Rexona is the Indonesian deodorant market leader and for years its brand DNA has been focused on helping people move. Rexona looked to expand the idea of movement beyond physical exercise and give its “Terus Gerak” (keep moving) slogan new meaning.

Movement for Movement’s objective was to lead with purpose, break free from typical deodorant communications, and drive real impact for Indonesians by focusing on those who need help to move the most - people with disabilities. This digital only campaign was a first of its kind for Rexona and took a modest budget under $500,000 USD and turned it into a nationwide movement.

By tackling one of Indonesia’s underserved problems; mobility for people with disabilities, Rexona was able to drive tangible change with its Gerak app. Rexona was also able to demonstrate that purpose can coalesce leaders in technology and media for real good.

Strong economic growth has lead to Indonesia’s rapid urbanization. Only 7 percent of Jakarta’s roads have sidewalks, but this is changing as development is abundant everywhere. However, this expansion has neglected Indonesians with disabilities, who are being left behind when it comes to inclusive infrastructure.

True to its brand DNA, Rexona used this insight to develop the idea for its Gerak app, Indonesia’s first ever voice-activated mobility assistant app. Gerak users could ask the app to find them the most accessible locations in their given area and with its Grab partnership (SE Asia’s leading ride hailing app) get an accessible ride.

With the app and the first ever database of accessible places at its core, Rexona developed its creative strategy around informing all Indonesians of this problem and building a grassroots movement, encouraging everyone to make Indonesia more accessible.

Rexona ensured people with disabilities would no longer be an afterthought.

To launch the Gerak app, Rexona partnered with Grab and used an integrated approach of traditional PR and media to spread the word. The key message of the PR launch was that “Indonesia was becoming more accessible.”

The Grab partnership enabled Gerak users to order accessible transportation directly from the Gerak application. The “GrabGerak” service, a fleet of accessible Grab cars with drivers that are specially trained to help disabled people, was in direct response to the Movement for Movement campaign.

Rexona introduced Gerak to the public, with a bang, using the combination of a press conference and online video. Rexona invited NGOs, the ministry of health, and influencers to witness first hand the launch of the application. We even had the first GrabGerak car drive through the launch which surprised the attendees.

Every major media and online publisher in Indonesia picked up the story.

To execute such an ambitious plan with its limited budget, Rexona struck four key partnerships to help achieve its campaign objectives.

The innovative Gerak app was built in partnership with Google, its Voice API and Dialogue Flow technology. This technology helped people with disabilities find accessible places through voice search.

Rexona partnered with Grab to launch GrabGerak. This enabled Rexona to offer accessible rides, with trained drivers, to people through Gerak. Users could find an accessible restaurant, immediately get a ride. This was not possible before.

To spark awareness, Rexona partnered with Vice, for its investigative journalism, to publish a docu-series driving awareness of the day-to-day difficulties people with disabilities endure. These videos featured para-athletes and balanced emotion and education to make able-bodied Indonesians understand this underserved problem.

This transitioned right into Rexona’s sponsorship of the Asian Para-Games where GrabGerak drivers were waiting to greet para-athletes from across Asia.