When Unilever decided to launch its first anti-dandruff shampoo – Clear – it was targeting a segment dominated for years by one brand: Head and Shoulders.
“It’s top of mind. When you talk about anti-dandruff, it’s Head and Shoulders. All the research we did showed people thought it was the only brand available,” says Joseph Makhoul, group account director at Lowe MENA, the agency that created the regional campaign for Clear. The first phase launched in March this year and focuses heavily on Clear’s Unisex range. Clear for Men was launched soon after – addressing a gap in the market which Unilever hopes will help it gain an advantage over Head and Shoulders.
To further challenge Head and Shoulders’ near monopoly on the segment, Lowe came up with a campaign designed, Makhoul says, to sow doubt in consumers’ minds.
“All the communication provokes consumers. It’s telling them there’s something else out there other than Head and Shoulders,” he explains. “There are six product benefits to communicate in different TVCs, then we ask, ‘Can your shampoo do this?’ Building doubt to induce trial. And we’re very confident that once you try the product, you’ll buy into the brand.”
BLACK IS THE NEW BLACK. The campaign is a deliberate statement of intent for Clear. The TVCs are a high-quality, glossy mix of sharp images, dramatic music and a Hollywood-trailer-style voiceover (which involved listening to “hundreds” of VO specialists), while the print and outdoor ads are image-heavy with minimal copy. All the executions are dominated by one color: black. “We want Clear to own that color,” Makhoul says.
“The whole approach is mysterious, classy, elegant,” says Mounir Harfouche, Lowe MENA’s managing and creative director. “When I look at this campaign, I think beauty. I think perfume. I think power, attitude, confidence. It’s not a naïve brand. It’s not shy. It’s a brand that knows its values and benefits and sells them in a very clear way. It’s an arrogant approach. I’d compare it to a perfume campaign, rather than a shampoo campaign. It’s classy. You feel you’re buying a premium product, but actually the price is very competitive.
“You can see all the statements are very challenging, because they’re very specific,” he continues. “This product is telling you it removes dandruff from the first wash and it will never come back. Because it’s so challenging, you’ll go and try it. We wanted to build an attitude around the brand, to make people feel it’s different. And I think we managed to do that.”
It is, Makhoul says, a “very aggressive message.” And an open challenge to other shampoo brands, particularly Head and Shoulders.
“All the other [brands] in that category are very old-fashioned,” says Harfouche. “We have a brand that is sexy. There is no compromise. Black will be trendy again.”
TOTAL COVERAGE. The first phase of the campaign saw Lowe’s “aggressive” message backed by considerable media spend from Unilever across several channels. TV, print and outdoor, obviously, featured heavily, but there was much in the way of in-store branding and activation, and a lot of legwork getting out to consumers on the street. Lowe came up with ambient ideas such as backpacks with shower heads on them, which they filled with Clear samples and took to the beaches in Jeddah.
“We went and offered samples to the various targets. To gyms and sports facilities. We wanted to make sure the largest possible number of people tried the product,” Makhoul says. “But it’s all consistent. One disadvantage Head and Shoulders has is that its communication is so diverse that it doesn’t really stand for anything. It’s inconsistent. There’s no trend there.”
“The campaign is a 360º approach,” says Harfouche. “At every single touch point the brand managed to create awareness and to create a certain identity that looks premium.”
At the heart of it all is a single message. “‘Clear. No dandruff.’ That’s it,” says Makhoul. “If we ingrain that in the mind of the consumer then it’s a home run.”
KEEP IT SIMPLE. They’re not the most creative ads ever, both men admit. But they stress that this is just the first phase of a campaign for a new brand, and that factors other than creativity have to be considered.
“For any newcomer to come into a market where there’s this kick-ass leader dominating, you’ve got to build credentials,” says Makhoul. “You’ve got to give them a reason to believe. So you can’t just do one-off, wildly creative commercials. Before you can even go into your emotional attributes, trying to link with the consumer, et cetera, you need to hammer home the credentials of the brand.”
Harfouche agrees. “I think it’s difficult for some brands to admit that you need to have simple communication,” he says. “We’re always tempted to overcomplicate things with big ideas, but sometimes the product talks for itself. And this is where an advertising agency has to understand that you shouldn’t overdo it around the product.
“You look at a lot of brands and the model that’s in their ads is probably overpowering the brand,” he continues. “People look at the model but not the product. Which is so wrong. And this is what we tried not to do and I think we managed it, because at all points we feel it’s the brand that’s leading.”
THE FUTURE’S BRIGHT. So far, the simple approach is paying off. Makhoul claims that Clear has already captured more than 3 percent of the shampoo market in the GCC. At the top end of the market, where the majority of Clear’s target audience is, it’s more than 5 percent. “This is huge in a saturated category,” he says.
And Lowe isn’t just optimistic about the brand from a business point of view. Once the first phase is completed, Harfouche says, the strength of the idea at the heart of the campaign will allow the agency to flex its creative muscle in the future. “The subject is fantastic and the brand is really powerful,” he says. “The next step will be some really sexy executions.”
The campaign will, he predicts, force the competition to change their brand image to keep up. “When you have a brand like Clear, with the results it’s getting, I think the others will really question their positioning and attitude and try to change.”
He’s confident, though, that Lowe can stay ahead of the game. “Probably the selling line will change into, ‘Can your agency do this?’” He laughs. “Hey, Head and Shoulders, can your agency do this?”
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On the Record
Mounir Harfouche, creative and managing director of Lowe MENA.
On stress. We’re in a very interesting field that has a certain clash in it. We’re in the service industry, and we’re in the creative industry. They’re two opposites that cannot live together and that’s why our field is very stressful.
On being MD and CD. How can you have someone leading an agency who only thinks about finance? About ones and zeros? It’s very important to have someone who’s not just business-driven. It makes a difference. Not only in principle, but on the ground. A person who can think creatively and understands strategy is very important. And this should be obvious to all agencies.
On the regional inferiority complex. We’re doing well in the Middle East. We should ever complain that we’re not creative or whatever. This is bullshit. Have you seen the ads in Paris? In London? In the States? In other markets? Ninety percent of the day-to-day advertising – it’s scary. In the States, they’re still doing infomercials. A 15-minute demo with Chuck Norris. I was shocked.