2015 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Pond’s is a brand which has long stood for empowering women and celebrating femininity for over 150 years, but due to the late entry into the market place, our target audience was unaware of how the brand was relevant to them. In order for Pond’s to reach out to women, we had to talk to them about a relevant topic in the Middle East: female empowerment. This was based on the insight that most women in the region sacrifice their dreams to start a family. Pond’s employed three iconic Asian and Arab women who would act as the voice for Pond’s and what it stood for: if you look and feel good, you can achieve great things. Videos of these 3 opinion leaders were shared across all channels relevant to our target audience: on-ground activations, social media, TV shows, magazines (both offline and online) and outdoor, all with the purpose of getting them to share their dreams with us. Pond’s then gave one woman the chance to achieve her long- forgotten goal which was done through an intensive process of shortlisting and judging by the iconic opinion leaders. Our target audience were given the chance to come together, get inspired, share their goals and celebrate the goal of our winner: equipping children in war torn areas with technological skills. Not only did Pond’s create a huge impact on 1,653,098 women but they were also able to make the brand relevant through an unforgettable brand experience.

The Brief

The objective was to get women to share their goals with Pond’s and realize one woman’s efforts to reach her dream. This meant that Pond’s would need to get our target audience to understand the brand purpose and make the brand relevant in their lives. To reach out to women and get them involved, Pond’s had to talk to them about something that was relevant and a prevalent topic in the region: female empowerment through three iconic women from the Asian and Arab community. The grand finale was an event which united women from the region in, ‘Celebrating Femininity’.

Results

The event saw over 600 women attend the event which was double the expected number. Due to the chosen channels, Pond’s had over 1,653,098 women interact with campaign. There was also a proven growth of 32% in market share which meant not only were we able to increase awareness but also change the perception towards Pond’s resulting it be labelled as ‘Most often used brand’ with a brand equity increase of 7.14%. Social media witnessed an increase in over 10,000 followers and engagement on social media channels increased by 114%. Pond’s was also able to position themselves as second within the face care category beating competitors to being a brand which ‘Inspires women to feel more positive about themselves’ and ‘making you look and feel beautiful’. This led to the brand being most recommended with a net advocacy of 26%.

Execution

The campaign ran over five months and was divided into three main stages. The first stage involved airing the videos of our three opinion leaders across mall stands, TV shows, magazines and social media channels for three months. This got women talking about the brand and sharing their own goals with us. The second stage saw the 2 key activities take place: publicizing the event and shortlisting women with the most realistic and impactful dreams. Event details were showcased across social media channels, online magazines, TV shows, outdoor and malls stand activations for over one month. The aim was to get as many women to attend the event. The final stage of the campaign was the event, titled ‘Celebrating Femininity’ which aimed to have 300 women attend with the intention of giving our target audience a hands-on experience of what the brand stood for and it’s heritage of 150 years.

The Situation

For 150 years, Pond’s has been celebrating femininity across the world. Due to late entry into the market place, women were unaware of the brand and what it stood for: if you look and feel good, you can achieve great things. A lot of women in the Middle East sacrifice their dreams at an early age in order to start a family resulting in our target audience believing that it was too late to reignite their dreams. Pond’s wanted to change this and give women the chance to feel inspired and empowered.

The Strategy

Our three iconic opinion leaders shared with us stories of their struggles experienced on their own path to achievement. These stories were then shared across social media, TV shows, magazines and mall stand activations – channels which were relevant to our target audience. Women as a result were able to relate to these stories which gave them the chance to open- up to the brand on a personal level and share their own dreams with us. An event was also held to help bring together women, showcase their dreams, get inspired and allow one woman to realize her need to help children in the Middle East. By doing this, Pond’s was able to reach out to a larger target audience and educate them about the heritage and 150 years of expertise behind the brand while making it relevant to women’s lives.