BETADINE GARGLE: LAUGH AND LEARN EXPERIENCE

TitleBETADINE GARGLE: LAUGH AND LEARN EXPERIENCE
BrandMUNDIPHARMA PHARMACEUTICALS
Product / ServiceBETADINE MOUTHWASH
CategoryA02. OTC Applications
EntrantHAVAS MEDIA (MALAYSIA) Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
Media Agency 2 HAVAS MEDIA (MALAYSIA) Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
Entrant Company HAVAS MEDIA (MALAYSIA) Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
Media Agency HAVAS MEDIA (MALAYSIA) Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
Production Company THE FACTORY MUSIC STUDIO Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA

Credits

Name Company Position
M. Kanashan Havas Media Malaysia) General Manager
Marcus Kim Havas Media Malaysia) Digital Manager
Marry Tai Havas Media Malaysia) Digital Manager
Lydia Lai Havas Media Malaysia) Digital Manager

The Campaign

Gargling with salt water and other traditional rituals have been synonymous with sore throat remedies in Malaysia. Armed with knowledge that our competitors paid little attention to digital advertising channels and fueled by research that 14% of Malaysians claim to suffer from throat irritation more than once a week, we took the opportunity to be disruptive and create awareness for Betadine. The strategy was to challenge conventional thinking and to do this, we created a 3.30-minute made-for-YouTube video. We found a local comedian who was also a practicing doctor who would help debunk all common misconceptions. We targeted an urban audience of 'adopters' who were younger and didn't subscribe to commonplace "brand speakā€. Knowing we could never afford to air a 3.30min TVC, YouTube and Facebook were the obvious choice to spread our message. Furthermore, digital channels do not fall within the restrictions imposed by the Malaysian-Advertising-Board. The campaign resulted in a 500% sales growth for the brand, over 3 million views on YouTube (far exceeding any other healthcare brand in Malaysia) and generated positive verbal currency which the brand continues to enjoy. The video was also seen over 2 million times on Facebook and received over 518 comments.

The Brief

The plan was to be disruptive and communicate to an audience of 'adopters' who were younger and didn't subscribe to commonplace 'brand speak'. The campaign aimed at creating awareness by achieving over 1 million views on YouTube. We believed that consumers were simply not aware that such a product existed, seeing as no one was talking about or recommending Betadine to them. We set out to change and hoped this new awareness would lead to brand trial in store. The targeting was focused at an urban Malaysian audience where the product was readily available.

Creative Execution

The video was first made available on YouTube and Facebook in July, 2013 and ran for approximately 8 months. The video was promoted on Facebook via sponsored stories and YouTube via Pre-Roll ads to help get our initial audience that launched the viral forwarding effect. The execution of the video itself was what we believe made the ad successful. We used comedy to bring to life how silly traditional remedies to combat a sore throat was and made it clear that Betadine could help consumers in need. We spoke to consumers as if we knew exactly what was on their minds while staring at the screen. We made the video share worthy with its cheeky script and jokes. Compounded with many localised references, consumers knew that this was in fact a commercial made specifically for Malaysians that gave it even more credibility.

The video has been viewed on YouTube over 3M times. On Facebook the video was seen over 2M times. Amazingly 9,732 people became fans of Betadine Malaysia. We did not plan for fans as we felt consumers would not be willing to like a mouth wash brandpage! The video itself received 518 comments on both Facebook and YouTube with 50% of them indicating interest to try Betadine. Things really went viral when 2 celebrities did a video endorsement of our product as part of educating their own fans of how Betadine had saved them from falling seriously ill - each with over 100k views. Local bloggers too started doing write ups of their experience with Betadine. With regards to sales, we first noticed pharmacies making weekly instead of monthly orders which lead to sales soaring by 500% vs pre campaign volumes. Overall marketshare (mouthwash category) grew from 0.7% to 3.8%.

The strategy was to challenge conventional thinking - to challenge commonplace rituals that have been passed down from parent to child and from peer to peer. Gargling with salt water, sucking on lozenges and drinking herbal teas were the 3 most common remedies that only help relieve symptoms but did not combat the root cause. To do this, we created a 3.30-minute made for YouTube video. We had a BIG story to tell and that was the time needed to really make consumers understand what was held as crowd wisdom was downright silly and Betadine was a far superior solution. A well kept secret that only doctors knew about. We found a local comedian who was also a practicing doctor who would help debunk all common misconceptions. Knowing we could never afford to air a 3.30min TVC, YouTube and Facebook were the obvious choice to spread our message.

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