2018 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

With our insight in hand, the Lifebuoy Handle on Hygiene was created at the heart of the campaign, to provide a solution at the moment where it could make the most impact. The innovation applies a thin layer of Hand sanitizer liquid to your trolley handle – killing 99.9% of germs with one simple swipe. Shoppers were now germ free for their entire shopper journey with just a swipe.

Creative Execution

The Handle on Hygiene 1.0 model took over 9 months of development. 6 prototypes were developed during the beta phase ensuring that the brand lived up to its promise. To get maximum exposure, Lifebuoy teamed up with supermarket giants Carrefour in the Middle East. Trolleys were equipped with the device overnight. As a result, shoppers were able to get a hold of a unique shopping trolley providing them with a germ free journey. Messaging on the handle clearly gave directions on how to use the product allowing shoppers to not only interact but also drive them to the Lifebuoy aisle. The initiative was further published across social media channels i.e. Facebook, YouTube. Consumers were shown how the product functioned and the benefits of a germ free shopping experience. Bloggers and online news channels gave the initiative thousands of impressions globally, changing the way shoppers perceive Lifebuoy as a brand.

Shoppers who engaged with the innovation found it protected them through their journey as they touched food, swiped and then retouched the handle. The 2015 pilot campaign produced 48% engagement rate with the device amongst unprompted shoppers, 53% sales increase for the brand and was introduced at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York. It received over 100 million media impressions (source: CISION) across global health and news networks. Due to the positive results of the pilot, in 2016, it was rolled-out in partnership with 9 key accounts to over 500 stores in China over a 40-day campaign. (SOURCE: Unilever Asia). The brand saw a sales increase of 321%. (SOURCE: Unilever Asia). 71% of unprompted shoppers noticed the device. (SOURCE: Unilever Asia, Shopper research). 80% of these intuitively swiped the handle. (SOURCE: Unilever Asia Shopper research). Purchase intent rose by 30%. (SOURCE: Unilever Asia run shopper interviews post visit).

With supermarkets being the final battleground for FMCG brands, it’s harder to stand out and change shopper behavior at the moment of truth. So our challenge was to use the power of PR and create something completely new and innovative that will boost the brand’s credibility in the market and get people to engage with the brand.

We developed a series of consumer purchase decision journey’s using agency proprietary research and discovered that consumers shopping lists predominantly included “soap” or “antiseptic soap” rather than a brand. If a brand was on it, it was always Dettol. With supermarkets being the final battleground for FMCG brands, it’s harder to stand out and change shopper behavior at the moment of truth. So our key focus was grabbing the attention of consumers just before they turned into shopper mode. We wanted to turn ‘soap’ or Dettol on lists into ‘Lifebuoy’. Our strategy was to “sensitise” them to let shoppers know that Lifebuoy exists and that it kills 99.9% of germs. Research carried out by University of Arizona found that shopping handles are home to over one million germs. Seven out of every ten handles were covered with fecal bacteria and Salmonella while E.Coli was identified in 50% of samples tested.