Why is this work relevant for PR?

“New Nose” is a device created within a rebranding campaign for the laundry detergent “New Beads” to peak interest among the younger generation living alone, and raise awareness about the importance of laundry. "New Beads" was a brand loved by housewives who watch TV commercials, but the younger generation had to be engaged through different mediums. “New Nose" was designed to create an engaging experience. With its android-like design, funny voice characters, weather API, and targeted media channels (lifestyle/ IT & gadgets/Buzz words/ viral video), it managed to raise brand awareness and activate a new layer of potential customers.

Background

Floral scent detergent "New Beads" was released in 1963, and it's been popular among housewives ever since. This time, our challenge was how to gain popularity among the younger generation. A survey among 423 people aged between 15-30 old, polled that over 60% of them use the ‘sniff test’ to determine whether their clothes need washing. But then again, we thought nobody really wants to sniff for bad smells. This is how we developed the prototype for "New Nose" - The Laundry Smell Checker. Shaped as a nose, it announces the smell assessment through sound and light notifications, and it's also linked to a weather app to give you laundry advice. "New Nose" acts like your second nose and sniffs clothes on your behalf. It gained recognition among young people through press tours, short presentation movies, articles and social media related posts.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

The main objective was gaining recognition among young people, who are mainly indifferent to which laundry detergent brand they choose. This targeted group rarely watches TV commercials, and therefore has little access to such related information. We aimed to raise brand awareness by using key words such as "odor", "smell", "laundry" within news articles on tech media platforms, and social media channels.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

"New Nose" is perfect for those who use the sniff test to check if their clothes need washing. The android-like design, together with the light notifications and the funny voice characters turned out to be a good match for our targeted public. What used to be a brand loved by housewives, went further into gaining popularity among the younger generation, and managed to rebrand itself as advanced technology targeted towards them.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

The project was released in summer, the season when the smell of one's clothes becomes a real concern. In Japan, Aug. 7th marks the nose/flower day, a humorous play on words. The development, including the smell sensors took three months, while the project and presentation movies was produced over two months. One week before the release date we held a press release, to present the features of the prototype to the related media, and get featured on as many relevant media platforms as possible starting with Aug. 7th.

List the results (30% of vote)

"New Nose" is perfect for those who use the sniff test to check if their clothes need washing. The android-like design, together with the light notifications and the funny voice characters turned out to be a good match for our targeted public. What used to be a brand loved by housewives, went further into gaining popularity among the younger generation, and managed to rebrand itself as advanced technology targeted towards them.