2010 Winners & Shortlists

POND’S IN THE MIDDLE EAST

BrandUNILEVER
Product/ServicePONDS
EntrantMEMAC OGILVY & MATHER Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Entrant Company:MEMAC OGILVY & MATHER Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Advertising Agency:MEMAC OGILVY & MATHER Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Credits

The Campaign

Pond’s, the women’s face care brand, was launching in Arabia, and we needed to make it the biggest launch Unilever Arabia had ever seen. This came with many challenges, as this region is already dominated with heavyweights such as L’Oreal and Olay. But our major challenge was that the GCC is home to many different cultures and nationalities, which means that not every social group can relate to and understand the same advertising. This made it trickier for us, as Pond’s is a women’s face care brand built on the foundation of romance, a personal and subjective topic. So we needed to come up with a campaign idea that would resonate throughout a diverse target audience, to launch Pond’s in Arabia.

Success of the Campaign

It was the biggest launch Unilever Arabia had ever seen. Our internal staff activity, engaged 1,049 staff members, which meant participation was 100%. All of the sales guys fully understood the brand and the power of romance, thus enabling them to confidently reach our target audience. Market share shot up from 0% to 17.1% within the first 6 months, while our closest competitors took 3 years to achieve the same.

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

1 month prior to the launch of Pond’s, we set out to excite and engage internal staff, and our sales team. We handed out 1,049 pre-planted red tulip bulbs to every internal staff member in the GCC. These tulips acted as a metaphor for the brand itself. And like launching a new brand, staff had to grow, nurture and love their tulip. Next, we needed to convince our sales guys about romance, the foundation of Pond’s. Every week for a month, we sent them romantic gifts for them to give to their wives. We turned boring sales guys into romantic husbands, which led to their own belief in Pond’s. The night before the launch, we merchandised Pond’s in 793 stores across the GCC with customised POS, offering tailor-made promotions to appeal to the different target groups. We adapted 2 global TVC’s, and created a dedicated Middle East Pond’s website.

Credits

Name Company Role
Till Hohmann Memac Ogilvy/Mather Dubai Executive Creative Director
Robin Smith Memac Ogilvy Action Creative Director
Liesel Tiemesmann/Gary Rolf Memac Ogilvy Action Art Director
Tuline Maleki/James Bisset/Nisha Wagh Memac Ogilvy Action Copywriter
Ushma Kana/Rana Bassil Memac Ogilvy Action Graphic Designer
Gregory Richmann/Sukesh Babu Memac Ogilvy/Mather Dubai Production
Simon Joseph Unilever Marketing Manager/Face Care Arabia
Richard Woodward Memac Ogilvy/Mather Dubai Client Business Director
Nick Walsh Memac Ogilvy Action Account Director
Leila Amar Memac Ogilvy Pr Pr Account Director
Meabh O'reilly Memac Ogilvy Pr Pr Account Manager
Rana Awad Memac Ogilvy Pr Pr Account Executive
Intesar Adenwala Memac Ogilvy/Mather Dubai Client Servicing Director
Atul Shenoy Memac Ogilvy/Mather Dubai Account Director
Benoit Freyburger/Abeer Elawar Memac Ogilvy/Mather Dubai Account Manager
Nada Othman Memac Ogilvy/Mather Dubai Account Executive
George Giessen Memac Ogilvy/Mather Dubai Planner
Rafael Rizuto/Regina Groffi Memac Ogilvy/Mather Dubai Art Director
Dalbir Singh Memac Ogilvy/Mather Dubai Creative Director
Media Agency Unilever Media