Unilever worked with Google to create a highly targeted YouTube campaign for its Omo detergent brand to the Gulf region. This case study looks at how the campaign reached 16.4 million unique users.
Case study summary
• Detergent brand wanted to promote OMO’s global philosophy in Gulf region
• Collaborated with Google on platform-specific approach and creativity
• Launched three TrueView ads on YouTube, with broad demographic, affinity and geographic targeting
• Served pre-recorded livestream masthead on YouTube and engaged with users in real time through comments and poll
• Reached 16.4 million unique users and reached 76% of unique users exposed to the Dirt is Good campaign in a single day
• Users interacted with masthead on desktop for over 56 seconds on average
The challenge
To market OMO laundry products, Unilever developed a global brand philosophy around the notion that “Dirt Is Good.” OMO encourages parents to give their kids the freedom to experience different activities in life, without the fear of making a mess.
In the Gulf region, OMO wanted to address the local environment specifically, where the technology boom and weather conditions mean many kids spend less time outdoors in active play than they may need.
The FMCG giant worked with Google’s creative team and YouTube to convey the disruptive social message that parents shouldn’t worry about the stains of today since they’re helping shape children for the future.
From the ideation phase, OMO worked with Google to create a compelling live stream and maximise YouTube formats including TrueView and Masthead ads.
The solution
Using resource from Google, the creative agency FP7 and Unilever, the team developed four phases of the highly coordinated Dirt Is Good campaign. First, they created two different variations of TV commercial-style TrueView ads delivered in-stream. These “Would You Be Angry or Proud” videos measured 40 seconds or 16 seconds in length, and were pushed sequentially.
The next leg of the campaign was based on the insight that children on average only get 48 minutes of active play per day in the region. To emphasize to parents the reality of kids’ inactivity, the campaign showcased what this actually looks like. The team created a film lasting 23 hours and 12 minutes that showed a child doing nothing other than sitting on a couch, playing computer games and sleeping. This ran as a livestream masthead on YouTube homepage with a high daily reach. OMO invited users to interact through a poll asking their opinions about kids’ lifestyles in the livestream masthead.
To build frequency and ensure the message stayed top of mind, shorter 15-second livestream edits were then remarketed to users who had watched the masthead. In this way, OMO could remind people of the communication they’d already interacted with. Broad targeting together with frequency caps ensured OMO gained desired reach.
The final leg of the campaign centered on the Dirt Is Good manifesto film – “Dirty Today, Learning for Tomorrow” – in which kids declared their need to play in order to learn by speaking directly to their moms. The aim was to change the perception around dirt being bad so that children could be active, learn and reach their full potential. At just under two minutes in length, the video pushed users to comment and share their thoughts around the idea that Dirt Is Good via comments. The OMO team responded in real time as users engaged with the video and brand.
The results
• Reached 16.4 million unique users
• Masthead reached 76% of unique users exposed to the Dirt is Good campaign in a single day
• Users interacted with masthead on desktop for over 56 seconds on average
• Gold Award Winner at MENA Effie Awards 2017
Full end-to-end support from Google – including insights, content strategy, storyboard feedback, best practices and more – helped make the campaign a success. “It worked extremely well,” says Alex Brunori, Google MENA Creative Lead. “The masthead produced some of the highest engagement rates we’ve seen, especially in Saudi. We saw very high click-through rates where people were highly engaged with the masthead and took part in the conversation by engaging via comments or the poll.”
The campaign ended up being shortlisted at Cannes 2017. “What better way of depicting the reality of kids’ lives today is there than creating a 23-hour live stream in a YouTube masthead of a kid sitting on a couch, doing basically nothing apart from sleeping, playing video games, checking in on social and hover-boarding his way to and from the bathroom?” says Paul Banham, Executive Creative Director of FP7 McCann Dubai. “And what better team is there than the one at Google MENA? Thanks to their enthusiasm, creativity and continued support, the work simply went from strength to strength.”
Including all masthead and TrueView activity, the campaign reached 16.4 million unique users in the Gulf region. In one day, alone, the masthead reached 76% of unique users who were exposed to the Dirt is Good campaign, equivalent to 12.4 million unique users. The "Would You Be Angry or Proud" ads produced particularly impressive results in Saudi – a 37.5% view-through rate and a best-in-class lift in awareness of 13.3% in after only one impression.
On average, users interacted with the masthead on desktop for 56.35 seconds. The OMO channel gained around 2,000 subscribers through the course of the campaign. The Dirt is Good videos earned almost 1,300 likes and were shared by users nearly 500 times. As far as building brand love, the activity definitely drove consumers to forge meaningful connections with OMO.
Asad Rehman, Director of Media, North Africa & Middle East, Unilever, said: “Driving both reach and frequency, YouTube is imperative to create awareness of our messaging.”
Alex Brunori, Creative Lead MENA, Google, said: “We can definitely say that the YouTube campaign succeeded in engaging the users. When we work together with our clients and their creative agencies, as one team, magic happens."
