Results and Effectiveness

In Mumbai, Millward Brown tracking data for Surf Excel showed: Key “Dirt is good” Equity endorsement measure moved from 31 to 53. Top of Mind Awareness increased by 31% Scores on Talk-ability improved by 22%, “Seen in Media – OOH” awareness score clocked a high 17%.

Creative Execution

21st of September, 2009 -International Peace day 6000 school children across India’s commercial capital, Mumbai, dipped their hands in paint and pledged for Peace by making hand impressions on 140 giant art canvasses. October 2nd, 2009 - The Day Mumbai woke up to Peace In observance of Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday, a national and global symbol of Peace; the canvasses were preserved and erected, as they were, on prime hoardings and malls across the city. A high decibel radio activation reached built excitement A contextual write up in India’s most read publication: Times of India. On-ground School contact program enrolling 6000 children The campaign earned PR Coverage across 7 dailies, and online presence through blogs and websites served to drive credibility. The canvasses, bearing a total of 12,000 hand impressions were mounted on 10,000 sqft of large-format hoarding space across high traffic areas in the city for a week.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

In an inflationary economy, India’s laundry market faced rampant down-trading. Surf Excel, a premium detergent, was losing consumers to cheaper powders. The brand needed to retain its consumer base by strengthening relevance of its equity philosophy of “Dirt is good” which implied that dirt is an inherent part of child expression. The Young Indian mother who dotes on her Child, is our consumer. For her, Surf Excel was a dirt remover, not an ally in empowering her children. We needed a powerful, culturally relevant platform to energize the ‘power of Dirt’ to do good. Terrorism was the most talked about issue in India Media. But Children had no recourse to express their concerns about it. Surf Excel empowered Kids with a platform to bring alive their claim for peace to an entire city, through dirt. Kids making a commitment against terror would tap a deep emotional chord with mothers.