AWARDS :

EFFECTIVE LOTUS

SUB CATEGORY :

EFFECTIVE LOTUS - CAMPAIGN SUCCESS

COMPANY ENTERING :

BBDO, HONG KONG

ENTRY TITLE :

HUNGRY SLIP UPS

BRAND :

SNICKERS

ADVERTISER :

MARS FOOD INC.

AGENCY :

BBDO HONG KONG, HONG KONG

MANAGING DIRECTOR :

JC CATIBOG

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR :

KEVIN LYNCH

ART DIRECTOR :

TERI NG

STRATEGIC PLANNING DIRECTOR :

OWEN SMITH

CAMPAIGN SUMMARY :

WITH 150 DIFFERENT BRANDS AND 1,700 UNIQUE SKUS ON OFFER, MAKING HONG KONG THE MOST FRAGMENTED CHOCOLATE MARKET IN THE REGION OTHER THAN JAPAN. PEOPLE GO WITH WHAT THEY KNOW - CHOOSING AMONG 5 TO 6 DIFFERENT FAMILIAR BRANDS ALMOST INTERCHANGEABLY. IT’S A CHALLENGE IF YOU’RE NOT ONE OF THOSE 5 OR 6 TOP OF MIND BRANDS, WHICH IS WHERE SNICKERS FOUND ITSELF IN 2015. WE KNEW ATTENTION WOULD LEAD TO SALES IN THE IMPULSIVE CHOCOLATE CATEGORY. AS A SMALL BRAND WITH AN EVEN SMALLER BUDGET IN HONG KONG, SNICKERS NEEDED TO CREATE ATTENTION BEYOND WHAT WE COULD AFFORD. WE IDENTIFIED AN INSIGHT THAT TIED THE BRAND, LOCAL CULTURE AND CONSUMER TOGETHER. PEOPLE MAKE SILLY MISTAKES AND DO THE WRONG THING ALL THE TIME, EVEN FAMOUS CELEBRITIES, NEWS ANCHORS AND POLITICIANS. IN HONG KONG, THESE SLIP-UPS ARE DISCUSSED, SHARED, AND RE-ENACTED. EVERYONE SEES THE SLIP-UPS, BUT NO ONE SEES WHY. SO AS NEW SLIP-UPS OCCURRED, WE QUICKLY RELEASED NEW POSTERS ATTRIBUTING THEM TO HUNGER, TO BRING OUR “YOU’RE NOT YOU WHEN YOU’RE HUNGRY” IDEA TO LIFE IN HONG KONG. A LOT OF PEOPLE SAW THE CAMPAIGN; BUT EVERYONE HEARD ABOUT IT. THE CAMPAIGN SPARKED IMMEDIATE ORGANIC ATTENTION, RACKING UP OVER 3.5 MILLION VIEWS – EVEN THOUGH IT ONLY APPEARED OFFLINE. WE EARNED 56 STORIES FROM 30 DIFFERENT NEWS OUTLETS, WITH EARNED IMPRESSION UP TO 21,187,000. WE CREATED A TOTAL OF 172,000 ENGAGEMENTS, 49X HIGHER THAN THE HONG KONG FMCG FOOD MONTHLY AVERAGE. FANS CREATED THEIR OWN SNICKERS MEME GENERATOR AND CREATED THEIR OWN SLIP-UP ADS. IT CREATED 800,000 HKD OF EARNED MEDIA, DOUBLING THE VALUE OF OUR TOTAL MEDIA SPEND. SNICKERS GREW 5.9X FASTER VS A YEAR AGO THAN THE CATEGORY AND THE CAMPAIGN DROVE A 17% INCREASE IN VALUE SALES VS 2.9% FOR THE CATEGORY.

THE BRIEF :

WHILE SNICKERS HAD BEEN ON SHELF IN HONG KONG FOR YEARS AND HAD LAUNCHED ADVERTISING IN THE PAST, THE BRAND NEVER GAINED THE AWARENESS OR SALES THAT THE BIGGER, HIGHER SPENDING BRANDS IN THE MARKET ENJOYED. THROUGH LOCAL MARKET ANALYSIS AND LEARNING FROM SNICKERS’ GLOBAL SUCCESS IN OTHER MARKETS, WE IDENTIFIED THREE MAJOR BARRIERS TO GROWTH: POP CULTURE DOESN’T INCLUDE SNICKERS: SNICKERS’ BUSINESS SUCCESS ACROSS THE GLOBE IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO ITS ABILITY TO STAY TOP OF MIND AND MAINTAIN ‘FAME’ . THIS HELPS THE BRAND POP TO MIND FIRST WHEN PEOPLE ARE MAKING IMPULSIVE CHOICES IN FRONT OF THE CHOCOLATE DISPLAY. BUT IN HONG KONG, SNICKERS’ SPORADIC COMMUNICATIONS NEVER ENGAGED PEOPLE, LET ALONE POP CULTURE. PEOPLE DON’T CHOOSE SNICKERS WHEN THEY WANT CHOCOLATE OR WHEN THEY’RE HUNGRY: WHILE HONG KONG AS A WHOLE HAS RELATIVELY HIGH CHOCOLATE PENETRATION AT 69%, SNICKERS’ PENETRATION IS 14X LESS AT 5%, LARGELY DUE TO A HEAVIER EATING EXPERIENCE. ADDITIONALLY, LOCAL CHOICES SUCH AS INSTANT NOODLES AND FISH BALLS DOMINATE THE HUNGER SATISFACTION TERRITORY. THE CATEGORY OUTSPENDS SNICKERS: SNICKERS’ MEDIA BUDGET WOULD GIVE THEM 1% SHARE OF VOICE IN THE CHOCOLATE CATEGORY IN 2015. TO WIN OVER POP CULTURE AND HUNGRY HONG KONGERS WE NEEDED AN APPROACH THAT CLEARLY DELIVERED SNICKERS’ HUNGER SATISFACTION BUT IN A WAY THAT CREATED FAME FOR THE BRAND BEYOND WHAT OUR MEDIA BUDGET COULD AFFORD. OUR OBJECTIVES WERE SIMPLE AND FOCUSED: 1. DRIVE ATTENTION AMONG CONSUMERS AND THE PRESS THAT WOULD CREATE EARNED MEDIA VALUED AT 50% OF OUR TOTAL SPENT MEDIA. 2. GROW FASTER THAN THE CATEGORY FOR THE CAMPAIGN PERIOD VS A YEAR AGO

THE STRATEGY :

SNICKERS’ BUSINESS SUCCESS ACROSS THE GLOBE DIRECTLY RELATES TO ITS ABILITY TO STAY TOP OF MIND AND MAINTAIN ‘FAME’ THROUGH LINKS TO POP CULTURE. THIS HELPS THE BRAND POP TO MIND FIRST WHEN PEOPLE ARE MAKING IMPULSIVE CHOICES IN FRONT OF THE CHOCOLATE DISPLAY. THE HEARTLAND OF THE CHOCOLATE CATEGORY IS 16-34YR OLDS, BUT THIS GROUP PAID LITTLE TO NO ATTENTION TO SNICKERS, AND CERTAINLY DIDN’T RECOGNIZE THE BRAND AS A RELEVANT CONTRIBUTOR TO POP CULTURE. TO INSERT SNICKERS INTO RELEVANT POP CULTURE AND GET 16 – 34 YEAR OLDS’ ATTENTION, WE EMBRACED THE GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS PLATFORM OF YOU’RE NOT YOU WHEN YOU’RE HUNGRY. YOU’RE NOT YOU WHEN YOU’RE HUNGRY IS BASED ON THE SIMPLE PREMISE THAT WHEN PEOPLE GET HUNGRY, THEY’RE OFF THEIR GAME - PUTTING THEM AT RISK OF GETTING ANGRY, ANNOYING OR MAKING MISTAKES. SNICKERS PLAYS THE ROLE OF THE NUT FILLED BAR OF HUNGER SATISFACTION THAT CAN SORT THEM OUT. FOR THE IDEA TO BE RELEVANT WE NEEDED TO LEVERAGE MARKET SPECIFIC LOCAL INSIGHTS AND IDENTIFY POP CULTURE “FLASHPOINTS” THAT WOULD HELP THE IDEA TRIGGER INTEREST AND TALK-ABILITY AMONG OUR TARGET. WE WERE INSPIRED BY SOME OF THE BEST SNICKERS WORK FROM AROUND THE WORLD THAT HAS BEEN BORN OUT OF USING THE FAME OF LOCAL PUBLIC FIGURES AND CELEBRITIES TO AMPLIFY WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN YOU’RE HUNGRY. HONG KONG IS ONE OF THE MORE ‘PUBLIC MISTAKE’ CRAZED MARKETS AROUND, AS PEOPLE LOVE TO DISCUSS WHEN PUBLIC FIGURES MAKE MISTAKES OR GET CAUGHT IN EMBARRASSING SITUATIONS. AND IF THOSE SLIP UPS ARE MADE BY LOCAL CELEBRITIES, NEWS ANCHORS, OR EVEN THE LEADERS OF HONG KONG, THEY ARE DISCUSSED AND RE-ENACTED FOR YEARS TO COME. WHILE WE DIDN’T HAVE THE BUDGET TO STAGE NEW MISTAKES, WE REALIZED THAT THERE WERE PLENTY OF THESE MISTAKES THAT HAD ALREADY HAPPENED. IN FACT, THERE ARE FAMOUS ‘SLIP UPS’ THAT ARE PART OF THE COLLECTIVE MEMORY IN HONG KONG AND CAN BE RECALLED BY NEARLY EVERYONE.

THE EXECUTION :

PEOPLE MAKE SILLY MISTAKES AND DO THE WRONG THING ALL THE TIME, EVEN FAMOUS CELEBRITIES, NEWS ANCHORS AND POLITICIANS. THESE MISTAKES USUALLY BECOME VIRAL HITS AND EVERYONE TENDS TO REMEMBER THEM LONG AFTER THEY’VE HAPPENED. IN HONG KONG, SLIP-UPS OFTEN CAUSE EMBARRASSMENT FOR CELEBRITIES, NEWS ANCHORS AND POLITICIANS. THESE SLIP-UPS ARE DISCUSSED, SHARED, AND RE-ENACTED. EVERYONE SEES THE SLIP-UPS, BUT NO ONE SEES WHY. SO AS NEW SLIP-UPS OCCURRED, WE QUICKLY RELEASED NEW POSTERS ATTRIBUTING THEM TO HUNGER, TO BRING OUR “YOU’RE NOT YOU WHEN YOU’RE HUNGRY” IDEA TO LIFE IN HONG KONG. COMMUTER MEDIA IN MTR STATIONS, BUS SHELTERS AND OOH SITES OFFERED THE MOST EFFICIENT REACH WITH OUR LIMITED BUDGET. WE INSTALLED POSTERS THAT FEATURED ‘SLIP UPS’ EVERYONE IN HONG KONG WOULD RECOGNIZE WITH OUR BRAND LINE AT THE BOTTOM ATTRIBUTING THE MISTAKE TO BEING HUNGRY. AND THEN WE LET THE COMMUTERS OF HONG KONG DO THE REST.

THE RESULT :

A LOT OF PEOPLE SAW THE CAMPAIGN; BUT EVERYONE HEARD ABOUT IT. THIS ALLOWED THE CAMPAIGN TO DELIVER AGAINST ALL OF OUR OBJECTIVES. 1. DRIVE ATTENTION AMONG CONSUMERS AND THE PRESS THAT WOULD CREATE EARNED MEDIA VALUED AT 50% OF OUR TOTAL SPENT MEDIA. – THE CAMPAIGN SPARKED IMMEDIATE ORGANIC ATTENTION, RACKING UP OVER 3.5 MILLION VIEWS – EVEN THOUGH IT ONLY APPEARED OFFLINE. – WE EARNED 56 STORIES FROM 30 DIFFERENT NEWS OUTLETS, WITH EARNED IMPRESSION UP TO 21,187,000. – WE CREATED A TOTAL OF 172,000 ENGAGEMENTS, 49X HIGHER THAN THE HONG KONG FMCG FOOD MONTHLY AVERAGE (ENGAGEMENT = LIKE + COMMENT + SHARE). – FANS OF THE CAMPAIGN EVEN CREATED THEIR OWN SNICKERS MEME GENERATOR SO PEOPLE COULD CREATE THEIR OWN SLIP-UP ADS. – THIS ATTENTION CREATED 800,000 HKD OF EARNED MEDIA, DOUBLING THE VALUE OF OUR TOTAL MEDIA SPEND. 2. GROW FASTER THAN THE CATEGORY FOR THE CAMPAIGN PERIOD VS A YEAR AGO – SNICKERS GREW 5.9X FASTER VS A YEAR AGO THAN THE CATEGORY8 DURING THE CAMPAIGN PERIOD. • THE CAMPAIGN DROVE A 17% INCREASE IN VALUE SALES VS 2.9% FOR THE CATEGORY* *ACTUAL NUMBER/QUANTITY IS NOT AVAILABLE DUE TO ITS BUSINESS SENSITIVITY AND POLICIES