GSK's job was to promote the launch of Pronamel Intensive Enamel Repair (PIER) by positioning it as a step change in oral care. Marketing and communications would contribute to that goal by helping to reach potential customers, making them aware of PIER, and encouraging them to buy it. Along this journey of awareness and consideration, business impact metrics like brand recall and product interest would serve as a way to gauge success.
Objective and Context:
Ultimately, the success of the campaign would be measured by product sales, household penetration, and market share. This was the most important launch of 2019 for GSK, and the business had ambitious goals of delivering $2.5 million in consumption through the first quarter.
Target Audience:
GSK's research into culture shed light on the kind of person whom it felt could be successful with: people who are generally striving to live a balanced life and are more proactive in terms of seeking new products that they believe can help them. This group, "healthy balancers," is united by an attitude that views wellbeing as something that's "refillable" and able to be replenished.
The attitude of this group influences how they behave. They make active choices to enjoy life and course-correct when necessary to maintain a sense of balance. Healthy balancers take small actions each day that, in their eyes, help to make them the complete person they are, in their body, mind, and soul. They are willing to try new things to improve their health and appearance, but they won't compromise on their beliefs.
Creative Strategy:
Researching the market was a validation of past success; the traditional rules hadn't changed. Household penetration is driven by product innovation and retailer support. At shelf, in store, is the most critical moment in the shopper journey, and if people don't know what they're looking for, the sale will be because of price or because they see claims on the box that match the things they like.
Looking at culture, by comparison, was far more interesting in revealing where and how GSK could win. People are striving to live a balanced life — offsetting unhealthy food eaten with steps taken, nights out with nights in, late nights with early nights. People know more about how to restore themselves than ever before.
This trend framed how GSK went to market. It had an opportunity to help bring balance to another aspect of people's lives: the health and wellbeing of their smile.
Overall Campaign Execution:
The oral care aisle of any drug store is some of the most cluttered and competitive retail environment in personal care. Upstart brands like Quip and Brandless are trying to change the rules of the game, winning with direct distribution, "Instagrammable" product design, and a frictionless user experience.
GSK's challenge was to bridge these worlds: Go to market with what works, but bring a dose of innovation to constantly challenge those assumptions.
Mobile Execution:
The idea at the heart of the campaign challenged people to see brushing differently: "Why just brush to clean, when you can brush to build?" It positioned brushing teeth with Pronamel not as a mundane task, but something that could help people become healthier and stronger.
A YouTube takeover initiated the launch, focusing on GSK's unique value proposition. Retargeting bumper ads drove further engagement and awareness.
Display media drove people to learn more on pronamel.com or to Amazon to facilitate purchase. Its site content explained the product — the science behind how it works and the importance of keeping enamel strong, especially for people with acidic diets.
Digital radio ads ran on targeted playlists and genres, drawing a parallel between using Pronamel to repair enamel and other ways people rebuild and repair different aspects of their lives. Lastly, all the video assets and key content pages were promoted via content syndication, allowing for increased exposure of assets across relevant third-party websites.
Every piece of execution was designed for a mobile audience, as additional research into the Healthy Balancer target audience reaffirmed that the behavior of this group is predominantly mobile.
Reach and performance metrics are surpassing benchmarks (since launching in early March 2019, GSK has generated over 600 million paid and organic impressions), and the cumulative exposure is driving brand awareness and product interest (branded search volume has increased 38 percent, brand recall lift is up 30 percent on average, and there is between 14 to 20 percent lift in product interest, particularly in environments like YouTube).
Since launch, the brand itself is over-performing vs. plan, with nearly $5 million in cumulative sales, and consumption through the first month was 85 percent higher than forecast.
