Mrs. Ball's increased their prices in 2008 and needed to ensure a tangible transfer of equity and value growth of 3.3%. Regarding the gross margin needed to ensure that the product remained profitable in the Unilever stable, the increase needed was 37%. To ensure existing consumers stayed loyal we needed to demonstrate why the product is a necessity and that it should stay within their repertoire.

Lately South Africans have been faced with constant change - such as government renaming streets and towns - and this was affecting consumers in their daily lives. Mrs. Ball's decided to turn this “change” phenomenon on its head and said it is great to have certain things that stay real and true to themselves no matter what. The product proposition: Only Mrs. Ball's is an uncompromised classic. The agency challenge was that the budget allocated to the campaign could not ensure the reach needed in this elite target market. We therefore chose word of mouth as the core campaign execution to reach this focal audience.

The campaign had an overwhelming success and reached record numbers in a matter of 5 days, outperforming all known local campaigns previously produced.

To ensure maximum reach within a limited budget we needed to ensure word of mouth worked to create unsolicited PR. The tactical campaign rolled out in two phases. Launch Phase began by submitting an official proposal to the government along with ads in the mainstream media urging people to comply with the new short skirt “law”. PR followed with viral emails, websites and videos sent out and banners and posters erected in key areas. The reveal phase included a TV spot, web video, radio ad and PR activities aimed at establishing for as many people as possible the link between Mrs. Ball's and the NSEP. The initial phases were about establishing our proposition top-of-mind and ensuring consumer buy-in. The 3rd and final phase is the mainstream media brand campaign which is currently being rolled out.

The aim of the campaign was to generate top-of-mind awareness of Mrs. Ball's prior to the roll-out of Phase 3. Measurement of the campaign involved each medium owning its own URL and sharecall number in order for us to track and quickly adapt our focus to the various performing elements. Measurements for Phase 1 and 2 reveal, in a matter of days: Call centre - 5,259 calls; Website and Search Engine SEO - 372,000 hits; Click throughs - 11,677; Viral videos - 30,000+ views. Overall, the campaign received a response that is unparalleled in South Africa. It received R3.5 million in unsolicited media exposure and worked out at a cost-per-reach that is a thousand times less than the norm. In attaining massive top-of-mind awareness, the campaign was an unmitigated success with both client and consumer.