SUMMARY Background Brand Strategy

Transcription

1 SMART AWARDS 2015 Best Overall Brand: Vamousse Ceuta Healthcare, Core Values, FKC, Starcom, Zeno & Intergage on behalf of TyraTech, Inc. SUMMARY This entry describes how Vamousse has benefitted from the use of an exceptional creative idea across multiple media and a first-in-category educational initiative. Independent Pharmacy has been at the forefront of these initiatives & has responded by supporting Vamousse to the extent that it over-trades substantially (accounting for one-third of all sales, despite deeper distribution in national accounts). With the breadth & quality of its support, Vamousse deserves to sit alongside the traditional big spenders in the Best Overall Brand category. Background The UK head lice market is dominated by three brands that deploy heavy-weight advertising & conventional marketing tactics to reach consumer & HCP audiences. Grandiose performance claims are commonplace in advertising & on front-of-pack (even if they contradict back-of-pack usage instructions). Qualitative research amongst customers revealed abnormal levels of frustration relative to other OTC categories. Head lice are notoriously difficult to eradicate, with blame commonly directed at ineffective products or other mums who fail to treat their children. However, there are mitigating factors that are little-known to these angry mums. Not only is head lice infestation particularly difficult to detect, but OTC treatments require diligent application &/or compliance with a demanding second treatment to break the cycle of infestation. Vamousse Treatment (Tyratech, Inc.) is different to other treatments in that it strips lice of their waxy exoskeleton and rapidly kills via desiccation. Vamousse kills 100% of lice & eggs within only 15 minutes of contact, thereby breaking the cycle of infestation and avoiding repeat treatment. Vamousse is delivered via an easy-to-apply mousse format which makes it easier to saturate the child s hair, which enables this combination of performance & format to meet consumer needs. Vamousse also features a Protective Shampoo to eradicate infestation before it spreads to friends and family. Brand Strategy Vamousse was still to become an established player (only one advertising campaign & six months in market) & had a modest marketing budget for 2016, so a commitment was made to the ingredients that underpinned launch success, i.e. innovation & sharp marketing. From a product perspective, the strategy was widened to take on two challenges, i.e. consolidate the immense success of the Vamousse Treatment launch and establish a role for Vamousse Shampoo. Highly distinctive, category-first brand properties were successfully utilised across strategies and communication channels to engage at a deeper level with pharmacy and customer audiences.

2 Communications AV Creative TV continued as the mainstay, amplifying a colourful creative idea that did justice to strong efficacy credentials & an attention-grabbing trademark. Building on mums sense of resignation at head lice returning, the 30 TV commercial tells the story of a new Sheriff (mum) who is confronted by a marauding Head Lice gang in the classic Western stand-off. However, it s high noon for these head lice as this Sheriff has something new. This TV copy communicates the key criteria of performance (kills 100% of lice & eggs in 15 minutes) & convenience (no need to reapply) that enable the Sheriff to dispatch the lice with a branded rallying cry of Vamousse, You Varmints! (Appendix 1) Media Ceuta identified a key characteristic of the head lice category (i.e. usage is disproportionately skewed towards children of primary school age) that led to an obsessive approach to targeting. As well as highindexing terrestrial channels & programming genres, Vamousse bought into a Sky platform that serves advertising only to households that contain 4-11 year old children. The big screen, Dolby sound, solid targeting and captive audiences that can be found in cinema provided a compelling rationale to leverage the TVC s production values. Vamousse advertised before new national releases (Disney s Inside Out, Minions) that appealed to families with primary school aged children. Mothers of children aged 4-11 are highly engaged with digital media, so the brand presence was extended into multiple channels via the creative idea. Targeting tools enabled AV collateral to be served on a highly targeted basis via online video & a pay-per-click campaign, with ongoing engagement being provided via website, Facebook & Twitter. In research, mums also referred to the challenge of keeping children still whilst combing a head lice treatment into their hair. Promotion of the Vamousse app game was extended to make mums lives easier by enabling them to keep children occupied during application. Sheriff Mum now introduces the app game on Vamousse packaging next to the usage instructions, making the application process less problematic for mums (appendix 2). Sheriff Mum became a key spokesperson in social media channels, recruiting a posse of sheriff deputies (blogger brand ambassadors) who could spark a groundswell of support on mummy blogger forums by issuing a rallying cry to Vamousse Those Varmints out of schools & communities (appendix 3).

3 Pharmacy Training The brand commitment to innovation inspired creation of a pharmacy-first training programme to establish Vamousse Protective Shampoo and enable pharmacy staff to pacify frustrated customers via education and awareness. Research had revealed low levels of familiarity with the impact of the head lice life cycle on epidemiology and the opportunity therein for a proven protection product. There was a clear requirement for a long-hand story (more suited to Pharmacy staff than the customer) to build awareness, encourage recommendation of appropriate products. Armed with this insight, TyraTech committed management time to the creation of a category-first modelling study that would merge clinical trial results with epidemiological data to create a model that could demonstrate how regular use of Vamousse Protective Shampoo can kill mature and nymph lice to eradicate the adult population, thereby breaking the cycle of infestation before it takes hold. A cross-functional R&D and marketing team was formed to translate complex results into training materials that could bring the story to life. Sheriff Mum and the pesky head lice were featured in memorable materials (detail aids, electronic sales presenters, talking head videos, an on-line training portal) with Sheriff Mum issuing a rallying cry to pharmacy staff. It s time to protect your town folk against head lice infestation. (Appendix 4) Detailing was supported with Head lice unwanted posters to drive consumers into stores; encouraging in-store dialogue that would enable pharmacy staff to draw on their knowledge and deliver a convincing product recommendation.

4 Results With a relatively small marketing budget, funds have been invested in growth-driving activities rather than market data at this stage. However, the success of the marketing campaign in 2015 is reflected in the following: Despite a modest share of voice, the sales response to Vamousse TV has been exceptional, with sales spikes outperforming category seasonality that is part-driven by competitors heavier spends. IRI cited Vamousse as a role model NPD launch in 2015, within the top-5 most successful OTC launches. Performance has driven a wider distribution base. Boots doubled the distribution of Treatment to over 1,600 stores and listed Shampoo in 500 stores. Tesco dual-sited Treatment on main fixture and in Pharmacy. Support for Vamousse within Independent Pharmacy sector has been outstanding. Independent Pharmacy now accounts for over one-third of sales, despite wider national account distribution. High levels of pharmacy staff engagement in Vamousse Protective Shampoo s training programme. Amongst 130+ trained pharmacy staff, 100% agreed the training was highly innovative programme and 88% felt more confident in their ability to advise customers. Digital & social media campaigns exceeded expectations, with online video & PPC campaigns driving KPIs in excess of industry norms (e.g. VTR of 62%). Deputy Sheriff mummy blogs exceeded page view expectations (198K vs 100K). Conclusion Vamousse competes in a big budget head lice category, but the absence of a competitive weight of spend served to emphasise the importance of thinking differently and playing to brand strengths. Through the creation of a Sheriff who protects her Wild West town from rampaging head lice and an innovative model that merges epidemiology and clinical trial data, Vamousse has enabled pharmacy staff and customers to join forces and unite behind the new rallying cry of Vamousse those Varmints!

5 Appendices Appendix 1: Hyperlink to TV Commercial Appendix 2: App game pack Appendix 3: Vamousse Blogger Posts

6 Appendix 4: Vamousse Protective Shampoo Training Materials Vamousse Protective Shampoo detail aid On-line portal Talking head video