LIFEBUOY 'ROTI' REMINDER

Short List
TitleLIFEBUOY 'ROTI' REMINDER
BrandHINDUSTAN UNILEVER
Product / ServiceTOILET SOAP
CategoryA01. Creative Effectiveness
EntrantGEOMETRY GLOBAL Mumbai, INDIA
Entrant Company GEOMETRY GLOBAL Mumbai, INDIA
Advertising Agency GEOMETRY GLOBAL Mumbai, INDIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Abhijit Avasthi Ogilvy&Mather India National Creative Director
Rajiv Rao Ogilvy&Mather India National Creative Director
Daniel Comar Geometry Global Regional Executive Creative Director (Asia Pacific)
Rahul Saigal Geometry Global President
Vipul Salvi Geometry Global National Creative Director
Sanjeev Singh Geometry Global Creative Controller
Shripad Paturkar Geometry Global Creative Controller
Tushar Kadam Geometry Global Art Director
Shrikant Bhojane Geometry Global Senior Visualiser
Praveen Chavan Geometry Global Creative Supervisor
Tarun Gupta Geometry Global Sr. Account Executive

Brief Explanation

Rural consumption of soap is low. This despite widespread availability (HUL distribution covers over 2 million outlets) and accessibility (low price SKUs @ Rs 5) This is because general hygiene standards in rural India are low and the incessant outbreaks to diarrhea and diarrhea deaths prove that. There is low relevance for category, and soap is used only when the body/ hands are visibly grimy/ oily. However, reaching geographically scattered consumers in ‘media dark areas’, pushes up cost per contact. In this scenario, events like the ‘Kumbh mela’ appear to present the perfect opportunity to reach the rural millions at a manageable cost (the two month long ‘Kumbh Mela’ is the single largest human congregation on the planet. This year the number was estimated at 100 mn). With the presence of almost every brand in the country at Kumbh, it is tough to communicate with the consumers. What makes life further difficult is that the regulating body imposes a limit of 30% branded content on all forms of media in and around the Mela. Objectives & Execution: Urban advertising activity to retain market shares had exhausted brand budgets. We had to manage with a meagre budget of US$36,000 (INR 21 lakhs), given typical direct contact benchmarks we would have reached about 0.6 million. Our objective therefore was to create and deliver an idea that would be so impactful that we double our reach. We created a new medium that would not compete with other brands or be subject to restrictions to deliver the brand message - a medium that could not be missed and a timely reminder that could not be ignored. We put our message ‘WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE YOU EAT’ where it mattered most, on the roti. The Results: 1. Reach: On a total investment of just US$36000 we directly reached 5 million people exceeding our target by almost five times, at cost per direct contact – less than 1 cent. 2. Impact on advertising measures: Despite a decrease in the TV “Share of Voice” by -400bps between Nov-Dec-Jan Average and Feb’13. Lifebuoy’s spontaneous awareness rose up by +400bps in the same period. 3. Impact on mind measures: The campaign garnered 80 million global media impressions resulting in earned media amounting to $59.3 million (ROI of over 1600 times)! 4. Impact on business measures: Lifebuoy hit the highest ever market share in the last 3 years in Feb’13!