2012 Silver Effie Winner
“Breathe Happy Global Campaign”
Category: Global
Brand/Client: Febreze/Ambi Pur / Procter & Gamble
Lead Agency: Grey Worldwide
Contributing Agencies: Possible WorldWide, G2, MSL, SMG
Markets
Country 1*
Dates
USA
July 7, 2011 - Oct 31, 2011
Country 2 *
UK
Aug 1, 2011 - Oct 31, 2011
Country 3
Italy
Sep 25, 2011 - Oct 31, 2011
Country 4
Mexico
May 5, 2011 - Oct 31, 2011
Total number of countries in which the case ran or is currently running: 17
Total number of regions in which the case ran or is currently running: 5
*Must be among the top five countries for your case in terms of overall media spend
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Criteria used to determine top four markets
The four markets determined here, are among the most significant markets for the Febreze / Ambi
Pur business, either in terms of current revenue or recognized as an opportunity for significant future
revenue. They were chosen specifically as they demonstrate the diversity of marketing challenges in
different parts of the world, which the campaign needed to accommodate. Due to the complex global
marketing scenario (explained in part 5a) these included: launching the brand in Mexico, refreshing
the brand in the USA and UK, re-positioning the Ambi Pur brand and launching new product lines in
Europe.
USA
Key marketing challenge: A very established brand in a highly competitive market, Febreze
suffered from a diluted brand equity and low advertising brand attribution, so was struggling to get
the attention it needed to sustain growth in market.
Scale: North America is the largest Febreze market in the world representing 43% total revenue
and has the largest media spend.
UK
-
Key marketing challenge: Refresh an established brand in a highly competitive market.
Scale: Largest market in Western Europe, representing 25% total revenue.
Italy
Key marketing challenge: Launch Ambi Pur’s first line of aerosol products into an established
market while re-positioning the Ambi Pur brand.
Scale: Represents 7% of Western Europe total revenue.
Mexico
Launch the Febreze brand for the first time in Latin America.
Scale: Identified as key growth market in Latin America. Previously no market presence.
Strategic Challenge
Febreze originally entered the air care category in 1998, launching in the USA with a revolutionary
product. Rather than simply perfuming the air, its unique formula actually eliminates odors and replaces
them with a light scent to leave your home smelling clean and fresh. Since launching, the brand has
achieved ongoing business success by expanding its portfolio with new product launches and extending
into new markets globally, while continuing to increase penetration and consumption of its core
products.
In 2010, as part of the continued growth plans in the air care category, P&G acquired the Ambi Pur
brand. They wanted to re-position the brand as not only providing freshness but eliminating odors as
well. In 2011, just prior to the Breathe Happy campaign, Febreze entered P&G’s ‘hall of fame’ as it’s
24th global billion-dollar brand, marking a key chapter in the brand’s history. Such success breeds
grand ambitions. P&G’s goal for Febreze / Ambi Pur is to double its global revenue in the next 5 years.
This created an incredibly challenging global marketing scenario. Each market faced very different
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challenges, made more complicated by the introduction of a second brand within the portfolio. We
needed a single idea, which would work across different markets, different competitive landscapes and
pressures, different market positions, different portfolios, different brand names and that’s before we
get to our target audience who have different cultures, different languages, different attitudes towards
air care category, and different degrees of comfort with talking about odors in their home.
Globally, our challenge was to re-position the newly acquired Ambi Pur brand and produce the first
single campaign to support a wide portfolio of products. Historically Febreze had succeeded by
presenting its unique odor eliminating capabilities in a way, which was relevant to people’s lives. By
making people aware of how our products could improve their home environment in new and different
ways we had consistently driven trial and high levels of loyalty, which we needed to continue.
Locally, the market challenges were diverse:
USA – Since launching, our competitors have launched similar products, diluting our odor elimination
equity and reducing our ability to charge a premium. The category’s similar looking communications
exacerbated the issue as consumers struggled to tell the brands apart. We needed to re-establish
Febreze’s superior odor elimination equity to maintain a premium in a highly competitive market place.
UK – A similar marketing environment to the USA. We needed to standout in a crowded ‘me-too’
category to re-establish Febreze as THE odor eliminating brand.
Italy – Launch Ambi Pur’s first aerosol product, ‘Air Effects’, into an established air care market and
initiate the repositioning of the Ambi Pur brand.
Mexico – Launch the Febreze brand for the first time with Febreze ‘Air Effects’ aerosol.
Objectives
USA
Business Objective: Reverse Febreze’s $ sales trend, by increasing sales by 10% vs. YA
Marketing Objective 1: Generate buzz for the Febreze brand and advertising
A) Earned media impressions to exceed P&G launch norms of 350MM
B) Blogger participation to exceed previous Febreze response rate levels of 10%
C) Febreze Facebook fans to increase from 235k to 600k by end of 2011
Marketing Objective 2: Drive distinctiveness for the Febreze brand and advertising
A) Reclaim single ownership of odor elimination equity attribute
B) Correct attribution of brand messaging to exceed 71% norm
UK
Business Objective: Increase value share 10% vs. previous year
Marketing Objective: Generate buzz for the Febreze brand
As Awareness data was not available in UK. WOM figures and Facebook fans and were used to gauge if
consumers were talking about and participating in the campaign
Italy
Business Objective: Successfully launch new aerosol product by achieving 7% value share and 4.2%
volume share within 3 months of launch
Marketing Objective: Achieve 15% advertising awareness in line with category average
Mexico
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Business Objective: Achieve 25% share of aerosol segment within 3 months of launch
Marketing Objective: Achieve 30% brand awareness within 3 months of launch.
Insight
In search of a globally relevant universal human truth
Previously our advertising had been developed on a market-by-market basis, using local insights to
present how Febreze can improve lives. While we would attempt to re-apply advertising copy in
different parts of the world, this was often problematic due to obvious language barriers, un-relatable
casting but most importantly the insights did not translate well as they were so heavily rooted in local
culture. For example, in Asia people remove their shoes when they come home, creating specific odor
concerns due to the pile up of smelly footwear by the door and bare feet on the carpets. However,
this practice is largely non-existent elsewhere. Shared bathrooms at University or College, and their
related odors, are familiar in USA and Europe but are very uncommon in Latin America. Similarly, the
type of humor, which worked well in the USA did not translate well to Europe, where tastes are
slightly different.
In order to create an idea, which would work across the globe, we realized that we needed to find a
globally relevant universal human truth. Something everyone could relate to. It could not be reliant
on a cultural, or market related factor but needed to be born from a more fundamental observation
about how people all over the world relate to air-care in the context of their homes, particularly in
terms of removing odors and replacing them with a light fresh scent.
An immersive research plan
A review of air care category communications across the globe observed that brands consistently
exaggerated product claims dramatizing them as beautiful freshness fantasies. Subsequent focus
groups (Source: Agency Research, April 2010) uncovered that this approach created a category of
‘broken promises’ as, in reality, the products could not live up to their claims, making the
communications less compelling.
A visit to the Febreze R&D facilities helped us realize that when scents are presented in a particular
way, our perceptions can be significantly enhanced with remarkable effects. At the facility our sense
of smell was assessed using the same tests P&G technicians undergo before qualifying to become
some of the best ‘noses’ in the industry. We encountered scents of different ages, strengths and
descriptions in various ways that demonstrated how capable our noses are in detecting odors (and
how effective Febreze is in eliminating them). We smelled a huge variety of fragrances, from rose
petals to skunk, experiencing powerful reactions to different scents, for ourselves.
In order to understand our consumers in our key markets we conducted research in Toronto, Atlanta,
New York, London and Madrid. We deprived loyal Febreze users of their beloved product to see what
they missed. We pitted Febreze lovers against lovers of our competitors to see how loyal they were
and why. We met our competitors’ users to understand their negative perceptions and barriers to
using Febreze. This allowed us to understand what makes Febreze special to people and the unique
role it plays in their lives. In-home visits allowed us to immerse ourselves in our consumer’s world
getting deep under their skin, listening to what they said about their homes but also seeing and
smelling the environments for ourselves. Accompanied shopping trips allowed us to see how people
make their final decision at the critical point of purchase.
Overall three insights became key to the development of the creative idea:
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1. People’s reactions to bad smells are greater than their reactions to nice ones
Focus groups re-affirmed our understanding that our audience wants to create a ‘welcoming home’ by
keeping it clean, tidy and fresh, but bad smells can destroy this atmosphere. It was not just that the
threat of malodors makes them feel uncomfortable, but their passionate description of disgusting,
unpleasant smells, which made us think that focusing the drama on the problem could be more
effective than presenting the solution.
2. What we smell can be more important than what we see
In-home interviews helped us understand our role in creating a ‘welcoming home’ in greater depth,
uncovering our most influential insight: When judging if her home is ‘welcoming’, a messy looking
home can still be clean, but a smelly home can never be clean. This was best encapsulated by one
respondent’s comment on the issue: “When you walk into an unappealing room, you can close your
eyes, but you can’t turn off your nose.”
3. Smelling is believing
Shop-alongs revealed the surprising tendencies for people to spray the product in the aisle, even
when re-purchasing the same product, reminding us that when all is said and done, first hand
experience of the product is vitally important in influencing her choice of brand.
Once the creative work was developed it was shared with consumers in key markets, who embraced
the idea in the same way irrespective of their region:
“I really enjoyed the ad. It was funny and it looked real. I was surprised at the power of Febreze, how
it made that gross room smell good. I would definitely buy it more often.”
USA Respondent
“I thought it was a good commercial. The fact that they had people blindfolded in a stinky room and
they thought it smelled good, really makes you think that the product works good.”
USA Respondent
“Good advertisement, well thought out. The product must do a good job if those in the advert did not
know they were sitting on an old sofa.”
UK Respondent
“I thought it was very funny to have people sitting in the dark room that would seem to be very
smelly. It really gets the message across about getting rid of the bad odours from fabric.”
UK Respondent
“The ad fulfilled its mission. Its an uncommon ad that represents the function of an air freshener, not
like in other ads where they present everything in a beautiful way.”
Spanish Respondent
“I liked it a lot, above all the people’s reaction when they take off their blindfold. This makes it
believable to me since they are normal people.”
Spanish Respondent
“People in a room. Funny because the room was dirty and they were saying it was clean.”
Mexican Respondent
“Febreze is a very innovative brand because it’s product is able to neutralize the aroma. You can see
that because there is a very dirty room but it smells fine.”
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Mexican Respondent
The Big Idea
Involve real people in visceral experiences to prove Febreze / Ambi Pur makes even the
filthiest places smell nice, no matter what they look like.
Bringing the Idea to Life
Conceptually we knew we had a strong idea. Consumers loved it, it defied category conventions and we
were confident the products could live up to the brand’s promise. But now we had to make it work in
reality. The idea first manifested itself as a real first-person experience in New York. We located a number
of smelly places and transformed them using Febreze. R&D specialists had verified that the rooms
smelled gross moments before, but would our participants notice anything? We recruited people off the
street and blindfolded them, before guiding them into the space to see what their noses would tell them
about their environment. The results were astounding.
While we could see they were sitting on a scruffy couch sniffing an old comforter, they would tell us “it
smells like children’s blankets”, “like an open field” or “like a beach”. When they removed their blindfolds
they were amazed by how their senses had been deceived with the help of Febreze’s odor eliminating
power. On-lookers found the experience equally powerful, seeing a disgusting room, while hearing people
describe unexpectedly pleasant and evocative scents.
Additional executions were developed with input from local agencies in different parts of the world at the
very early stages of creative development to ensure the executional nuances were locally relevant.
Different experiences focused on the different spaces and situations our products could be used: from the
living room to the bathroom, on sweaty sports kits or after cooking. We repeated the ‘Couch experience’
in Berlin, a city chosen specifically because of its international demographic, and were able to shoot
footage with English, German, and French respondents recruited straight off the street. We conducted
further experiences with Spanish, Italian and Dutch speaking participants in a Berlin Locker Room. A
similar experiment was then conducted in a hotel room in Argentina to create footage for Latin America.
In order to bring the campaign to life in a more tangible way, beyond TV and ensure the brand feels
locally relevant and in touch with each market’s audience, the TV spots were complimented with live
experiences, which were developed at a local level: In the USA we sponsored a Yoga event in Times
Square and featured at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, helping people to breathe happy in some of the
smelliest parts of America. We asked our Facebook fans were they would like us to help them breathe
happy, allowing us to meet people who wanted us to help them eliminate odors like their 130 pound
bulldog or their husband who smelled like sour milk. In the UK we placed a man in a box for three days in
the centre of London’s largest inner city shopping centre and asked our Facebook fans which odors they
would like us to put in the box with him before Febreze demonstrated that it could eliminate them and
leave the space smelling clean and fresh to hundreds of onlookers. In Italy we developed a TV
partnership with a leading station whereby the local celebrity conducted a series of his own experiments.
In Mexico we created a truck containing a messy bedroom and a filthy kitchen, which took to the road to
allow the masses to experience the power of Febreze first hand. Each of these local experiences was
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supported with additional media, encouraging people to get involved and then spreading the result of the
effects with a wider audience.
So far we have aired the ‘Locker Room experience’ in Spain, Italy, Holland, UK, France and Portugal; the
‘Couch experience’ in USA, Canada, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, UK and France; the ‘Hotel experience’
in USA, Canada, Poland, Russia, Mexico, Peru and Colombia; the ‘Restaurant experience’ in USA and
Canada, the ‘Thrift shop experience’ in Canada and the ‘House experience’ in Australia to name but a few.
Communications Touch Points
Consumer Touch Points
Country 1
TV (Spots, branded content, sponsorship on TV, product placement)
Country 2
Country 3
USA
UK
Italy
USA
UK
Italy
Interactive (Online ads, web site, viral video, video skins/bugs, social
networking sites, podcasts, gaming, mobile phone)
OOH (Airport, transit, billboard, place-based)
USA
UK
Italy
PR
USA
UK
Italy
Country 4
Mexico
Radio (Spots, merchandizing, program/content)
Print (Trade/professional, newspaper, consumer magazine, print
partnership)
Online Print (e.g. online ads in a print publications’ online entity).
Direct (Mail, Email)
Guerrilla (Street teams, tagging, wraps, buzz , ambient media,
sampling/trial)
Retail Experience (POP, video, in-store, sales promotion, retailtainment)
Events
Mexico
USA
USA
UK
UK
Italy
Italy
USA
UK
Italy
Mexico
Packaging
Product Design
Consumer Involvement (WOM, consumer-generated, viral)
Cinema
Trade Shows
USA
Sponsorship
Italy
Other - write in the following column
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Media Expenditures
Total Media Expenditures
Country 1
Country 2
Country 3
Country
4
USA
UK
Italy
Mexico
Total Budget Range for this case from 9/1/08 - 10/31/11
spent in each country
Average budget for this case for one year out of last
three years spent in this country
Indicate the approximate % of the case's total
media budget over the past three years spent in
each country. E.g. If your total media budget was X
for the case over 10 countries this should = 100%.
What % out of 100% was spent in each of the four
countries you selected?
Additional Marketing Components:
Marketing Components
Country 1
Country
2
Country 3
Country 4
None
Pricing Changes
Couponing
USA - no changes to amount
of activity vs. prior year
Leveraging Distribution
Other - write in following column
Reach:
USA, Canada, UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, Poland,
Russia, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Australia
Results
How do you know it worked?
USA
Business Objective: Reverse Febreze’s $ sales trend, by increasing sales by 10% vs. YA
Result: Prior to the campaign, Febreze sales had suffered a continual decline to index 95.1 vs. YA.
Following the campaign launch on 7th July, business experienced 10 weeks of growth increasing as
high as index 131.1 vs. YA. A staggering 36% point turnaround.
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Fig 1. Business experienced a 36% point turnaround once the campaign launched
LAUNCH
(Source: Nielsen)
Marketing Objective 1: Generate buzz for the Febreze brand and advertising
Results:
A) Earned media impressions to exceed Febreze launch norms of 350MM
- In just 8 weeks, the Breathe Happy Campaign received 511MM earned media impressions (Source:
Cision Media Monitoring), almost one a half times the norm including coverage in The New York Times,
Adweek, PRWeek and Marketing Daily, who published articles such as “Febreze can mask even the
most putrid surroundings” and “Febreze makes scents that make happiness”.
B) Blogger participation to exceed previous response rate levels of 10%
- Our novel approach helped the campaign achieve 20% uptake (Source: Cision Media Monitoring),
doubling our goal and garnering 2MM earned impressions. Many bloggers developed rich content by
way of their own Febreze experiment videos, which were uploaded to YouTube.
C) Febreze Facebook fans to increase from 235k to 600k by end of 2011
- On October 31, 2011 Febreze Facebook fans reached 599,757 (Source: Facebook), well on the way
to surpassing our end of year target, two months ahead of schedule
Marketing Objective 2: Drive distinctiveness for the Febreze brand and advertising
Results:
A) Reclaim single ownership of odor elimination equity attribute
Research is scheduled in 2012 to measure this effect vs. competitors. However, data available at this
time indicates a very positive response with an 18% increase in “eliminates odors” equity attribute. Up
from 64% at
launch to 82% on 31st October 2011. (Source: IPSOS METT)
Fig 2. Odor elimination equity turned around, increasing 18% since launch
LAUNCH
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(Source: IPSOS METT)
B) Correct attribution of brand messaging to exceed 71% norm
Scores for all products outperformed norms and mis-attribution reached an all time low, while
competitors continued to suffer. (Source: IPSOS ASI)
Fig 3: Correct attribution, significantly outperformed Household norm and competitors
(Source: IPSOS ASI)
UK
Business Objective: Increase value share 10% vs. previous year.
Result: Value market share increased from 7.1% at time of launch to 7.7%, A 0.6% pt increase, up
42% vs. previous year. (Source: Nielsen)
Marketing Objective: Generate buzz for the Febreze brand.
Result: Although awareness figures are not available, we achieved strong media coverage and high
engagement on our newly launched UK Facebook page.
WOM: +200 coverage in Major publications. (Source: Agency Media Monitoring)
Facebook: Reached 15,000 fans in just 3 months & engagement has been high at 0.61% vs. 0.3%
average. (Source: Facebook)
Italy
Business Objective: Successfully launch new aerosol product by achieving 7% value share and 4.2%
volume share within 3 months of launch.
Result: We achieved 7.8% value share, beating our target by 11% and we achieved 5.1% volume
share, beating our target by 21%. (Source: Nielsen)
Marketing Objective: Achieve 15% advertising awareness in line with category average.
Result: We achieved 19% Advertising awareness, beating our target by 26%. After 1 month of airing
(622 GRPS), copy was already being recalled at higher levels than Glade ‘Refresh Air’ copy, which had
been supported by 4 times the media weight (2,410 GRPs). Percentage of correct attribution was also
higher, indicating people’s ability to connect the advertising to the brand correctly, despite a shift in
equity. (Source: IPSOS METT)
Fig 4. Advertising awareness and attribution figures out performed competition with ¼ their media
spend.
Glade ‘Refresh
Ambi Pur ‘Air
Air’
Effects’
Total GRPs
2,410
622
% ever seen
17.2
19.1
% correct brand attribution
4.2
5.5
% correct attribution / ever
24
29
seen
(Source: IPSOS METT)
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Mexico
Business Objective: Achieve 25% share of aerosol segment within 3 months of launch.
Result: Achieved 30% of the aerosol segment in just 5 weeks of launch (Source: Nielsen).
Marketing Objective: Achieve 30% brand awareness within 3 months of launch.
Result: Reached 50% brand awareness within 5 weeks of launch (Source: CIB Report, Media Agency
Research).
Anything else going on that might have helped drive results?
No other factors
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