Lifebuoy has been championing illness prevention through handwashing for over a century. By providing affordable germ protection, Lifebuoy helped millions stay protected from disease outbreaks.

The importance of handwashing with soap was thrust into the global spotlight when Covid-19 broke out. Yet, studies showed that though handwashing rates picked up initially, they started to decline in the middle of the pandemic.

Globally, 4 out of 5 people worldwide do not wash their hands after using the toilet.

As the world’s No.1 hygiene soap brand, we took upon ourselves to convert handwashing with soap from a "pandemic habit" into a ‘life-long habit’ that helps keep people protected.

Our objectives for sustained habit change were:

Goal 1: Raise awareness in society be visible at scale and reach 1 million children.

Goal 2: Earn endorsements by subject matter experts.

Goal 3: Influence governments to drive systemic change and champion the cause.

H is for Handwashing – Play & Learn

Lifebuoy, which runs the world's largest behaviour change programs on handwashing, sought to future-proof the world against pandemics by encouraging kids to adopt correct handwashing habits.

But how do you address preschool children - a well-known media dark audience?

We created media where none exists. To embed correct handwashing habits in children - through partnerships that got governments to change the 100-plus-year-old curriculum and embrace a new one to change how the letter H is taught. We also harnessed the power of peer-to-peer learning to reinforce change in handwashing behaviour among children. Taking it a notch higher – we also reignited the importance of hand hygiene in children through the power of play.

The resultant ‘media'? Along with children's books, alphabet posters, jingles and little CEOs, we reimagined the most popular board games that children love, to lead positive behaviour.

The first lessons of life are the ones that are hardcoded in us. Early learning and language skills go hand-in-hand in establishing patterns and memory.

Pre-schoolers, on average spend 3 hours of their day engaged in play and research has proven that boardgames, especially those featuring cooperative play, can foster multidomain learning. (https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1357958.pdf)

Hence, our strategy was to hardcode handwashing through one of the first lessons our audience learned. A simple intervention that introduces the concept of handwashing to children at the right age, to help make it a common habit that is learned early but retained for a lifetime.

Year after year, this strategy helped us take the idea from creating awareness to taking action to make an impact within the context of early childhood learning. Year 04 ie 2023 it was a time to ingrain hygiene in children’s minds by handwashing into board games.

At the centre of the execution was our unique audience – pre-schoolers.

The channel: The classroom, kids, their peers, teachers and the playtime

The media: The alphabet charts, books and reimagined most popular board games

To harness the power of play within the context of early childhood learning, we turned to the most popular games:

• Snakes & Ladders to Germs & Ladders

• Ludo to Handwashing Ludo

• Tic-tac-toe to Soap-tac-toe

• Playing Cards to Lose the Germs Cards

We partnered with a leading Toy Design Company, Imagimake, and esteemed experts in the fields of play, hygiene, and education such as Austin Davis, Faculty at the National Institute of Design (India), Gwen Hines, CEO at Save The Children to create Lifebuoy’s H for Handwashing Games. This collective expertise ensured that the principles of play and game design were incorporated into the products whilst driving Lifebuoy’s handwashing behaviour change principles.

Goal 01: Raise awareness in society and be visible at scale. Reach 1mn learners.

Reached 1.3mn+ learners, 10,000+ schools. Engaged with 30+ NGOs, 100+ influencers.

17x increase in awareness of germ-transmission and handwashing steps amongst children

Goal 02: Earn endorsements by subject matter experts

Esteemed experts in the fields of play, hygiene, and education- Austin Davis, Faculty at National Institute of Design (India), Gwen Hines, CEO Save The Children joined our movement. They ensured that the principles of play and game design were effectively incorporated into the products, aligning to Lifebuoy’s handwashing behaviour change principles. Mr. Mrunal Shah - Founder & Chief Play Promotor, Sunday Bricks and Dr. Julie Watson – Assistant Professor, London School of Health and Tropical Medicine promoted our movement.

Goal 03: Influence governments to drive systemic change and champion the cause.

Engaged with 7+ health and education ministries in Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, South Africa and Ethiopia