The Campaign

This decline is attributed to the decrease in frequency of usage. Men did not see the relevance of using deodorant on a daily basis because they think they are not active and do not perspire much everyday anyway.

Creative Execution

Rexona's 2017 thematic campaign utilizes basketball legend and 2-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry. This is ideal in the Philippines, the only basketball-crazy country in Southeast Asia. Rexona partnered with Waze and took advantage of the app's latest feature as soon as it was launched: customized voice recordings. Now the Waze user stuck in the world's worst traffic could get MVP tips and directions on the road, as well as in life, via the Rexona MVP (Mobile Voice Pack). Instead of an in-app ad that delayed their use of Waze and could get irritating, users saw a native ad that supported the thematic message and improved utility by letting them download the voice pack in one tap, to immediately use on their drive. (Downloading and installing an extra voice pack usually takes many more steps.) A Facebook page post encouraged the audience to install Waze and download the Rexona MVP.

With a budget of less than US $50,000 -- APP PERFORMANCE: o 680,000 hours total drive time using the Mobile Voice Pack o 10 million kilometers' worth of total distance covered using the Mobile Voice Pack o 2.3 million impressions from the Waze Takeover Ads in 1 month o Total of 58,412 voice changes in 1 month (35,000 of downloads organic) o Most downloaded Waze Voice in the Philippines in just 1 month o Uplift of 74% Rexona brand recall due to the Rexona Takeover (based on Waze study) BRAND SALES: o Contributed to 18% growth of the Rexona Men Ice Cool variant: from -9% in February 2017 to 9% as of October 2017 INCREMENTAL: o Ride-sharing services such as Uber or Grab make up 8% of Waze Users in the country, so the Branded Voice is exposed to their passengers as well.

As a brand that champions movement, Rexona managed to make itself relevant and entertaining to a situation when movement is severely hampered. The brand seized the opportunity to feature its top endorser's voice in a channel where users spend the most idle time with - on Waze, the utility app that offers the best ways to navigate out of Metro Manila traffic (the world's worst). Beyond the usual in-app banner ad, Rexona's partnership with Waze enabled the users to download the branded voice in just a single tap, making installation easier and less intrusive.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Rexona Deodorant champions active movement. But it's hard to move when you live in the city declared as having "the worst traffic on Earth" by Waze, the world's largest navigation app. Metro Manila also topped the list for the longest time spent commuting from home to work, with an average time of 45.5 minutes. What better time to be highly relevant and remind people to keep moving than when they're stuck? So Rexona forged a partnership with Waze.