ANTI-BACTERIAL RED PACKET

Short List
TitleANTI-BACTERIAL RED PACKET
BrandUNILEVER CHINA
Product / ServiceLIFEBUOY TOTAL 10 BAR SOAP
CategoryB01. Fast Moving Consumer Goods
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
Derek Lui BBH China Copywriter
Woody Pan BBH China Art Director
YoYo Yang 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
Jonathan Koh BBH China Engagement Planner

The Campaign

To launch its anti-bacterial soap in China, Lifebuoy took an unconventional approach, and created an experience that incorporated the product Into China’s most culturally salient context - Chinese New Year (CNY) and a practical utility in the hands of its consumers. During this time parents are concerned with keeping their kids healthy amidst a storm of germ-covered cash gifts via traditional red packets. Introducing: Lifebuoy Red Packets, the first Chinese New Year red packet made of anti-bacterial soap. It not only functioned as an envelope in which to give money, kids could also use our red packet to wash their hands and be germ-free. Our red packets were distributed at schools and community centers. They became a timely utility with which to celebrate the New Year, it also gave consumers a hands-on introduction to our product.

The Brief

The brand had only been in market for a few months, hence our client’s priority on creating brand awareness. But due to a minimal budget awareness could not be achieved via traditional channels alone. Thus we made it our goal to create a valuable utility that could cut through the holiday clutter and gain attention on its own without spending big budgets on ATL media.

Results

- The brand awareness has increased by 1.7 - Over the Chinese New Year period (from 17th to 25th Feb), Lifebuoy’s Red Packet campaign received 1.77 million views on Weibo, with over 2,300 shares and comments. - It received over 150,000 reads on WeChat. - Lifebuoy received coverage on over 20 industry websites - Lifebuoy’s Baidu Search Index increased over 300%.

Execution

We created a special red packet to mark Chinese New Year - made completely out of Lifebuoy anti-bacterial soap. Parents used it to contain cash gifts for their children, and after children opened them they could use the packet to actually wash their hands; effectively killing germs at a crucial time. To do this, 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 train terminals and airports across the country. We seeded posts on video sites Youku and Qiy, and social media feeds WeChat and Weibo.

The Situation

Lifebuoy is one of the world’s leading anti-bacterial soap brands, but it was a late entrant to China- a market dominated by brands with big media budgets. Our challenger position was further exaggerated by the context of the campaign period, CNY, the most cluttered and competitive media environment when size of TV budgets determine share of voice. Furthermore, CNY sees 3.6b 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.

The Strategy

Our starting point was the question: ‘where is our audience’s attention during this frenetic time of Chinese New Year? The answer was two-fold: 1) Keeping their kids healthy during a travel-packed and stressful holiday period (CNY is a time when 3.6billion passenger trips are made within China); and 2) Red-packets, an age-old medium of gifting cash, passed between adults and children. The problem? The cash notes inside are covered with an average of 10m germs! We landed on an approach that focused on creating an experience and utility for Chinese parents in the specific context of Chinese New Year. This meant not creating content that would simply add to the clutter; instead we shifted the conversation to the question: ‘How can we work together with parents to kill germs; and get parents to try Lifebuoy?’