The Campaign

Filipino men traditionally use the shampoos that the women in their households use. Unilever saw an opportunity in marketing a shampoo specifically for men, and launched CLEAR Anti-Dandruff Shampoo for Men in 2011. By focusing on the brand’s compelling functional benefits, CLEAR for Men successfully achieved 3.2% share of the total shampoo market by December 2011 (Nielsen Retail Index), 73% share of the total shampoo for men market by December 2011 (Nielsen Retail Index) and 8.8 % penetration among the target market as of December 2011 (Kantar World Panel). But in 2012, its communicating functional benefits was no longer effective and competitor brands were saying the same things. So to accelerate Clear’s growth among men in 2012, the brand decided to go beyond functional anti-dandruff benefits and establish itself as the shampoo that understands men’s needs. Clear’s strategy was to fulfills men’s need for competition and sports like never before, and created the Clear Dream Match, the biggest football grudge match ever to happen in the Philippines, which men not only witnessed but also took part in via Facebook. The match was supported by PR, radio, TV and on-ground activation. The results exceeded expectations: The campaign resulted in a 23% increase in CLEAR sales during the campaign period, far higher than the target growth of 5% and total shampoo category growth of 2%. These excellent results meant an ROI of 307%—Clear made $3.07 in sales for every $1 it spent on the campaign.

The Brief

The objective for Clear in 2012 was to differentiate itself from its competitors that communicated the same anti-dandruff benefits. The brand’s primary target market were young, urban professional men aged 20-30 years old in the ABC1C2 SEC. The brand set the benchmark for success at 5% increase in sales and 2% increase in market share of the total shampoo for men category.

Results

The Clear Dream Match Campaign met all objectives, surpassing most. The business results of the campaign (see below in "Confidential Information" box) were driven by the excellent reach and engagement results achieved by the campaign. - Total Votes Cast in the CLEAR Stadium draft – 5,424 - Stadium filled to maximum capacity, 70 % of the 3600 seats reserved through the Facebook page - Trended Twice on Twitter resulting in more than 79 million impressions or $ 5,500 in earned media values - Positive sentiment received by the brand on the social sphere which led to a total of 105 total media pick-ups (online and print) - Total Earned Media Values worth $500,000

Execution

We launched the CLEAR Dream Match, the match that would finally determine who the better Younghusband was, with a press conference. At the same time, we introduced the CLEAR Stadium Facebook app where fans could select from a pool of players and vote for those they want to make up the teams of Phil and James Youngshusband. The app also allowed fans to compete against each other via an augment reality football game, and for the best seats to the match they helped create. On social networks, the players in the pool campaigned for their inclusion in the match and shared whose team they would like to be in. This generated additional buzz and anticipation for the big day. After a month of voting and a few days before the match, a draft was held, with the Younghusbands picking the players from the pool shortlisted by the fans.

The Situation

When it comes shampoo, most Filipino men still use women’s brands, rather than buying and using a brand specific to their needs. In fact, 2011 research showed that 87% of men used women’s shampoos (Kantar World Panel). Unilever Philippines saw an opportunity in this, and launched Clear Anti-Dandruff Shampoo for Men in 2011. From its launch to the end of 2011, CLEAR focused on communicating its superior anti-dandruff benefits, and managed to grow to 3.2% share of the total shampoo market and 73% of the total shampoo for men category by the end of 2011.

The Strategy

Men crave the intense competition of sports and are big followers of football. But getting them to love a brand is not as simple as advertising during televised games, as they are more likely to switch the channel during commercial breaks than watch a commercial. Sponsoring a team, meanwhile, while common, can result to more people rooting against you than for you, as other teams will have their own supporters. What CLEAR decided to do instead was satisfy men’s need for competition and sports like never before. The brand created a Dream Match that pitted the two biggest stars in Philippine football, Phil and James Younghusband, against each other, for the first time. This finally turned the implied rivalry between the brothers, who had always played for the same team, into a reality. Furthermore, CLEAR gave Filipino men the opportunity to actually take part in the grudge match through Facebook.