By Malay Desai
From: Israel, created by McCann Digital
For the launch of a new product, the baby diaper brand created an online campaign, which asked parents to post their baby videos on their website. Israel’s iconic sports commentator Zoheir Bahalul was then asked to comment upon each and the videos were posted back to the parents and on the website and social media, creating huge traction.
Why we Like
Want to appreciate or experience an outstanding advertising film or campaign? Step outside the automobile/sports shoe zone for a moment. No robbing credit from those who’ve done great work there, but they had public sentiment, slow-mo visuals and high-octane soundtracks to their disposal. But how does one create an uncluttered campaign for a product like diapers, that too online? Here’s one way.
For reasons we are still reading up on, Israel’s baby diaper market is highly competitive; in fact supermarkets are regularly at price wars and brands are ready to oblige. The market leader and almost a generic name for diapers -- Huggies -- must reinvent its communication all the time to keep ahead in the race. First by picking the Olympic season to launch their new product -- Freedom Plus and then giving a ‘pro’ feel to the campaign, the agency tapped into aspirations of the parents.
The X-factor of this project isn’t difficult to point out -- the country’s most famous sports commentator for the past two decades was asked to lace the baby videos with his commentary, thereby adding a new dimension to the activity. Making a contest to post some cute-ness and rewarding it is one thing, and getting one of the most renowned voices of the country to add a personal touch to the cuteness is another. While cuteness itself does half the job (who doesn’t like to look at tumbling toddlers?), the x-factor ensures all the parents and their friends make the campaign viral. And by the way, the number of internet users in Israel is high enough for an online campaign to be done with total seriousness and big budgets.
The numbers at the end legitimized the interactive campaign, Huggies got 40,000 unique visitors, each spending a substantial two-plus minutes on it.
We can easily co-relate a Harsha Bhogle doing similar antics for us but we have many other high-recall voices that can be used to power bright campaigns. Meanwhile, we hope our baby powders/soaps/shampoos, etc. watch this one and realise that fluffy butts and smiley cheeks of children isn’t the only approach… in fact it’s now a blind spot. ‘Personalise’ to interact is the keyword, and we bet your client will find you cute if you do.
