2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

In a market where people think specialised toothpaste is an indulgence, we had to grab and retain attention until they were converts. We needed to jolt them out of their avoidance habit, which is hard to break because there’s always shiny new Dubai things to spend that extra money on. Hence, Sensitivity-Free Food. Its originality and relevance got their attention and nudged into action, breaking through cultural holdbacks. It was activated through social still/video content, media and most importantly, food tastings –a very popular activity in the UAE. Thus, giving the audience an unexpected experience from a niche, medical-feeling brand.

Background

In the UAE, 1 in 2 people suffer from sensitive teeth. Out of those, 48% of them don't treat it at all. Sensodyne is the #1 solution to fight teeth sensitivity. And even though its awareness levels are as high as 99%, knowing that the brand offers the best way to take care of their sensitivity pain is not convincing enough for them to switch from regular toothpaste to Sensodyne. Moreover, Sensodyne is a premium-priced toothpaste, costing almost AED 10 (USD 2.7) more than any other regular toothpaste. Hence, price is the #1 barrier as declared by sensitivity-sufferers who are non-treaters. That is because toothpaste is seen as something you HAVE to buy, not something you purchase to help fix a problem. The brand had a massive opportunity to increase its penetration, but how do you convince hard-headed sensitivity sufferers that prefer to withstand pain instead of treating it effectively?

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

We created Sensitivity-Free Food, a world-first launch of unique food products for Sensodyne. Partnering with a chef specialised in molecular gastronomy, three popular foods that spark sensitivity pain were modified: ice cream, lemonade and coffee. Since our audience mainly avoided cold, acidic and hot foods, these were perfect for attracting maximum eyeballs and taste-buds. The news of this trendy-sounding food spread the word everywhere, and as we intended, got the non-treaters/food-avoiders out into the open and on social platforms. Then, while presenting them with the underwhelming taste of these inventions at the tastings, we turned the bad reactions in our favour by reminding them of the most common sensical solution: Sensodyne toothpaste. At every step, we ensured that the foods created delicious buzz for Sensodyne, making the most convincing, yet entertaining case for consumers to use its real products to start enjoying their favourite foods in its original forms.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

In the region, when it comes to medical issues, people are willing to wait for their problem to get really bad before they take action. So, in the case of sensitivity, you have 70% of non-treaters who prefer avoiding some of their favorite foods instead of investing AED 10 more on Sensodyne to solve their problem. Through research, we discovered that 40% of them hide from cold food or drinks like ice cream or lemonade and 24% hide from hot food or drinks like coffee. So 48% of sensitivity sufferers are actually hiding from food! Thus, we knew that we had to make them feel stupid about their decision. The way forward was to convince them that not only hiding from food is foolish, but that Sensodyne is the no-brainer solution to fight teeth sensitivity and get back to enjoying things like ice cream or coffee.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

To create Sensitivity-Free Food, we started out at a culinary lab with a molecular gastronomist chef. First, we analysed and isolated the sensitivity triggers in each. For example: sharp frozen crystals in ice cream, acidic citric elements in lemonade and so on. Then, carefully extracted these while stabilising colour, texture and flavour. To launch, we teased and indulged audiences with appetising shots of these foods across different social platforms and touchpoints in media. We also took these specific foods for on ground tastings with influencers and real people who are sensitivity-sufferers. The foods were a failure as the taste just wasn’t set up to be appetising! But after every reaction, we presented them with the truly effective solution for sensitivity pain: Sensodyne. All this was captured for an online film and social content, shot in the genuine prank-video style that gets social media salivating.

List the results (30% of vote)

Every person who took part in the tastings declared that the newly created sensitivity-free foods were a huge failure – exactly what we wanted to achieve to highlight that the only solution to fight teeth sensitivity is Sensodyne. On top of that, in the first month after launched, the campaign obtained a 23 Million Reach, 42 Million Views, 30% Increase in Sales, and millions of impressions.

Please tell us about the social behaviour and / or cultural insights that inspired your campaign

In the UAE, because of culture, most people wait until they wait for a health problem to go south until they willingly visit the doctor, or in this case, the dentist. Since 1 in 2 suffers from teeth sensitivity, we are talking about 50% of the population that go through an annoying sensation when eating hot or cold foods and end up hiding from foods they like such as ice cream, coffee, lemonade, etc. When we stumbled upon the data we couldn't understand how someone is willing to stop eating ice cream (especially in a country where you NEED it constantly because of the heat) just because they don't want to invest 3 more dollars on toothpaste to avoid keep enjoying food properly.