Engage teens on their own territory (facebook) with an advertising message cunningly disguised as entertainment.

On our very limited budget we didn’t want to reinvent the facebook wheel. We wanted to use the existing functionality in a new way. The main channel was simply to create ‘pimple’ profiles and send out friend requests. Requests that were ignored or rejected would be followed up by a simple facebook message landing the idea. A link to a microsite, which gave product tips and advice, was also included in the message.

10 000 kids got the message. They proactivly wrote on their wall pages and tweeted about the stunt. They even put forward their own friends as friend suggestions for our pimple profiles.

The goal was to create a teen affinity with a pharmaceutical product. We successfully achieved this by sneaking up on our targets and entertaining them on their own turf. The fact that teens were now proactivly tweeting and posting about our product was evidence of a shift in the way the brand was percieved. It was a small but significant step towards creating a new brand personality.