Category: Best non-fiction program, series or film where a client has successfully created a reality, documentary or light entertainment show around a product(s) or brand(s)
Advertiser: SCHWARZKOPF
Product/Service: SCHWARZKOPF
Agency: OMD Sydney
Account Director: Andrew Mulrenan (OMD Fuse Sydney)
Director: Joanne Liddell (OMD Fuse Sydney)
Communications Director: Leanne Myliotis (OMD Fuse Sydney)
Communications Executive: Claire Crennan (OMD Fuse Sydney)
Director/Integrated Sales: Jenny Hosie (SMG Red)
NSW Sales Manager: Brad Timmins (SMG Red)
Media placement: TV Campaign - Channel 7, 7TWO - 5th June 2011
Media placement: TV Campaign - Channel 7, 7TWO - 5th June 2011
Media placement: Online - Various Websites - 30th May 2011
Media placement: Social Media Engagement - Facebook - 13th June 2011
Media placement: Magazines - Marie Claire - 30th May 2011
Media placement: Magazines - Various Titles - 6th June 2011
Media placement: Magazines - Various Titles - 27th June 2011
Media placement: Point Of Sale - National Supermarkets - 1st June 2011
Campaign Description
Branded content in Australia is a growing area across TV and digital platforms particularly due to the growth of video over broadband and social media.
SBS and ABC (national broadcasting channels) have major restrictions in regards to brands and integration in programmes. Our domestic free to air channels have some limited restrictions, however its largely self-policing based on the networks desire to balance brand involvement with programme integrity and audience appeal. Hence most attempts at branded content end up in fringe time slots, or on subscription TV channels with less than 5% audience share.
What branded content the networks engage with is managed by them, rather than brands doing deals with production companies.
It is the holy grail of branded content to find home on a major free-to-air network in prime time with a large prime time audience in attendance.
Effectiveness
Despite Schwarzkopf’s professional heritage, to most consumers it was seen as just another supermarket brand. Our challenge was to recapture Schwarzkopf’s expertise in inspiring women to create salon perfect looks at home.
Magazines are the most trusted source for this kind of advice and local credible identities featured in fashion magazines make the latest international runway looks relevant and achievable for Australian women. We needed to become part of this sphere of influence to showcase Schwarzkopf’s expertise.
Our idea was to create a National TV show centred on the no.1 fashion title in Australia to create engaging content for local women where Schwarzkopf’s expertise would shine through. This meant partnering with Marie Claire magazine and Editor Jackie Frank, the most respected magazine personality in Australia.
This would give us a platform to persuade Schwarzkopf ambassador and superstar fashion icon, Heidi Klum, to collaborate with the Australian brand team for the first time. We knew she would add enormous credibility.
3 months of negotiations resulted in an 8-part TV series: ‘Marie Claire: Under the Cover’, a fly-on-the-wall exclusive look into the magazine. The series premiered on Primetime National TV and featured Schwarzkopf experts, stylists and products in each episode. One entire episode was dedicated to Schwarzkopf’s annual search for Australia’s Most Beautiful Hair.
The show yielded content from premium fashion and beauty events such as Prix de Marie Claire. Viewers saw Jackie Frank attend Fashion Week in Paris and Milan, and we got our interview with Heidi Klum.
As well as delivering an entertaining show, we further showcased Schwarzkopf’s hair expertise by creating additional bespoke content demonstrating how to achieve the looks from each episode. This was key to shifting consumer perceptions of Schwarzkopf from being just another supermarket brand to one that inspired Australian women to recreate the latest runway looks at home.
Implementation
‘Under the Cover’ had an extensive programme of activity driving people to watch the show.
We created bespoke video/advertorial content demonstrating how to get the looks from the show. We also developed a promotion and a TVC for the chance to win the ultimate Marie Claire experience. This content lived beyond the show through an extensive TV, magazine and online campaign, which in turn drove consumers back to watch the episodes at the specially created microsite.
Seven Media Group provided one of their highest promotional investments of 2011, through promo spots on TV and support through their magazines and online properties.
Outcome
Christian Skaar, Marketing Manager for Schwarzkopf summed it up, saying, “As the main partner of Marie Claire: Under the Cover, the focus for us was not to just sponsor a show, but to work with a partner that enables true integration. The results for us have been extremely strong, delivering not just uplifts on market shares but also a change in consumers brand consideration and perception”.
The show exceeded all expectations reaching over 3.3m viewers. Our bespoke content had an even greater footprint reaching over a quarter of the Australian population on TV alone.
Our online activity enabled users to engage with Schwarzkopf content reaching 3.2m unique browsers and we grew their Facebook community by over 300%
The real goal was to change local perceptions of Schwarzkopf and we over-achieved on this by increasing the key metric of ‘Helps me create a runway look at home’ by 120%. We saw further evidence of how we had changed perceptions of the brand with increased purchase intent, recommendation and seeking out the product in store.
Market share at their fastest growing retailer increased 15% year-on-year, and was the highest ever during the campaign.