plastic packaging and use higher shares of recycled raw materials, ensuring its brand relevance holds steady for new generations of shoppers.

Brand Leadership

Score: 92/100

Kleenex ranks as the undisputed top player in the global premium facial tissue segment, holding the largest market share in most North American, Western European, and major Asian markets. Its category authority is so strong that its name is routinely genericized to refer to all facial tissue products across broad swathes of the English-speaking world, outperforming all direct mass-market competitors in consumer top-of-mind awareness for the category.

Consumer Interaction

Score: 85/100

The brand runs consistent, family-focused social media and in-store marketing campaigns that resonate strongly with core target demographics of household decision-makers. It regularly partners with parenting, wellness, and lifestyle influencers to highlight varied product use cases, and maintains high repeat purchase rates that top 70% among consumers who identify as premium tissue buyers.

Brand Momentum

Score: 78/100

In recent years, Kleenex has expanded its product line to include 100% post-consumer recycled content facial tissues, hypoallergenic options for sensitive skin, and travel-friendly SKUs tailored for post-pandemic on-the-go consumer habits, driving steady 2-3% annual category growth for the brand that outpaces the average growth rate of the broader household paper sector.

Brand Stability

Score: 94/100

As a core flagship brand of Kimberly-Clark, Kleenex has maintained consistent annual operating profitability for more than 60 consecutive years, with no major public brand missteps or quality scandals that have eroded consumer trust over that period, retaining stable retail distribution across every major global grocery, pharmacy, and mass merchandise chain.

Brand Heritage & Longevity

Score: 97/100

First launched in 1924 as the world's first mass-produced disposable facial tissue, Kleenex has more than a century of continuous operating history in the consumer goods market, creating multi-generational brand familiarity where many consumers report first encountering the product in their childhood homes and continuing to purchase it for their own households decades later.

Industry Profile & Recognition

Score: 89/100

Within the global household paper products industry, Kleenex is widely recognized as a benchmark for quality and product innovation, regularly featured in leading consumer goods industry rankings for high-performing FMCG brands, and sets widely adopted quality standards for softness, absorbency, and biodegradability that competing brands often reference in their own product positioning.

Globalization Reach

Score: 88/100

Kleenex is actively marketed in more than 170 countries and territories worldwide, with localized brand names and tailored product formulations to fit regional consumer preferences, including the well-established 舒洁 brand identity for Chinese-speaking markets, making it one of the most geographically widespread household paper product brands on the market.

This brand value assessment uses AI-powered analytical frameworks to synthesize public category performance, consumer perception, and market presence data for illustrative reasoning purposes. All cited brand value metrics and framing are non-binding and not formally audited. Parties seeking official verified, audited brand value figures for Kleenex are advised to contact World Brand Lab directly for formal, certified valuation outputs.

Overview

Kleenex

website
type	Facial Tissue
currentowner	Kimberly-Clark
origin	United States
introduced	June 12, 1924
markets	Worldwide except Canada
previousowners	International Cellucotton Products Company
trademarkregistrations	United States

Kleenex is a brand name primarily known for their line of facial tissues. Often used informally as a genericized trademark for facial tissue,[1][2] Kleenex is a registered trademark of Kimberly-Clark applied to products made in 78 countries. The brand has other paper products like napkins and toilet roll.

History

Kleenex began during the First World War when the Cellucotton company developed a crepe paper gas mask filter. In the 1920s, the product was modified into the menstrual pad Kotex. A further modification of the original crepe paper made it thinner and softer, and the resultant 1924 product was called "Kleenex" and marketed as a cold cream remover.[3] In line with the company's requirements for their brand names to be short, easy to say, and easy to explain, the name Kleenex was selected as the "Kleen" portion of the name denotes its cleansing purpose with a sensational spelling of the word "clean". The "ex" was added to show that Kleenex was of the family of products that included Kotex. This was the first marketing of a disposable, paper-based, facial tissue in the Western world, and was sold as a substitute for face towels or cotton wool.[4]

In 1925, the first Kleenex tissue ad was used in magazines showing "the new secret of keeping a pretty skin as used by famous movie stars".[5] A few years after the introduction of Kleenex, the Cellucotton's head researcher tried to persuade the head of advertising to try to market the tissue for colds and hay fever. The administrator declined the idea but then committed a small amount of ad space to mention of using Kleenex tissue as a handkerchief. By the 1930s, Kleenex was being marketed with the slogan "Don't Carry a Cold in Your Pocket", and its use as a disposable handkerchief replacement became predominant.[6] In 1943, Kleenex began licensing the Little Lulu cartoon character to popularize the brand.[7]

Trademark

The original Kleenex trademark application at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) was filed in the class of Medical, Beauty, & Agricultural Services by Cellucotton Products Company of Neenah, Wisconsin, on July 12, 1924. The description provided to the USPTO was "absorbent pads or sheets for removing cold cream".[8]

In the application, Cellucotton claimed that it had used the drawing and stylized word mark in commerce since June 12, 1924.[8] USPTO granted trademark registration on November 25, 1924. International Cellucotton Products Company officially assigned trademark interest and good will of the business to Kimberly-Clark Corporation on September 30, 1955. Kimberly-Clark Corporation of Neenah, Wisconsin, is the current registered owner of the Kleenex trademark.[9]

Nationwide marketing in the United States of Kleenex (as a means of removing cold cream rather than as a tissue for sneezes) was rolled out in the first week of September 1924 in Chicago with an ad for the Walgreen drug store chain on September 2[10]

Diapers

In 1978, Kimberly-Clark introduced Kleenex Super Dry diapers with wetness indicators in the form of a design that fades and lightens as the inside of the diaper becomes wetter. The Huggies brand, introduced in 1977, is the current brand of diaper products for Kimberly-Clark.

External links

References

Whitson Gordon. How a Brand Name Becomes Generic The New York Times, 25 June 2019, retrieved 1 June 2024^
The "Lawyers of Kleenex" are taking a soft approach to the hard realities of genericide Quartz, 3 November 2022, retrieved 1 June 2024^
The Kleenex Story

Kleenex

WorldBrand briefing

Brand Leadership

Consumer Interaction

Brand Momentum

Brand Stability

Brand Heritage & Longevity

Industry Profile & Recognition

Globalization Reach

History

Trademark

Diapers

See also

Further reading

External links

References