Morton Salt: The One Moment [case film]

Credits & Description:

Title: The One Moment
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather
Brand: Morton Salt
Country: USA
Entrant Company: Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago
Advertising Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago
Production Company: Park Pictures , London / Artjail, New York
Chief Creative Officer: Joe Sciarrotta (Ogilvy & Mather)
Executive Creative Director: David Hernandez (Ogilvy & Mather)
Global Executive Creative Director: Liz Taylor (Ogilvy & Mather)
Creative Director: Amy Gozalka (Ogilvy & Mather)
Associate Creative Director: Kara Coyle (Ogilvy & Mather)
Executive Producer: Gayle Mccormick (Ogilvy & Mather)
Senior Producer: Annie Larimer (Ogilvy & Mather)
Project Manager: Philip Puleo (Ogilvy & Mather)
Management Supervisor: Annie Gray (Ogilvy & Mather)
Management Supervisor: Paige Robinson (Ogilvy & Mather)
Assistant Account Executive: Katie Quinn (Ogilvy & Mather)
Planning Director: Janna Reddig (Ogilvy & Mather)
Planner: Max Arevuo (Ogilvy & Mather)
Director: Damian Kulash (Okgo)
Okgo: Timothy Nordwind (Okgo)
Okgo: Andy Ross (Okgo)
Okgo: Dan Konopka (Okgo)
Executive Producer: Justin Pollock (Park Pictures)
Executive Producer: Jackie Kelman Bisbee (Park Pictures)
Producer: Pat Frazier (Park Pictures)
Spfx Supervisor: Kelly Kirby (Park Pictures)
Editor: Cass Vanini (Park Pictures)
Head Of Production: John Skeffington (Artjail)
Campaign Description:
Morton Salt is an iconic brand, but because it hasn’t done any major advertising in nearly 60 years many people perceive it as outdated. Morton knew it needed to make its brand, and product, relevant again. But how do you make something as seemingly insignificant and commoditized as salt worth talking about? Partnering with OK Go was the first component of the idea—to create something radical and untraditional for a 168-year-old salt brand. The next step was to create a video that elevated what Morton has been doing for decades—making small moments better and brighter. This came to life in a 4.2 second music video that revealed over 4 minutes of jaw-dropping wonder. The video captured how something so seemingly small and insignificant—just like salt—could still hold an amazing amount of impact.
Relevancy:
After 60 years without advertising, Morton Salt needed to push its brand beyond ‘just table salt.’ Forgoing traditional ads, the brand strategically leveraged an untraditional partner to re-engage the world: OK Go. The collaboration surpassed all PR goals achieving 1.1 billion total impressions with a 99% message pull-through and over 121 million social impressions. Featured in hundreds of outlets from Forbes to Rolling Stone, our PR blitz culminated with a live performance on Stephen Colbert. From a quiet salt brand to one of the 2016’s most viral videos, we catapulted Morton from back-of-cupboard to the top of everyone’s Facebook feeds.
Synopsis:
Despite being perceived as ‘just table salt,’ Morton Salt has been making small, everyday moments brighter for over a century. To shake off its dusty image, the 168-year-old brand consciously decided to forgo traditional ads and instead joined forces with an unlikely partner—rock band OK Go. Together, the two set out to prove that even the smallest moments can hold an incredible amount of impact, creating a 4.2 second music video that reveals over four minutes of mesmerizing wonder. The highly ambitious and visually disruptive video instantly went viral, jolting Morton from back-of-the-cupboard to the top of everyone’s Facebook feeds. Tasked with transforming an outdated, untalked-about salt brand into a modern, relevant brand amongst millennials, this bold and untraditional approach not only ensured Morton’s brand and message were seen, but watched and re-watched by millions of people.
Strategy:
Known primarily for being ‘just table salt,’ Morton wanted to move from being a #1 category brand to a #1 brand via conversation and word of mouth. We were tasked with identifying a unique and modern personality for the brand, elevating Morton beyond salt, and transforming a traditional brand into a digital native. Most importantly, the brand sought to attract one of the most fickle audiences: millennials. Thus, we knew traditional ads weren’t going to cut it. We had to seed our message by genuinely captivating people’s attention—not demanding it. So we leveraged an untraditional partner—OK Go—and launched our content exclusively on social media. By forgoing a traditional ad, a traditional media plan, and a traditional partner, Morton flew in the face of convention. And in doing so, we found a way to capture the attention of millions while elevating Morton beyond being seen as ‘just salt’.
Outcome:
The viral collaboration between Morton Salt and OK Go significantly surpassed all PR & Social goals. With more than 440 traditional media placements with 99% message pull-through, ‘The One Moment’ achieved more than 1.1 billion total impressions to date. Of the 1.3 million Facebook reactions and engagements, 99% were positive and 80% of all Facebook views were organic, a testament to peoples genuine enthusiasm to watch and share the video. Dozens of leading news and pop culture outlets picked up the video from USA Today to Forbes to Rolling Stone, and the brand saw a 245% lift in overall online conversations. And even though the video’s primary intention was to elevate the brand—not product awareness—the video still resulted in a stunning 10% uplift in brand favorability and 7.2% increase in purchase intent. Furthermore, the campaign largely outperformed norms for aided brand awareness which saw an increased by 6%. Similarly, Morton’s brand favorability saw a significant increase, rising over 9%. And the heightened brand awareness increased our audience’s ability to identify with Morton, as the brand saw an 8% lift in agreeing to ‘brand for me.’ From a quiet, unassuming salt brand to one of the top 20 most viral ads of 2016, Morton’s bold and untraditional partnership made millions of people see their 168-year-old brand as much more than ‘just table salt.’
Execution:
Working with OK Go and leveraging their fan base not only enabled us to engage with millennials, but also helped maximize a limited media budget by using OK Go’s owned channels as part of our media distribution plan. Leading up to launch, OK Go teased content daily. The video then launched exclusively on Facebook for the first 48 hours. As the first 4.2 seconds of the video are so visually disruptive, the video was essentially designed to be skippable-proof, maximizing views and shares on social media. The video was then followed by a behind-the-scenes video and live Facebook Q&A event with the lead singer to further engage and captivate audiences. The social launch was complimented by a multimedia release from CBS news affiliates to help magnify the reach of our message. And to complete the media blitz, OK Go performed on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.