In 2012, China’s official TV regulator issued a string of rules restricting everything from spy dramas and crime stories to programmes about time travel. It’s also banned foreign dramas during prime time, and has targeted what it calls 'over-entertainment'.New rules from the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) went into effect that restrict commercials from interrupting TV dramas, allowing them to air only back-to-back between programmes. Ads are limited to 12 to 18-minute blocks between shows.

For marketers it becomes an interesting challenge and an opportunity. Unilever forecast early on that the biggest winner of the new legislation will be digital media.In order for Unilever to sustain the success of its 'Clear Unbeatable' franchise into 2012, it would need to explore alternative platforms and channels to deliver its brand message. It sought to use 2011 as a test bed for multi screen strategies and turning up the volume on online video platforms. Clear succeeded at this goal. It increased its share of market by 40%, by delivering over 90% of its media impressions through online video channels.

We maximised audience engagement by promoting the game rather than the brand across QQ’s and partner’s platforms. The dandruff eradication messaging was embedded into gaming narratives, rewards, sampling and leader board challenges to showcase audience achievement. ‘2012 Dandruff Doomsday’ was also cross-integrated into other in-game ads, challenges, badges, gifts, missions, interactive assets, avatar and live micro-blogging themes.

The online distribution strategy for Clear 'Unbeatable2' and the “' am an Unbeatable Expert' engagement campaign generated impressive results.

•A 48% increase in online video views (over 1.3bn) compared Clear Unbeatable 1.•Over 1m people complete the digital challenges to become Clear Unbeatable Experts, generating over 11m earned page views and 9m views of consumer generated videos.Overall the campaign delivered a 66% increase in media impressions and a 9% reduction in CPM and 36% reduction in cost per video view compared to 2010. Helping Clear achieve a 40% increase in market share in 2011.