2016 Winners & Shortlists

HANDLE ON HYGIENE

Silver

Case Film

Presentation Image

BrandUNILEVER
Product/ServiceLIFEBUOY
EntrantMEMAC OGILVY Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryFast Moving Consumer Goods
Entrant Company MEMAC OGILVY Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Advertising Agency MEMAC OGILVY Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Advertising Agency 2 GEOMETRY GLOBAL Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Advertising Agency 3 OGILVY & MATHER SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE
Production Company MAGNET Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Campaign

Following global news hype and a study conducted by the University of Arizona about the dangerous types of bacteria found on grocery shopping cart handles, Lifebuoy - a world leader in hand hygiene - deployed an on-ground activation and PR awareness program in Dubai to address the issue and promote its product’s benefits of killing 99.9% of germs. To ensure an effective PR activation, we invented the Lifebuoy ‘Handle on Hygiene’, a world-first innovation which attaches to shopping cart handles that, when swiped across the bar, activates a layer of sanitizer gel killing 99.9% of bacteria - making it safe to touch. This was implemented across Carrefour Supermarkets in Dubai in a bid to raise awareness amongst local shoppers. The activation demonstrated Lifebuoy’s hygiene benefits to over 10,000 shoppers per day, incited debate about the issue and importantly helped to increase sales for the Lifebuoy product by 53% during the campaign period. We amplified the reach of Lifebuoy’s message through a wider PR program targeting on and offline news channels, medical health publications and incited conversations on social media through creative trade media and forums. The campaign reached international audiences being covered not only in the Middle East but also across Europe, Asia and America, which helped contribute to Lifebuoy’s brand engagement increasing by 43%. The crowning achievement was that benefits of Lifebuoy’s innovative ‘Handle on Hygiene’ were even discussed at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 in New York.

The Brief

Inspired by these shocking facts, we had two main objectives. Firstly, we wanted to raise awareness that good hand hygiene can prevent illness and show the public that germs are in unexpected places and not just the usual places such as kitchens and bathrooms. Secondly, we needed to encourage increased brand advocacy and purchase for Lifebuoy’s product. We needed to position Lifebuoy as the solution for shoppers, promoting the product as the best choice for safety – amplifying its key message of killing 99.9% of germs. The innovative Handle on Hygiene PR activation was used as a way to spread its story to a wider audience and firmly place Lifebuoy as the leading authority on personal hygiene.

Execution

Firstly, we invented the ‘Handle on Hygiene’ product, which would take center stage in the PR activation. It was a world-first innovation that applies a thin layer of sanitizer liquid direct to the shopping cart handle, protecting the shopper with one simple swipe. Then we partnered with Carrefour Supermarkets to implement the product at its stores in Dubai, where we were able to demonstrate Lifebuoy's hygiene benefits to over 10,000 shoppers per day and importantly – capture it all on video. Once we had our video content, we activated a wider PR program seeding the video with supporting news content to media on and offline in a bid to extend the campaign messages across the region. Spreading the story through medical, lifestyle, creative trade media and daily news media channels gave us greater reach and had a direct impact on the sales and awareness of the brand.

Output/Awareness: The campaign reached local, regional and international audiences with over 100 million global media impressions (according to Cision) - via a combination of 294 media articles and online news hits being covered not only in the Middle East but also across Europe, Asia and America, which helped contribute to Lifebuoy’s brand engagement / brand love increasing by 43%. Subsequently, Lifebuoy’s invention was spoken about all across the world through media, health experts and creative innovation publications. The crowning achievement was that benefits of Lifebuoy’s innovative ‘Handle on Hygiene’ were even discussed at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 in New York. Action/Business Impact: While the PR campaign activation demonstrated Lifebuoy’s hygiene benefits to over 10,000 shoppers per day instore, the subsequent PR campaign extended the debate about the issue and most importantly helped to increase sales for the Lifebuoy product by 53% during the campaign period. The project was so successful that Lifebuoy is currently rolling it out in African and Asia.

The Strategy

In order to tell Lifebuoy’s story in the most effective way, we believed we had to visualize the issue and show the product to consumers. They had to see it, use it and experience it – in order to address the issue and convey Lifebuoy’s key messages to its target audiences. Our approach was to host a PR activation in Dubai that would appeal to our main target audiences – shopping parents. To amplify this message, we would develop an impactful film that would accurately showcase the issue, capture the shoppers reactions and highlight the response to Lifebuoy’s solution to the problem – the ‘Handle on Hygiene’. We needed to create a single piece of content that could be used by a variety of different media channels – online and offline – to extend the campaign message to broader audiences.

Credits

Name Company Role
Ben Knight Geometry Global Dubai Executive Creative Director
Logan Allanson Geometry Global Dubai Associate Creative Director
Christian Louzado Geometry Global Dubai Inventor
Christian Louzado/Logan Allanson Geometry Global Dubai Art Director
Christian Louzado/Calvin Wei Sheau Yeng/Viko Ferrari/Rocelo Lamboloto Geometry Global Dubai Designer
Christian Louzado Geometry Global Dubai Copywriter
Nick Walsh Geometry Global Dubai General Manager
Anna Start Geometry Global Dubai Group Account Director
Siwar Khodr/Ivy Siby/Omar Bitar Geometry Global Dubai Client Services
Alvin Chin Geometry Global Dubai Head of Creative Services
Sami Moutran OgilvyPR PR Director
Andrew Shearer OgilvyPR Associate Account Director
Dalia Halabi/Sophie Wordley/Caroline Afara OgilvyPR Accounts Team
Bora Usal Unilever Gulf Marketing Manger
Zina Gorbacheva Unilever Gulf Brand Manager
Luke Morris Alchemy Films General Manager
Jordan Knight Alchemy Films Producer
Juan Cernadas Alchemy Films Director Of Photography
Ghassan Naji Alchemy Films Graphics
Souheil Zahreddine Freelance Editor