The Campaign

Singapore was suffering a bad dry spell and 1,000 forest fires were sending harmful haze to the city. Press and blogs were abuzz. Eye Mo wanted to join the conversation - since these moisturizing and anti-irritant drops protect eyes. Opinion leaders and journalists needed to take note of Eye Mo in a relevant way. Why would they write about a brand? We disguised the branded message as street art performance and invited opinion leaders (mailing & online-video), introducing two themes: the Asian art form of water calligraphy and a local calligraphy artist. We invited to one of 8 sites where the performance ran. Here, using water, the artist drew eyes on the pavement. As they dried away fast, speakers delivered the payoff: 'Do not let your eyes go dry. Use Eye Mo.' The audience was allowed to practice themselves. Obviously, the stunt was a striking demonstration for keeping eyes moisturized in heat and haze - 100% on product/brand. But: delivery as musical art performance, a local artist, and the opportunity to participate, made it a culturally relevant experience worth featuring. While the stunt involved people on site (+/- 1,000), PR was core to the success of the campaign: national and international broadcast lead to an aggregated non-paid reach of 32,402,878 people across 24 APAC territories (2,315,000 in Singapore alone = 45% of the population). A budget of S$7,500 achieved an advertising value of S$70,465 and a PR value of S$211,390 - a stunning ROI of over 3000%.

The Brief

We identified a huge opportunity for the brand to become part of the conversation - after all: eyes were affected by the heat and haze. Considering that Eye Mo is an OTC product readily on sale and accessible for everyone, and the fact that the entire population was affected, we were talking to the general public. The core message had public service quality: do not forget to protect your eyes. It would have to reach a large part of the city state and ideally even spread to adjacent markets (Malaysia, Indonesia). The S$7,500 budget discounted usage of traditional bought media.

Results

The cultural and localized story cleverly enveloped the branded message. And the direct involvement of press paid off: 11 non-paid media coverage in key local print and online; coverage in 4 of the nation's news channels, cutting across various demographic segments and racial profiles (Channel News Asia, English; Channel 5, English; Channel 8, Chinese; Suria, Malay). This in turn generated broad awareness for the originating brand and its core message - gaining strong visibility right on the peak of the drought and haze. The goals of reaching the general public were achieved: not only 1,000 people on location - the whole campaign garnered an estimated non-paid reach of 32,402,878 people across 24 territories (including 2,315,000 public, non-paid reach based in Singapore). The campaign delivered an advertising value of S$70,465 and Total PR Value of S$211,390 on a budget of only S$7,500 - an unbelievable ROI of over 3000%.

Execution

We collaborated with a Singaporean calligraphy artist and developed his first water calligraphy performance. At 8 iconic locations around town he used water to draw beautiful eyes on the pavement - underpinned by music. As the eyes dried away in the heat and haze the advertising message was delivered - multilingual for multinational Singapore via speakers: 'Don't let your eyes go dry - use Eye Mo.' Surprising, relevant, but also unobtrusive. More importantly the performance allowed for great footage. Pre-empting this performance, 20 opinion leaders and journalists received an invite as direct mail. It contained a piece of Singapore pavement, a brush, and a link to the home story of the local artist and his view on calligraphy - this createt instant interest and gave a reason to come to the site. Here, the artist answered questions. Post the event an online video of the stunt was made available.

The Situation

Eye Mo is a rather small, regional GSK OTC brand. The product has got anti-irritant and moisturizing qualities to help protect and clear eyes. On sale in and around Singapore only, it is not supported with a substantial marketing communications budget. Early 2014 Singapore was hit by the worst dry spell in over 100 years and hundreds of forest fires in neighbouring countries caused harmful haze polluting the sky. Press and media were widely covering both drought and haze - and their effect on people. But of course Eye Mo was not part of the conversation … yet.

The Strategy

The pressing problem was affecting people on the streets - a street stunt felt like the right approach. Knowing the hunger of local and regional media for stories with a strong cultural aspect and with impactful images, we developed a branded street stunt that worked more like a street art performance. This also took into account the strict limitations on out of home advertising in Singapore (no billboards; graffiti and littering are crimes). The performance was intended to create impact on the ground and allow audience participation, but its main drive was to generate wide media coverage. Hence opinion leaders and journalists were involved early and directly, receiving background information on the performance and the participating local artist, as well as invitations to the locations. The product played a role in the background, allowing media to pick up a current cultural event without being seen to overtly promote a brand.