Insights, Strategy and the Idea:
Sometimes a product benefit is so
incredible that consumers won't believe it. Would you buy a fabric
conditioner that claimed to provide anti-mosquito protection?
Downy AntiBac does exactly that. We
knew that the product offered an easy way for mums to protect their
children from mosquitoes but we had to make consumers believe. Our
target audience simply could not associate fabric conditioner with
mosquito repellent.
Confronting the believability barrier
would also overcome other challenges stacked against us: consumers
regarded the category as an unnecessary luxury and Downy AntiBac is
double the cost of its closest rival.
With mosquito-borne dengue affecting
thousands of children every year in the Philippines, mosquitoes are
a real threat that worries mothers everyday.
Our strategy was to create a public
health campaign to drive home the credibility of our claims. The
message was timed for the rainy season (Jul-Oct), when the risk of
dengue is highest.
Creative Execution:
We inserted our message into the heart
of the editorial environment to directly confront the believability
issue: our recommendation would come from independent voices.
We partnered with top TV morning news
programmes and created a month-long mosquito watch segment, where
news personalities and entomologists educated mothers on the
dangers of mosquitoes and how to protect their children. Downy
AntiBac was integrated into the content as a simple solution.
We created a real-time recorded demo
that showed how clothes washed with Downy AntiBac repelled
mosquitoes versus fabric not washed with Downy AntiBac. Seeded on
YouTube, it drove word-of-mouth and enhanced the credibility of the
product. Celebrity mums and bloggers who saw the video recommended
the product onto fellow mums. A celebrity mum testimonial was then
aired on leading TV networks.
Our message, structured as a public
health alert, successfully drove home the fact that Downy AntiBac
really does provide mosquito protection.
Results and Effectiveness:
Our strategy delivered 32% sales
increase year-on-year, exceeding targets by 19%. Downy AntiBac is
now the biggest variant of Downy Philippines.
Highest value share (25.6%) and
penetration (17.6%) of households were reached.
Downy drove growth in the category,
securing 70% of increased sales.
P&G is rolling out the strategy to
other markets.