Cashmere UltraLuxe and Toronto boutique agency Lifelong Crush turned a “low-interest” category into a cultural talking point by crowning the city’s best restaurant bathrooms.
In this Canadians Create episode, Lifelong Crush’s CCO Derek Blais and SVP, Strategy Geoff Gingerich join Kruger Products CMO Susan Irving to unpack “Becoming the Authority on Bathroom Luxury”—Effie Canada Gold (Marketing Disruptors) and Silver (Household).
The team spotted a real behaviour shift: people were touring, photographing, and rating bathrooms—without any standard. Their answer was the Cashmere UltraLuxe Bathroom Guide: a Michelin-style system awarding 1–3 “Fleurs,” inspired by the brand’s embossed pattern, and sealed with permanent plaques in winning washrooms.
The guide anchored PR, creator content, digital and an always-on UGC engine—plus an in-bathroom “permanent ad” and live product demo.
Reported results: +18% tonnage, +21% dollar sales for UltraLuxe, and a 3,900% spike in social mentions, with restaurants proudly posting their plaques and guests seeking out “three-Fleur” experiences.
Beyond buzz, the idea helped open “away-from-home” channels (hotels/restaurants) while trading users up from competitive premium brands. It’s a masterclass in unconstrained ideas, cultural timing, and building an ownable standard that can scale city-by-city across Canada.
