The Brief

Kiwicare is a little known New Zealand company. They created a new weed weapon product and needed to launch it in a very boring and hugely rational category. The agency was tasked with naming the product, designing the bottle and launching it to the nation on a relatively small budget. Kiwicare wanted an idea the domesticated male could relate to and a product he would want to pick up. As 80% of buying decisions are made in store, we needed a promotion that would grab men’s attention at the point of purchase.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

We took a boring yellow prototype and manned it up. We named it Weed Weapon, designed a military styled label and put a fully functioning gun on it. Our Weed Weapon product literally became a weapon against weeds. Now the bottles were our ad, instore-posters became an interactive shooting range and plant-tags became weed tombstones point of sale.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

It’s no exaggeration to say Weed Weapon was a game changer for the Kiwicare business. Not only did the limited edition bottle sell out in a week nationwide, all the Weed Weapon products flew off the shelves. In half the time, Kiwicare doubled their target and cemented Kiwicare’s position as an innovative leader within the category. It’s changed the way people kill weeds now because an emasculating chore was now something men wanted to do.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

This idea stemmed from the fact that Weed Weapon is so strong and powerful, it doesn’t just kill weeds, it annihilates them. This product truth was then twisted into something that would grab our target’s attention. Against a backdrop of tame green and yellow competitor packs, everything about the name, packaging and instore advertising was designed to break through and engage the male shopper where he made his decision – instore.