Why is this work relevant for Social & Influencer?

A rapid increase in the usage of Social Media was seen during the lockdowns, in Sri Lanka. As a result the following of influencers also saw a rise. The main strategy of this campaign was dependent on selecting the relevant influencer to drive the message to our selected audience - who were very affluent and selective as the product offered was pricey and catered to a lavish lifestyle. The influencers were key showcasing the relatability of the product to the identified customer segment and their lifestyle to attract them as well as providing overall awareness on the product.

Background

With the heavy presence of seasonal offers and discounts, the biggest challenge for retail brands during the Sri Lankan Sinhala and Tamil New Year is to “break through the clutter” and “get creative” with promoting their products. Abans as a leading player in the Home & Electronics space in Sri Lanka was exploring ways to promote the ‘LG MasterCool’ Side-by-Side Refrigerator Series to its potential customers. Whilst we had a straightforward and clear set of objectives, 1. Build brand awareness and maximize reach 2. Drive sales of the 'LG MasterCool' Side by Side refrigerator series The timing and target audience of this “Sleep Over” campaign made it no easy task. It certainly was a challenge as this was the first festival post lockdown. With this in mind, we intentionally stepped aside from a predictable influencer-backed promotion and took on a fresh approach with a twist to deliver the campaign.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

With almost all brands gearing up to make the most of the festive season - post the lockdowns, we had to do something different to stay ahead of the pack. 1. People didn't have the opportunity to visit physical stores as they used to, due to the pandemic - so we staged a break-in at the Abans showroom. A man emerged from a refrigerator during after hours and spent some time at the store. CCTV footage of his entire stay was shared with a local gossip site to drive curiosity. Subtle hints to make it identifiable as the Abans showroom were placed in the footage released. 2. Once there was a buzz created around what happened, social media influencers were used for the reveal and to give the public more information on the stunt. They were used based on their followers to reveal certain features of the LG side-by-side refrigerator.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

The 'LG MasterCool' Side-by-Side refrigerator series is a premium product that appeals to a very specific segment of customers. Given the price point and nature of the product, it was important to identify and zero-in on the customer base – which was achieved through our proprietary research tools and gathering of insights. The customers of Abans, Singer (Competitor) and Softlogic (Competitor) were identified using their online (Apps, Number Masks) and offline (Point of Interest or POI) presence. The 3 segments’ demographic and behavioural attributes were thereafter analysed against the overall household bases to understand and identify the importance of certain attributes. Our analysis revealed that a large portion of the target customer base, predominantly young parents and couples with toddlers, were on social media with a considerable population within that group subscribing to video streaming. As a result we used video as a key element of our campaign.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

The execution of the campaign was carried out in 04 phases, 01. The Teaser This was a series of 3 short CCTV footage-based videos initially released on gossip sites followed by community pages carrying them to create a conversation around the incident. 02. Product Reveal Riding on the massive hype created by the teaser, we launched the “Product Reveal” by using a popular local talk-show host and influencer Danu Innasithamby, who along with the Abans Senior Brand Manager revealed information on this campaign about it being a stunt. 03. Product-Feature Communication Former Miss World Sri Lanka Amritaa De Silva and her husband along with a few other high-end influencers, subsequent to the reveal, made endorsements and carried out product reviews of the 'LG MasterCool' series of side-by-side refrigerators. 04. Maintaining the hype Any organic content generated during this campaign was amplified using our selected influencers to keep the momentum going.

List the results (30% of vote)

01. A SALES GROWTH of 110% during the month in which the campaign was executed. 02. Within 24 hours of the 1st teaser video release, the number of views exceeded 10,000. Thereafter a popular English news outlet, Daily Mirror, organically carried the story which generated over 20,000 views and 100+ comments within 04 hours. With Daily Mirror picking up on the teaser video, other popular influencers such as Gaia, Kapila and ADK also re-shared the story organically due to the hype created. Extensive traction on WhatsApp and other chat groups were also created with people trying to figure out if the teaser videos were a stunt or something that actually took place. People visited the Abans store and made inquiries about the incident as well. Lastly, an overall reach of over 500,000 organic views and 240+ shares within 2 weeks with Zero media cost.