2019 Winners & Shortlists

Background.

SITUATION The anti-dandruff shampoo market is saturated and stagnating. Head & Shoulders is facing a fierce competition from more affordable brands, the lack of conversation around dandruff and the declining perceptual importance of anti-dandruff shampoo in the eyes of younger customers. BRIEF To relaunch the brand and appeal to a younger audience by telling them that Head & Shoulders is an effective anti-dandruff solution that remove dandruff and scalp worries, allowing them to feel confident about themselves. OBJECTIVES Market penetration: • To grow the anti-dandruff segment to 32% (+4%) by acquiring new loyal customers. • To keep Head & Shoulders on top of consumers’ mind and grow sales. • To increase frequency of usage and sales volume by getting existing customers to use Head & Shoulders on a daily basis.

Describe the creative idea.

Since looks and image are everything in the Arab world and nobody talks about dandruff, we made everyone laugh at it with our original dandruff jokes. FUNNY THINGS OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD. A series of 14 webisodes starring Middle East’s biggest stand-up comedians and a full house of comedy fans. An original comedy show that made everyone laughed their head off dandruff-free.

Describe the strategy.

TARGET AUDIENCE The younger crowd (18-25) in Head & Shoulders’ existing customer base and the competitions’. Penetrations of social networks in the Middle East is higher than the global average and they are particularly popular among young Saudi Arabians as they cater to freedom of expression. The region’s young generation loves to use social media for sharing social commentaries and funny content. COMMUNICATION STRATEGY • Keep dandruff on top of consumers’ mind with a sharable funny content that get talked about. • Break the age-old mold and formula of anti-dandruff commercials to appeal to a younger audience. • Create perceptual brand differentiation by refreshing Head & Shoulders’ brand persona. CULTURAL TENSION In the Middle East, it’s a taboo to have dandruff and to talk about it. So we turned this belief on its head and made everyone laugh at it.

Describe the execution.

We wrote original dandruff jokes and hosted an unbranded live show in Dubai titled FUNNY THINGS OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD starring Middle East’s biggest stand-up comedians: Ali Al Sayed (UAE), Nemr Abou Nassar (Lebanon), Bader Saleh (KSA), Ahmad Al Shammari (Kuwait) and Khalid Mansour (Egypt). We then launched 14 webisodes on social media. First totally unbranded. Then fully branded. We then toured around the region (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan) to spread more laughter. It was a huge success that it is planned to become a permanent yearly event. MEDIA STRATEGY To widen our reach and impact, first we hosted the live event and seeded the online webisodes through the comedians’ social media channels all totally unbranded. Once it gained momentum, we branded the online series and pushed them further with unskippable and sponsored ads across YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as through the comedians’ channels.

List the results.

• 19.4+ million views • 79% completion rate • 140,332+ comments • 4.18+ million shares • +36% brand recall • +1.7% sales growth • +1.2 market share • $1.09 million in earned media