Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

In Filipino, “mahiwaga” means magical, and it’s the best word to describe the partnership between the Philippines’ #1 conditioner brand, Cream Silk, and the long-haired front men of Filipino indie band, Ben&Ben. We turned a fan-made meme into a dream come true, which was the reason for the campaign’s inception, but purposefully created content experiences online that both Cream Silk enthusiasts and Ben&Ben fans will engage with. Thus in turn, not only helped increase brand affinity for Cream Silk during the pandemic, but also helped address the brand’s business problem – infrequent usage of conditioner.

Background

There was no brief! What we had was an opportunity brought about by the fans of a beloved Filipino folk band, Ben&Ben, which all started with a meme. With a “why not” attitude and dreams of taking the brand to new heights, we took a leap and struck the meme train while it was hot. We replied to Ben&Ben’s meme reposts with familiar lines from the band’s songs to tease about the possibility of a collaboration. And with a whopping 2M impressions within the first 4 hours, we just had to do more.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

With all the clamor from the fans, and the band on board, Cream Silk turned a meme into a dream come true. Inspired by the band’s chart-topping record “Araw-Araw” (Everyday), we developed the #CreamSilkArawAraw campaign, a music market development activation that educated Filipinas that shampoo alone is not enough and that they need to use a Conditioner everyday. Anchored around a branded reimagining of the original track, the new jingle “#CreamSilkArawAraw” features educational lyrics that strive to embed Cream Silk in consumers’ every day beauty regimen.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Cream Silk is the no.1 conditioner brand in the Philippines, empowering Filipina women with flip-worthy hair for more than 30 years. But for years, we’ve only featured portraits of the beautiful, confident Filipina in all our ads and on our bottles. Until a fan-made meme changed all that, and replaced our usual endorsers with that of the long-haired front men of the highly celebrated, progressive local band, Ben&Ben. It was all just made in good fun. The internet loved it. And so did the band. But what could we then do for the brand? The pandemic also threatened the conditioner category relevance. This was a magical opportunity to team up with Ben&Ben to launch the biggest market development campaign of the year.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

We launched the campaign through a fun unboxing vlog, featuring our limited edition Cream Silk x Ben&Ben merch and packs. These were made available on eCommerce sites during the Facebook live concert in partnership with ABS CBN, the largest broadcasting network in the Philippines. We monitored fan activity on digital to figure out the content they wanted, which included a meet and greet, a vlog collaboration with Miss Universe 2015 and Cream Silk endorser, Pia Wurtzbach, a short docu-film for their newest album release that tackles three songs that advocate for women empowerment, and the first ever virtual mini concert of the band exclusive for 50 fans selected from a UGC activation. But we didn’t stop there. Cream Silk made its biggest move in years by officially making the entire Ben&Ben band official Cream Silk endorsers for 2022. Proving that the unlikeliest sources can spark the most magical moments.

List the results (30% of vote)

Marketing Results: 26.3M reach 102M impressions 9.7M views 8.3M engagement 5.5M PR value in just a month and a half 83% more earned media vs PR spend Business Results: Penetration Increase: +300bps hares: +200bps *highest in 15 years USG Turnaround: From -11 to +2% Brand Power Share in Total Haircon: Still the strongest in the category E-Comm Growth: 330% growth from no. 11 brand to No. 2