Summary
Leave Germs Behind! To build awareness about Listerine® and it's benefits we tapped into that all-pervasive feeling of wanting to leave 2020 behind. There was a lot that people wanted to erase/ forget about 2020 and start over in the coming year. We created parallels between the things people wanted to leave behind in 2020, and the things they should leave behind in 2020 - with the help of Listerine®.
Challenge
Let's be honest. Nobody really thinks about oral hygiene unless they've got a problem - like a cavity that becomes a dreaded root canal, or someone shrinking away from you, and later telling you that they could smell the garlic sauce you ate for lunch. When it comes to caring for teeth and gums, people tend to assume that if it ain't broke, it don't need fixing. So why add another product to your oral hygiene routine? Isn't just brushing your teeth enough? No, it isn't. To really be germ-free, we need mouthwash. But Listerine® dug deep, and found out that in India, mouthwash is a very niche, under-developed category with an estimated penetration of only 2-3%. And that is just millions of cavities and clouds of bad breath, waiting to happen.
Objective
Listerine® wanted to raise awareness of the importance of mouthwash in an oral care routine. But when you tell people to do something responsible, for the good of their own health, especially their oral care, they tend to turn a deaf ear. So we needed to make people look at oral care in a fun, light-hearted manner, that would neither cause embarrassment, nor be scoffed at.
Strategy
2020 was rough. People just couldn't wait for the year to be over. With the New Year around the corner, people were talking about all the things they couldn't wait to be rid off - and the pandemic was top of mind. New Year is also a time for resolutions - and the one resolution that tops almost everyone's list, is health related (such as lose weight, get fit, achieve better overall health and so on.) And so it struck us - just like we were suggesting mashing up toothpaste and mouthwash into one unified and powerful oral care routine, could we mashup the desire to leave 2020 behind, with the desire to be healthier into one dual-insight, powerful campaign? And so the strategy was born - to leave behind the old, stinky year, and all the lack of poor hygiene habits that it came with, as we moved into the new year with fresh hope, and a germ-free mouth. In a line - we wanted to exhort people to leave germs behind, with the help of Listerine®. To create emotional resonance, we needed to take slice of life moments that people could identify with. The situations we presented needed to be recognisable, but not boring. We needed to dramatize them in a way that would highlight our product, and the solution it offered.
Data
Warning - stinky facts ahead. India is a tricky market for oral hygiene. 51% of the Indian audience uses toothbrush and toothpaste to clean their teeth on a daily basis. That's just barely more than half. From this 51%, only 28% of the audience brushes their teeth twice a day. That means that almost two-thirds of the country actually brush their teeth just once a day. We also have about 85%-90% adults with dental cavities and over 60-80% of children suffer from cavities too! (Source: The Borgen Project) And as we touched upon earlier - mouthwash's estimated penetration is a meagre 2-3%! (Source: client data) To grab attention in this market, we needed to join people in their conversations. And so Listerine® started tracking trends. Data showed that people wanted to leave behind their unhealthy habits in 2020 - with over 70% of Indians saying that they would prioritise dietary changes over going to a gym or fitness centre to improve overall health, immunity and lower stress and anxiety. (Source: Economic Times) 26% would also like to make meditation a higher priority and a whopping 65% indicated their increased reliance on medical and nutritional experts to help achieve their health and wellness goals. With a health and wellness zeitgeist of sorts in the making, it seemed 2021 was going to be a healthier year for Indians! And that's where Listerine® found it's core communication and space.
Solution
To stand out and build awareness about the product, Listerine® tapped into the feeling of "leaving 2020 behind". After the year everyone was having, this communication would resonate with everyone while also getting them interested in our product. As people were getting ready for their New Year resolutions, the brand tapped into the situation that would capture the essence of 2020 - the Caveman approach to personal hygiene. The Caveman approach to hygiene, or cavewoman approach when it comes to women, is typified by long, unkempt hair, including beards for the men, and a general unbathed look. To drive home our product and its benefits, we created a parallel between "the unkempt look" or as we like to call it, the caveman look, and nasty germs - as both needed to be left behind, in 2020.
Results
This communication helped Listerine® find its place in a lot of bathrooms! Reach : 20 Mn Impressions : 78.5 Clicks : 4,38,865 Views : 4.6 Mn Views Visits : 1,78,124 This simple little campaign smashed industry benchmarks in terms of CTRs & VTRs FB & IG : The industry benchmark for CTR was 0.25% whereas the brand outperformed with over 0.80% The industry benchmark for VTR was 35% and the brand performance was 52% Youtube : The industry benchmark for CTR was 0.25% while the brand had 0.35% and for VTRs the benchmark was for 25% and again the brand outperformed with a 35% VTR. Going to show that if you make fun communication, people will watch it all the way through, and even click on it.
