Results and Effectiveness

The ‘little directors’ re-crafted Surf Excel’s success story - •Millward Brown tracking score on “Dirt is good” Equity measure improved by 14%. •Brand Appeal Scores improved by 33%. •An Ormax research on program perception proved - -82% of viewers thought the show was unique -72% children were inspired to become film makers •The TV series reached 58% of the Target Group in Tamil Nadu •323,000 people were reached via YouTube in 2 months, with 44,000 post views on Facebook within 12 days of activity. •Cinema association engaged 1.7 million captive viewers.

Creative Execution

We partnered Star Vijay, one of the leading TV channels in Tamil Nadu. School contact programs reached 70,000 kids across 151 schools through press, magazines and radio. Children responded by penning 12,000 stories. 8 best stories were short-listed. Suhasini Mani Rathnam (leading Tamil actress) was roped in to anchor the show and celebrated film director A.R. Murugadoss to mentor the kids. Local famed directors joined the team to assist the children technically. The kids were the authority on all aspects – cast, location, costumes, background score, character etching and photography. A weekly series called Surf Excel’s Little Big Film Maker was created. Eight 3-minute short films were then telecast weekly. A YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/surfexceldaagachehai was created to garner national popularity, and we collaborated with mainstream Hindi film - Chillar Party - for LBFM short-films to be aired just before the film across 432 screens in 25 cities across the country.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The state of Tamil Nadu in India (contribution of 10% and 6% of Surf Excel and detergent category respectively) is a key market for Surf Excel. While brand recall stood at 99%, its “Dirt is good” proposition was losing relevance with the consumers. Given the low involvement nature of the category, scope to engage with consumers was limited. Surf Excel’s communication is skewed to the middle class Indian housewife who understands the importance of stains with respect to her child’s development. “Mothers take special pride when their children learn something new” Stemming from that insight, Surf Excel Little Big Film Maker was born. A unique reality show where kids scripted and directed their own stain stories. They were mentored by film directors who helped transform these stories into iconic “Dirt is good” short films. The children themselves delivered “Dirt is good” message with honesty, local flavor and a fresh perspective.