The Campaign

In China, the financial burden of raising a child means fathers’ primary focus is making money from work. Consequently, many Chinese women feel a false sense of “single motherhood” with husbands only seeing their wives <1 hour per day. To matters worse, in China men are not allowed in the ultrasound rooms to see or hear their unborn baby. This exclusion creates a separation between the couple, and research indicates that expectant Chinese fathers feel they miss out on momentous moments in their life that they can never get back. Elevit had a natural competitive advantage against the leading brand, Scrianen as it contained twice as much folic acid. However, despite this, China’s restrictive government legislation bans this information from being advertised directly to consumers. How could we get prospective parents’ attention and stand out from Scrianen when we can’t talk about our unique product benefits or influence healthcare professionals?

Creative Execution

We created a device to enable Chinese fathers to say their first hello to their unborn children which allowed them to physically feel the baby’s heartbeat alongside a recording of their baby’s ultrasound. Those experiences were then filmed, produced as branded content and distributed to a tightly targeted audience of expectant parents – identified through programmatic video media. Using the parents’ unique online behavioural data on search, we created specific profiles to tag our very specific target audience. Through this precise targeting, we served ads to expectant couples that directed them to Elevit’s campaign site to get more tips on co-parenting, and gave them the opportunity to watch more branded content. We then re-targeted those who interacted with our campaign to purchase through e-commerce and receive a limited-edition gift pack that included the exclusive Elevit heartbeat tracker for a chance to record and remember that special moment.

In the face of regulatory restrictions, the campaign bridged a consumer need and used media technology to bring Chinese expecting couples closer together to foster a healthier next generation. For the first time ever, Scrianen’s purchase intention decreased (-58%). During the campaign, all competitors also saw purchase intention decrease, while Elevit’s purchase intention increased by 22%. (2016. June vs. 2016 July) 14.1 Million unique viewers watched the branded content and nearly 1.4 Million went to our campaign site to watch and read more about Elevit and the campaign. Through our media strategy, we also achieved an on-target rate of 40% where the accepted industry benchmark is only 30%. Beyond that, the campaign also achieved substantial reach, engagement, and social lifts with social buzz increasing 88% post campaign.

Men in China are not permitted to accompany their partners to the first ultrasound of their unborn child. Elevit tapped on this opportunity to provide couples with a high-value benefit in a credible hospital setting, using this platform to promote their superior Pre-Natal Multi Vitamin Supplements (PMVS), delivering relevant messaging, leading to trial and purchase. Breaking through the noise of the market leader - Scrianen - was critical to success in a country limited by strict government legislation surrounding medical communications, and the uplift in business reflected this new approach.

These insights helped us see an opportunity for Elevit to bring Chinese parents-to-be closer together and enable them to experience something unique. Without the ability to deliver advertising messages around Elevit’s unique product benefit of helping babies develop to be strong and healthy, we had to find another way to drive brand preference. Our campaign was built not around product benefits but focused on giving future parents something that Chinese society made it difficult for them to achieve themselves: the ability for a couple to more fully share the pregnancy experience. Finding something unique to bond the couple would provide a communication opportunity and a platform for deeper message impact, especially when the father could be actively involved. Creating small moments of shared joy during the pregnancy journey meant we would be able to deliver exponential value to the campaign and the brand.