2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Background

Finish dishwasher tablets have historically advertised to audiences in the region through rational product benefits. However declining sales indicated that the traditional way was not working how it once used to. Coupled with the fact that the overall dishwasher category had stagnated, a different approach was required. As the category leader and with stagnating product sales and category growth, the challenge was to sell more dishwashing tablets Success would be measured on the basis of 1. Growth in dishwasher tablet sales (KP1 +10%) 2. Growth in off take/consumption growth (KPI +10%)

The Interpretation of the Challenge (30% of vote)

Handwashing dishes although time consuming, seen as a chore and comparatively unhygienic, continues to be a dominant practice in Saudi households. Finish upholds the importance of hygiene and convenience that the chore of traditional dishwashing fails to deliver. For years, these attributes directed the manner in which Finish marketed functional benefits of automated dishwashing to a country where penetration of dishwashers was low (11.3% in KSA vs. 42.6% in UAE). It was clear, that in a region where dishwashers were not what people grew up with and hiring of domestic help is prevalent, function alone was not enough to break the barrier of cost. The traditional approach had led to plateauing category growth (and thus product sales). As the category leader, the challenge of selling more dishwashing tablets in a stagnating category had to be addressed through a longer-term strategy to future proof the brand’s market share and sales.

The Insight / Breakthrough Thinking (30% of vote)

Our approach to data driven creativity is based on decoding key data points that illuminate category and consumer understanding to spark work that moves individuals. This was achieved in 2 parts. Category Data: Total Households in KSA - 4,875,000 Total Dishwasher Penetration - 550,875 (11.3%) Outcome: Sell more dishwashers to sell more dishwasher tablets. Consumer Data: • Saudi women washed at least 15000 dishes by hand, amounting to 15 precious days wasted every year. • The modern Saudi woman wants a sense of agency, but respects tradition. In other words, she wants to be ‘free to’ (not free from) - create her own direction, express her individuality and her purpose. However, she is increasingly pressed for time. Outcome: To shift the idea of dishwashing being a chore to a symbol of freedom, so she can spend time doing what matters most, that doing the dishes.

The Creative Idea (20% of vote)

With only 11.3% category penetration in Saudi Arabia (compared to 42.6% in UAE for reference) if we convinced people to buy more dishwashers, they would need more dishwashing tablets. Hence, we rewired our marketing strategy to instead - sell dishwashers (a product that Finish and parent company Reckitt Benckiser did not manufacture) The strategic push for the creative narrative - Get a dishwasher. Finish the dishes. To make the shift at an emotional level and as category leaders, we had the great responsibility to change the idea of dishwashing from being a chore to a symbol of freedom. The new brand promise - Dishes shouldn’t get in the way of what you love. So, whatever it is that you love, go and do it and we’ll take care of the dishes. Creative Idea - Do more than dishes More meaningful things. More fun things. More of what you love.

The Outcome / Results (20% of vote)

Business: • Increase in dishwasher sales - 24% increase (New KPI & Benchmark Set) • Dishwasher detergent category growth – 12% increase • Finish sales growth – 30% increase. (KPI= 10%) • Finish offtake/consumption growth -15% increase (KPI= 10%) Media: • Reach: Hygiene 55% (over-achieved by 11%), Impact On Life 23% (over-achieved by 15%) Value For Money 63% (over-achieved by 26%) • VTR: 34% (over-achieved by 89%) • CTR: 0.29% (over-achieved by 61%) • 55m impressions (double average engagement) • 12.1m total reach Brand Lift studies: • Hygiene – 11.5% lift in Ad Recall. • Impact on Life – 17.1% lift in Ad Recall and 10.8% lift Brand Awareness. • Value-for-Money – 8.8% lift in Ad Recall and 9.9% lift in Consideration. The campaign received global acknowledgement and created new industry benchmarks. More importantly, the results reflected that we were successful in turning a chore into a symbol of freedom.