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).
Direct and Promo & Activation is the best means to create immediate impact on the sales of the product. With shoppers unable to differentiate between product offerings, it was essential to build brand love to gain foothold in the market.
So in order to grab our shoppers’ attention, our challenge was to stand out from the clutter of brands. To do so, we needed to attract them before they entered the store and switched to shopper mode.
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.
So our key focus was grabbing the attention of consumers at the right moment, just before they turned into shopper mode. We wanted to turn ‘soap’ or Dettol on lists into ‘Lifebuoy’.
Though people have a general concept of good hygiene habits, shoppers are unaware of the dangers that lurk on supermarket trolleys. 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.
Our strategy was to “sensitise” shoppers and let them know that Lifebuoy exists and kills 99.9% of germs.