Category: Best integrated content campaign
Advertiser: T.A.C CONSUMER
Product/Service: VSLIM COFFEE
Agency: IPG MEDIABRANDS
Managing Director: Nopakun Sujaritchant (IPG Mediabrands)
Business Associate Director: Dew Intapanya (IPG Mediabrands)
Business Associate Director: Siriporn Manyati (IPG Mediabrands)
Business Group Head: Kanokrat Bovorn (IPG Mediabrands)
Business Group Head: Sununta Charuvatana (IPG Mediabrands)
Media placement: TV Tie-in - Cable TV - 16/5/11
Media placement: Music Video / Song - TV, Cable TV, OOH, Radio, YouTube - 16/5/11
Media placement: PR by Popular DJs/MCs/Beauty Bloggers - Radio, Cable TV, Blogs - 10/5/11
Media placement: Vox Pops - OOH (Digital Screen), TV, Cable TV - 1/7/11
Media placement: Photo Scoop/PR - Magazine, Newspaper - 15/7/11
Campaign Description
In recent years, the functional drink category in Thailand has grown substantially more popular with consumers and as a result extremely competitive for brands in the category. The past 5 years has also seen an explosion in coffee consumption with the arrival of chains such as Starbucks and an afternoon coffee has become a habit for working women.
Connecting the 2, VSlim realised the opportunity and produced a new RTD slimming coffee. Sold exclusively at 7-11, the drink had limited distribution and low awareness and thus sales were slow. The challenge was to launch the product into the public domain and increase sales.
The drink promises to deliver a delicious low calorie coffee drink with 3 active ingredients that are ‘Catch (fat)’, ‘Arouse (increase metabolism)’ and ‘Flow (excrete)’, the 1st RTD coffee in Thailand to be able to claim that.
Unfortunately, FDA regulations in Thailand are extremely strict for advertising: you can mention the brand but not what it does or vice versa. So we had to communicate these benefits and build brand association without breaking the law.
Effectiveness
The cornerstone of our plan was a song. We communicated the product benefits via the release of song named ‘Let’s Show Your Belly Button’ with lyrics and music composed by an up-and-coming hip-hop band, ‘Thaitanium’.
With the rap song production, the ideal ad copy was smartly and smoothly blended into the song lyrics without the need to submit to the FDA and could be delivered to the target audience in many different places without fear of being banned by the authorities.
The music video played in core and local music channels – MTV, Channel V Thailand. We uploaded the video to YouTube and the song got substantial airplay on radio stations.
The single was widely distributed and played in popular pubs and famous hangout areas, and even played on local buses in UPC free of charge since people found it so entertaining!
We drove DJ mentions of the product on gossip radio shows, and enlisted the help of celebrity bloggers and turned them from beauty to slimming bloggers.
To take the song to the streets, we toured cities with a mobile stage featuring sexy girls in belly-baring costumes, dancing to the song. The trucks’ route was focused on downtown Bangkok areas that would get the attention of office girls, and we only toured during rush hour and at lunchtime. Taking advantage of the heavy traffic, the mobile stage was actually static for substantial periods, allowing crowds to gather and give us an opportunity to trial the product.
One month after launch, we conducted Vox Pops, which we showed as commercials on TV featuring testimonials from girls who had tried the product and had positive results. Because these were consumers’ opinions and not product claims, we were able to broadcast on free to air TV, without breaking FDA rules.
Implementation
Beauty plays an important part in the Thai psyche. Thai women are looking for products that will keep them slim, and follow the latest trends, often relying on WOM from friends, celebrities and ‘experts’.
However, the marketplace is so cluttered with many similar products all claiming wondrous benefits that it is hard to breakthrough and remain salient.
Given the strict FDA regulations and clutter, we realised that traditional advertising would be of limited benefit to us.
Therefore, our strategy was to become part of the modern day culture and generate awareness through owned and earned media, rather than paid media.
Outcome
The results smashed expectations.
In the first month after activity launched alone, sales leaped 49%.
Thousands of 7-11 stores sold out of products and distribution efforts had to be stepped up.
The song got countless plays on radio, in bars, in clubs, on buses and in people’s heads, generating massive earned media value. The video generated almost ฿1m in earned media value, through plays on music channels and YouTube.