Background

CLINIC PLUS’S UNIQUE BOND WITH MOTHERS WAS WEAKENING At 86% penetration, Clinic Plus is India’s most penetrated FMCG brand and it’s reach is almost equal to water and electricity. With a 30 year legacy it is synonymous with the category for 200Mn+ households. However, In a fast-evolving & dynamic market, mothers felt that we’ve not moved with time - while seen as a trusted brand our imagery became staid. Amidst beauty-out brands with dazzling, slick & contemporary product narratives, Clinic Plus was seen as yesteryear brand not aspirational as it’s dazzling competitors. This imagery perception started to have a direct impact on the brand business health too, threatening Clinic Plus’s leadership. Thus the objective was to rekindle the brand’s imagery with mothers and hold on to market leader position.

Describe the strategy

INSPIRING BY SPEAKING THE UNSPOKEN From our extensive FGD sessions and Ethnographic research conducted, we realised that even after owning mother-daughter relationship for 30 years, we never voiced one primal desire of a mother - Wanting a life better for her daughter than her own and to go further than she ever could. This belief existed because girls in India are born unequal and are slaves to patriarchy. They grow with no rights, and slowly give up on their dreams. The mother has already lived this but now wants to change it. This observation led us to our brand insight of “Society clipped her wings but she wants her daughter to fly by growing up strong.” Clinic Plus wanted to leverage this inspiring insight from the mothers latent wishlist and be that supportive ally in helping her raise a foundationally strong daughter.

Describe the execution

GIVING FOUNDATIONAL STRENGTH A PURPOSEFUL MEANING We took a different creative approach than the usual category cliches. The core thought behind the campaign was to bring the functionality of the product (makes hair strong) and the insight of a mother towards her daughter (raising her strong) together in a seamless and authentic manner. We owned two powerful moments - The ritualistic hair moment and mother-daughter bonding moment and merged them to communicate ‘Lessons of Strength to Raise Them Foundationally Strong’. We released 2 powerful assets in the deepest pockets of every state unveiling the new Clinic Plus that inspires mothers to raise her daughter strong amidst prejudices. The first rollout was the POV film on hair strength (Tum Strong Ho – You’re Strong), followed by the purpose film on Daughter’s Day (#MeriBetiStrong – My Strong Daughter).

List the results

STRONG ROOTED ALWAYS GROWS HIGHER • 500bps increase in spont. awareness since rollout (from 79 in pre-campaign to 84 in post period). • Reversed losing of share: 2017 (-70 bps); 2018 (-140 bps); 2019 (-20bps); L3M Dc’19 (+40bps); 2020 (+120 bps, highest share gainer in the category). • For the 1st time in 3 years USG is ahead of market growth – despite the slowdown. (2019 Market Growth 4.7%; CP USG 5.7%). • Most penetrated FMCG brand at 81% penetration (2017), but added another 400bps to be now at 85% penetration after touch an all time high of 86% at the end of 2019. • 100bps increase in core attribute of “Makes Hair Strong” after relaunch. • Recognized as the “Personal Care Brand of the Year” in India in 2019 by The Advertising Club at Marquees 2019. • Daughter’s day digital film, Maa Se Strong(Stronger than Mom) garnered 50Mn views.

Please tell us how the brand purpose inspired the work

COUNTERING A CATEGORY DRIVEN ON SOV THROUGH POV In a highly cluttered shampoo category, functional propositions and manifestations become imperative to get consumer attention and loyalty. But market leader Clinic Plus took a different creative approach by not showing usual torture test or problem solution narrative, instead landing benefit story by unearthing a latent emotional desire of mothers and striking a purposeful chord. Thus, in a cluttered category where brands seek to own undifferentiated functional propositions, Clinic Plus held onto its leadership by exhibiting a higher-order inspiration for mothers.