Brief Explanation

Hair conditioners are a new category in India. Sunsilk, a known shampoo brand, was introducing an eight-variant conditioner. The target audience was college going females (18 to 24) accustomed to Multi-variant Sunsilk shampoos, so would expect the same from a conditioner. The marketing objective : was to educate the TA about the use of hair conditioners and how the product was relevant to them, and to increase trials. Our unique insight: was that the TA prefer to discover brands and products on their own, in conjunction with their friends, and through social media. Because four variants of Sunsilk conditioner were to be distributed, education and interaction leading to customised trials was imperative. Our creative idea : was to prompt the TA to discover the product through interaction and education. Using her mobile smart phone, she could create a customised sample, which would be delivered to her instantaneously. Media Execution of the Creative Idea: We created a Mobile Savvy Vending Machine for interaction, education and mass customization. The TA interacted with the vending machine using her mobile phone to discover what conditioner variant was best for her hair type. The machine allowed three levels of interaction, provoked conversations about hair type and promoted a higher degree of involvement with the sample. The machine was placed in a Mumbai college campus hosting inter-college competitions, ensuring greater reach among the TA. Process: 1)Girls had to SMS Sunsilk to the Mobile Number mentioned on the machine, to get a short code 2)Select their hair type from the display (soft / dull / rough) post discussion with friends 3)Enter the sample code into the vending machine received via. SMS 4)Get a customized conditioner tube from the machine within a minute, along with a Sunsilk Hair Expert Tip received via. SMS on their Mobile No. Results and Effectiveness: Sampling was done using a customized pull technique instead of Pushing samples. The method allowed one minute of active involvement with each sample and encouraged about five minutes of discussions with friends regarding their hair types. In 6 days, 1700 girls discovered customized conditioner samples, creating a database of as many phone numbers that can be used for personalized messages from Sunsilk Experts. For the client, this experiment answered the question of mass customization.After a successful pilot in 2012,this opened a new channel for sampling and inducing trials.Currently,the client is extending this activity to more department stores and brands in key cities across India.