Results and Effectiveness

The results were outstanding. Comparing data pre campaign in July to post campaign in October 2009 Dettol Soap and Handwash grew 37% in value and 30% in volume sales. This was achieved against the backdrop of a category that declined 8% year on year. A strong association was created for Dettol with ‘Germ Kill’ amongst Housewives. Finally, with Dettol Klinik we created a unique and exclusive property for Reckitt Benckiser to launch future products and more extensive activity in 2010.

Creative Execution

To socialise ‘germ kill’ and build relevancy of Dettol in people’s daily lives, we created a unique 30 minute, weekly talk show on TV called DETTOL KLINIK. To lend credibility experts were recruited to deliver the message; a celebrity doctor to host the show and Indonesian Medical Association doctors to participate in the show. Six leading hospitals were identified as sets for the show. Women visiting those hospitals were invited to participate as guests on the show. To build relevancy, the topics on the show were carefully planned to coincide with the diseases and hygiene issues commonplace at that time like Swine flu or Cleanliness and hygiene during Ramadan). To maximise impact, we placed “germ kill” mini banner ads (using the Indonesian Medical Association logo and the Dettol logo in print on any editorial which covered news on health and diseases.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The soap market sells on beauty, fragrance, freshness and whitening promises. Dettol was a late entrant into this market; using their ‘antiseptic property’ with the positioning - “Kills Germs that Cause Illnesses”. But, ‘Germ kill’ is an extremely niche segment in the category and research showed that though it is a latent need among housewives; they do not expect to fulfil it through their soap brands as there are other products perceived to cater to this need. Therefore the key marketing objective was to gain quick brand acceptance, grow the user base and usage opportunities With the frequent outbreaks of diseases like dengue a given reality in day-to-day life in Indonesia, housewives are constantly seeking solutions to this problem. Solution to these diseases coming from a credible, reliable and known source (and not from the brand alone), was a convincing way to sell the brand benefits to the target audience