The ad agency refined the creative and Lux put it through a final round of quantitative advertising evaluation in January 2014. The result was one of the top-performing ads in China, with the water dress playing a pivotal role in wowing the audience. Compared to the first ‘Fresh’ creative evaluated in July 2012 (before the qualitative research), the final creative had very strong ability to stand out from competition and persuade viewers to buy the product – both significantly improved from the bottom 30% to top 30% of all ads evaluated in China. The ad went on air in May 2014 and in three months both usage and imagery measures saw a 20–35 percentage increase. The campaign also improved perceptions of the brand’s superior fragrances and emotional payoff of ‘igniting one’s confidence’ in a culturally relevant manner – enabling the brand to reinforce its emotional connection with consumers. More importantly, this process of co-creation between Lux, the ad agency and the research agency had successfully helped to craft a successful creative in a challenging market and the invaluable insights were extended into further campaigns in China, including the campaign for Lux’s core variant, providing a long-lasting edge from this process.

Born from qualitative research learnings, the ‘Water Dress’ creative device was the one which shined the most and hit key points that needed to be further refined in the execution. This included working on the visuals of the water dress so that it would be a powerful metaphor for freshness and an eye catching device that could create a ‘wow’ effect; building up the protagonist’s playful character which would give the creative a light-hearted mood and tone that was well-liked; and elevating freshness through the girl’s interaction with others. The ad agency then developed an animatic that revolved around this creative device with a romantic storyline and evaluated it through quantitative research. However, results revealed that the creative had some basic themes which worked, but had room to improve. To navigate the cultural challenge and ensure that the creative will be a success in China, we had to ensure that it had the right elements in the right context. Our next step was a cultural immersion combined with advertising learnings in China. This workshop highlighted the importance of portraying symbols of social ascension, inclusiveness in pay-offs and other nuances that were powerful in giving specific pointers to the ad agency on how the ad could be customized for China. These insights led to key changes made to the creative such as capturing Paris through the environment and casting to create an international flavor that was seen to be aspirational; clear depiction of the key benefit of freshness being enjoyed not only by self but also benefiting others through the protagonist’s interaction with many people; and using the dress to make a bold statement by dramatizing its effects which allowed her to create an enjoyable interaction with others by splashing it playfully and the floral fragrant subliminal message throughout.