Good morning. In a time of quick and unpredictable change, some products still stay the same.

Until they don't.

Kimberly-Clark, the maker of Scott paper towels and Cottonelle toilet paper, is exploring an alternative to making its products from trees, Natasha Khan reports .

It says a prickly desert plant called hesperaloe produces fiber that can make stronger and softer paper products. On a big enough scale, it could also be cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

"We call it our Goldilocks discovery," said Craig Slavtcheff, the company's top research-and-development officer.

Kimberly-Clark cautions that there is a long research runway ahead, but a viable tree alternative would be a scientific breakthrough capable of reshaping the consumer-products landscape.

I asked Natasha what's driving Kimberly-Clark's self-described "moonshot."

Consumers already have options like paper products made from bamboo or recycled paper. Why is Kimberly-Clark on this quest to come up with a new one?

Natasha: Consumers want a variety of things, often at the same time. Bamboo and recycled paper give sustainability-minded shoppers some alternatives to wood-pulp paper towels and toilet paper, but critics find them rougher than they like or not plush enough.

Kimberly-Clark believes hesperaloe is a breakthrough because its long, slender fibers offer a rare combination of both softness and strength, which it says could give consumers a sustainable choice without compromising on feel.

Kimberly-Clark isn't being impulsive or particularly trendy here. You report that the company has spent $250 million so far on researching hesperaloe and developing the tech to use it. It examined a list of 70 possible new sources of fiber, from seaweed to chicken feathers. What's its long-term motivation?

Natasha: The hesperaloe work in particular grew out of a "tiger team" that Kimberly-Clark established 20 years ago to start thinking about the future of fiber. As one of the biggest makers of paper-based products in the world, the company has broadly been trying to reduce the amount of natural-forest fiber it uses in its products. It's partly an effort to better appeal to consumers who want to be more environmentally friendly, partly to stabilize long-term costs.

Meanwhile: Kimberly-Clark on Tuesday reported lower profit in its second quarter as social-media allegations about the quality of diapers in the China market disrupted sales.

The Human Condition

On the list of sectors staring down potential AI disruption, dating apps are fast joining SaaS near the top.

A second wave of AI matchmaking startups -- including Amata, Known and the forthcoming venture from Hinge founder Justin McLeod -- is taking aim at customer swipe fatigue, Molly Reinmann writes.

The new entrants are also challenging the legacy framework of premium plans and upsells: Most AI matchmakers operate on a pay-per-date model, charging users roughly the cost of a cocktail to advance to an in-person meeting.

Legacy brands are responding with a mix of branded technological updates and reminders that people remain the core of their business.

   -- Coaching over automation: Tinder and Hinge plan to deploy generative AI 
      strictly as a profile and conversation coach, refusing to let bots swipe 
      on behalf of users. 
 
   -- Brand identity extensions: Grindr is building a bespoke intelligence 
      stack under the brand gAI (pronounced "gay-eye"), which among other 
      features resurfaces past connections a user might want to revisit. 
 
   -- Human-centric positioning: At Bumble, which is testing an AI assistant 
      called Bee, CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said AI's role is to "remove friction, 
      not humanity" from dating. 

The Magic Number

Price of "Silver Star" tickets to Olivia Rodrigo's upcoming "Unraveled Tour." At a time when fans can spend more than $500 to see the most popular concerts, performers including Rodrigo, Coldplay and Charli XCX are selling limited batches of more affordable tickets. "The trend right now is making sure that the audience feels heard as they become more vocal about how they're getting access to tickets," said Jonathan Eshak, co-president of Mick Management.

Quotable

The WSJ CMO Council

The community where marketing leaders drop the corporate speak and share what's actually happening. The WSJ CMO Council unites leaders from the world's most influential brands including Adobe, Audi, Google, IBM, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Meta, Taco Bell, P&G and Verizon.

Tap into the connections and WSJ intelligence that move careers forward and separate the prepared from the scrambling.

Request Information

Keep Reading

TBWA on Tuesday introduced a refreshed visual identity for a dawning age of AI -- heavy on signs of handcrafting. [ Ad Age]

Restaurants are trying to make their proliferating fashion collaborations more appealing for everyday wear. [ Modern Retail]

Vacation-themed drinks like Luckin Coffee's new Piña Colada Mocktail are keeping summertime going, but restaurant menus are showing the first hints of fall with items like Wendy's Apple Crumble Frosty Fusion. [ Restaurant Business]

Ukraine's annual Atlas Festival, which drew 95,000 concertgoers last month, is concentrating on the fan experience amid the severe constraints of war. [ IQ]

AI management provider ServiceNow named Simon Mouyal its new chief marketing officer, succeeding Colin Fleming, who left in May. Mouyal had been CMO at cybersecurity firm Armis, which ServiceNow acquired this year. [ Investing.com]

Stacey Andrade-Wells said she is stepping down as CMO of Unilever's Liquid I.V. electrolyte drink mix after more than four years in the role. [ Stacey Andrade-Wells on LinkedIn]

How Whirlpool's decision to abandon global markets backfired when the U.S. entered a housing slump -- and why it's now betting on chewable nugget ice to lead a turnaround. [ WSJ]

Among all the discourse sparked by a "No Influencers" sign in a Nantucket store, one question cuts through: "Does hating influencers mean hating women?" [ Embedded]

My home state of Vermont has introduced a new tourism brand designed to tackle a stark conversion problem: While 79% of Americans find the state appealing, only 15% actually plan to go. [ Creative Boom]

About Us

We bring you the most important (and intriguing) marketing and experience news every day. Write me at nat.ives@wsj.com any time with feedback on the newsletter or comments on specific items. We want to hear from you.

And follow the CMO Today team on X: @wsjCMO, @megancgraham, @dollydeighton, @patrickcoffee and @natives.