The Campaign

The message ‘sharing is bad’ had to be carefully targeted towards mothers. The AdBoard, as well as the brand itself, was very strict about not teaching the wrong values to impressionable children. So the design of the book was carefully thought out to ensured the message would be hidden from children, and only be read by moms.

Results

Problem Johnson’s has dedicated numerous years to understanding child skin care. They are the leaders in the liquid wash category. But the increase in mothers shifting form liquid soap to family soap has resulted in an alarming sales drop-off to -2% in early 2015. Studies show that 67.5% of moms transition their toddlers to family soap. Not realizing that their toddler’s skin is still developing. And harsh soap can cause dryness, irritation, and impede proper skin development. Insight Moms love to teach their kids the value of sharing. Not realizing that sharing can be harmful too, especially when sharing family soap. So we decided to create an unusual educational campaign. One that would teach moms why sharing can sometimes be bad, while teaching their kids that sharing is good. Execution We authored The Sharing Story. A book about not sharing soap, hidden in a book about sharing. We spread the education through posters that showed moms how sharing isn’t for everything and could lead to harmful consequences. Like sharing hugs with a cactus or sharing a chocolate bar with a carnivorous reptile. And online, we released posters to teach mom when sharing is good and when sharing is bad.

The book was released in-store and on tumblr. A downloadable PDF file was also made available on site. Online posters were shared on Johnson’s Facebook page, and were boosted targeting other mothers as well.

Johnson’s Bath sales spiked up to +2% on its first few weeks of launch. The tumblr page shows that visitors spend an average of 2.30 minutes on site, finishing the full six page book. 15% of all visitors have downloaded the book.

67.5% of Filipino moms share family soap with their toddlers. But a toddler’s skin is still developing and can’t take the harsh chemicals in adult soap. So Johnson’s needed to teach moms that sometimes sharing is bad. We authored The Sharing Story. A book about not sharing soap, hidden in a book about sharing. The book was designed using patterns and a color printing technique to hide text from plain sight. The secret story could only be read with made-for-mom glasses. The book was released in stores and on tumblr, also with a downloadable PDF version. We continued the education through shareable online posters showing how sharing can be harmful. Like with a cactus sharing thorny soap, or with an alien sharing slimey, gooey soap.