Why is this work relevant for Media?

Durex “Always Come Prepared” is a media campaign to help stop the spread of HIV by educating young Filipinos on safe sex, a taboo subject in predominantly Catholic Philippines. Durex integrated itself within culture by being present in relevant channels and topics that made it natural for the youth to include Durex in their conversations. All media used was personal, intimate, and shareable. This bold move broke the stigma of talking about sex and condoms, transformed Durex to a highly relevant brand among the youth and exceeded business KPIs and media industry benchmarks.

Background

The Philippines recorded the highest HIV infection growth rate in APAC with a 174% increase in new cases since 2010. 32 people are diagnosed everyday --- majority were teenagers and young adults. The numbers are alarming! One thing is clear: There is a REAL and IMMEDIATE need for safe sex to curb the infection. Durex, the leading condom brand in a flat category, took it as a mission to help stop the spread of HIV, tackling the issue head-on. Durex’s objective is to educate the Filipino youth on safe sex, the need for protection to drive brand growth and increase market share by +500 bps by end-campaign.

Describe the creative idea/insights (30% of vote)

In the Philippines with 86% of its population being Roman Catholics, marketing condoms, especially to the youth, was not an easy task. The subject was sensitive and rather taboo. The threat of HIV is repressed and set aside. Teenagers and young adults have low to non-existent perception of risk. The challenge was how to engage them. We needed to think and act like our audience. We needed to integrate Durex within their culture. The idea was inspired on how one should properly act as if it’s their first sexual encounter – and that is to always come prepared. Always Come Prepared is a movement to stop the spread of HIV by educating young adults on safe sex and protection with Durex condoms. The idea of “Always Come Prepared” is to use condom as key visual, executed in funny, punny and quirky ways, using moment marketing, to spark conversations.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

The target market are Filipino youth with focus on universities and Business Processing Offices (BPOs, where incidence of HIV is at its highest.) The strategy is to integrate Durex within their world and for the brand to think and act like its audience. Durex was seamlessly incorporated in relevant spaces and topics that made it natural for the youth to include Durex in their conversations. We used fun and quirky visuals using condoms as the key element to bring the conversation on the threat of HIV more understandable and engaging but also remain serious All media used was personal, intimate, and shareable. We activated conversation-starter channels with social media at the heart of the integrated campaign. This brave and bold move to put condom up front, left, right and center, both open and intimate, to educate the target audience on HIV, took out the taboos on this sensitive topic.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

The campaign launched simultaneously across all channels in September 2018. Content was boosted in Facebook via RF and auction buys. Our hashtag #AlwaysComePrepared ruled Twitter’s trending topics for 24 hours together with promoted tweets. Radio was used via the trio of funny, irreverent DJs of Boys Night Out, discussing on-air relevant topics on HIV prevention, testing, STDs, sexual encounters and condom usage. A microsite contained all relevant information about the campaign, amplified via Google Search, capturing intent. Activations in universities and BPOs (where incidence of HIV was at its highest) and strategic partnerships with organizations sharing the same mission were integrated as part of the whole campaign. The quirkiness of our content spawned many versions depending on topics that piqued our audience’s interest and were boosted on Facebook and promoted tweets as well as radio discussions until Dec 2018. We continued to trend-jack relevant content until 2019.

List the results (30% of vote)

The campaign was a huge success, exceeding both business KPIs and industry benchmarks! 1. Durex’s market share grew by an unprecedented, record-high +912bps, exceeding its target of 500bps. 2. Twitter cited the campaign “Best in Class”; shattering country benchmarks: 6M+ trend impressions (170%); 854K promoted tweet impressions (114%); 2.7% engagement rate (180%) 3. Facebook ad recall rates recorded 12pt-lift, 73% higher than APAC benchmark. 4. Facebook content in Sep-Dec had a 396% lift in engagements, averaging at 84,000 per week. 5. Search volumes increased +67%. Intent to learn was high – translating to a 9.8% CTR vs. 5% benchmark. 6. #AlwaysComePrepared was featured in various articles, with combined media efforts yielding 161.4M impressions in the 4-month period. 7. The campaign won “Best in Media Creativity” in the 2018 4As AOY and garnered four awards in the Philippine Association of National Advertisers’ PANAta Awards, including gold “Brand Rookie of the Year.”