The Campaign

According to a Nielsen survey, 78% of girls in India agree that they need to learn laundry, as they will have to do it when they grow up. Ariel took up the task to end the cycle of household inequality against women at home. Laundry is possibly the simplest household chore that anyone can do. Loading a washing machine with clothes, a scoop of Ariel and turning it on is arguably easier than measuring out water, tea and milk to make a cup of tea. Ariel wanted to involve dads in setting the right example for their children, especially for their little girls. We recognized that Dads are the ultimate hero for children and we wanted to remind dads that with great adoration comes great responsibility. Thus was born a powerful video communication that would tug the heart strings of mothers and fathers #DadsSharetheload.

Creative Execution

Paid media’s role was simple - to ensure that Ariel’s primary target audience of young mothers, who were balancing office and home, and who may or may not be frequent enough Facebook users to catch the latest “viral video”, still had an opportunity to see the communication. The topic became a conversation starter and a part of daily gossip of Indian woman. Film celebrities and bloggers took the topic far and wide. While paid advertising reached just over 10 million people, #DadSharetheLoad video got over 50 million views worldwide across all platforms. We took a great concept and used paid advertising effectively to reach the time-poor Ariel moms and their spouses and made a real difference in their lives. By using the right Facebook tools of Reach & Frequency and Custom Audiences based on Views, we made every rupee spent on the medium work harder.

1. Sales went up by 76% 2. Earned media over $11 million 3. Consumer engagement increased 4.6 times 4. Sheryl Sandberg and Melinda Gates endorsed our campaign, giving a Indian-based phenomena a Global recognition 5. On Women’s day #ShareTheLoad trended at No 1 6. 2.1 million Men pledged to #ShareTheLoad 7. 2 billion earned Impressions For every rupee spent on Facebook, we reached 3 unique young parents with the message of #DadSharetheLoad The campaign didn’t just achieve business results but also became the voice of the world. Most importantly, Ariel has helped remind Dads around the world that by sharing the load, they are helping not just their wives but also their children wash away the stain of inequality.

3 reasons why Ariel #DadsSharetheLoad is relevant 1) We used Facebook to reach young couples and got them to share the load 2) We used media innovatively and effectively to convey social message 3) Indian campaign based on breaking household inequality reached and was well received by 50 million people globally The campaign didn’t just achieve business results but also became the voice of the world.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Instead of talking to women about a superior detergent, we told their other halves how to do the laundry. We turned the category norm on its head and re-framed the conversation to equality at home. Brand created a powerful video. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and a mother, endorsed the video believing in equal participation by husbands and fathers in sharing the load. The video started going viral from day One. To maximize paid reach on Facebook our plan had 3 important differences from a standard Facebook media plan: (1) We used Facebook’s Reach and Frequency tool to deliver reach and control frequency (2) We created custom audiences so those who viewed the video were not shown the video again, stretching the advertising rupee to increase reach some more (3) We also targeted Indians settled abroad so they drive conversations back home