The Campaign

The entertainment environment in Vietnam is tightly controlled and heavily scrutinized by the government and regulatory bodies at each level. They have strict parameters on branding and brand activation per se. The permissions and licenses for any brand related activations are usually multi-layered from the Ministry of Entertainment to the local authorities. Before approving, they look for a deeper purpose and impact to ensure that the local communities and state stand to benefit of any activations as well. Due to the multi layered bodies involved, it often takes 30- 45 days to get their sign-off before the execution. Over and above, any involvement of expats/regional/non-local teams require additional permissions to be part of the execution team and need to inform the local police stations and local bodies about them. Their role in the project has to be vital for permissions to be granted. When expats are travelling for checking the execution work they also are required to report to the local police station about their stay.

Results

Unilever’s brands are well established in urban Vietnam - rural Vietnam however, is a different story. The challenge was to help Unilever’s brands connect to these rural communities, when many didn’t even know how to use products like soap and toothpaste – with complexity and scale of investment required to succeed seen as prohibitive. The strategy? To create experiences that would capture hearts and minds, building conversations within each community. With this in mind, Unilever’s Home Circus came to life, launching the first multi- brand rural engagement to focus on market development, education and behavioral change; arresting Unilever’s decline in key brand attributes. 4 Delivery trucks were converted into traveling stages - capable of delivering multiple shows per day. Each show had five acts – with each representing a different Unilever brand. For Surf, we created a comedy with half-wife, half-husband debating which is better - to save money or smell great. Surf, of course, does both. For Hazeline, a song and dance performance based on local folklore integrated and encouraged softer, smoother skin. Lifebouy used rap to educate users about germs; whilst an experiential audience participation event promoted soft, silky hair for Sunsilk; Finally a shadow puppet show for PS toothpaste encouraged twice a day brushing to prevent tooth decay.

Rural communities are more open to marketing that touches them directly, such as personal experience or live demonstrations of the brand in action. The ideas were developed to distinctly highlight not only the product use, but also the brand attributes in a truly educational and entertaining manner. For example Unilever's Lifebuoy soap used a 'germ glow box' as part of a demo kit to highlight the importance of washing hands in an anti-bacterial soap (the brand's central proposition). The glow within the box helped highlight the germs in hands and make consumers aware that 'visual clean was not safe clean'.

After visiting wet markets, community centers, and delivering four to five shows daily for a month the results were unprecedented. Brand awareness and purchase intent reported an impressive 90% increase in confidence levels, with a 90% Likeability rating. Attendees spent an average of 40mins engaging with each show, with over 80% of attendees recalled the brand messages afterwards. Unilever’s Home Circus connected with over 26,800 people in rural areas - creating a lasting customer base that will share products and pass on the knowledge and experience to their families, neighbors, and community. Giving everyone reason to truly love the circus.