ANTI-BACTERIAL RED PACKET

TitleANTI-BACTERIAL RED PACKET
BrandUNILEVER CHINA
Product / ServiceLIFEBUOY TOTAL 10 BAR SOAP
CategoryB02. Flyers, Tickets, Invitations, Postcards, Calendars, Christmas and other Greetings Cards
EntrantBBH CHINA Shanghai, CHINA
Entrant Company BBH CHINA Shanghai, CHINA
Advertising Agency BBH CHINA Shanghai, CHINA

Credits

Name Company Position
Johnny Tan BBH China Chief Creative Officer
Leo Zhang BBH China Executive Creative Director
Jay Qian BBH China Creative Director
Jeffrey Sun BBH China Creative Director
Woody Pan BBH China Art Director
Summer She BBH China Copywriter
Janel Kok BBH Live Head of Operation
Ella Cao BBH Live Producer
Iris Zhang BBH Live Production Assistant
Leo Liu BBH Live Director/Editor
Billy Zhou BBH Live Editor
Christine Ng BBH China Managing Director
Elvis Li BBH China Business Director
Rei Zhang BBH China Associate Account Director
Cobain Chen BBH China Account Executive
Ruby He BBH China Account Executive
Derek Lui BBH China Copywriter
Jonathan Koh BBH China Engagement planner
YoYo Yang BBH China Art Director

Brief Explanation

The brief from our client was to create brand awareness during the Chinese New Year holiday- the most cluttered media environment where size of media budget typically determine share of voice. This is also a time when 3.6 billion Chinese make trips across the country to see family, making them even harder to reach. We needed to create something topical that would cut through the clutter and something that could exist at the very heart of the holiday. Our aim was to create an experience that put the product into consumers' hands and gave them a reason to try.

The Brief

Lifebuoy is one of the world's leading anti-bacterial soap brands, but it was a late entrant to China- a market dominated by long-established, brands with big media budgets like Safeguard. In the face of this challenge, we were given zero ATL media budget, forcing us to consider alternative approaches. Our target audience is Chinese moms with young children. They are concerned with one major thing: keeping their kids healthy, especially during Chinese New Year holiday in which 3.6b people in China travel to see family, making it an especially easy time to catch germs.

How the final design was conceived

Our research found that over $17billion worth of Chinese RMB is exchanged during Chinese New Year period through cash gifting in Red Packets. And not surprisingly, this cash is covered with over 10m germs! As an opportunity space for designing a new product, this was the medium that deserved our attention. We also knew that Chinese parents are concerned with keeping their kids healthy during Chinese New Year. Much like Christmas in the West, Chinese New Year is a stress-filled and travel-packed week (3.6b passenger trips are made during CNY). We first had to find a laboratory in Shanghai that could produce red packets with anti-bacterial soap tough enough to serve as envelopes, and still effectively kill germs when used as soap. The packets were then distributed over the 9-day period at schools and neighborhood community centers across the country. We seeded posts on video sites Youku and Qiy, and social media feeds WeChat and Weibo.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

We created the first Chinese New Year red packet made completely out of anti-bacterial soap. Parents used it to contain cash gifts for their children, and after children opened them they could use the packets to actually wash their hands; effectively killing germs at a crucial time. This product created an experience that seamlessly integrated our product into the Chinese New Year gifting ritual, while encouraging parents and kids to wash their hands with Lifebuoy soap. It wasn't just a product placement- it was an essential part of the experience.