Voltaren was, and still is, the global leader in body pain relief. Since 1973, it has been consistently growing within the pain category. Its adverts celebrate the joy of movement, typically featuring elderly people delighted to have their mobility back, in a display of agility which contrasts with their age.

Unlike its main competitors (painkiller brands), which only relieve the sensation of pain instead of targeting it at the source, Voltaren restores mobility by reducing inflammation where it hurts. This gives it a claim to “the joy of movement”, which the brand has become associated with (source: Equity Tracker).

However, as the years passed, Voltaren had started to slow down just like its audience. After years of geographic expansion, Voltaren’s growth had plateaued. The challenge was clear: the positioning needed a shift that would generate movement for the brand again.

Idea: It’s not just movement, it’s a way to connect

Movement means spending time with people you care about. It’s hugs that say “I’ve missed you”. The lift of a child that makes them feel on top of the world. A kick of the ball that means “I’m still part of the team”. Things that we take for granted, which we only realise mean the world to us when they’re taken away.

The creative: MOVEMENT = CONNECTION

Creatively, we weren’t only about connection or movement. Our role was to show the sweet spot between the two. We wanted to inspire people to make an effort to connect and take that extra step that would bring them closer together.

Heavy Users - the category standard for generating growth, by years of living with pain, had turned into ‘pain experts’ with an arsenal of medicines and treatment. Growth potential here was limited.

But there was an audience, no one was addressing: The Pain Deniers who couldn’t see themselves as pain sufferers.

Through research, we discovered a huge rift between the scientific, hyper-rational messages of most pain relief brands and the emotional stories of how pain was affecting our new audience’s lives.

To truly inspire and shake the Pain Deniers, we needed a new way of thinking.

Our eureka moment hit when someone in the focus group shared the times, they had to reject social invitations because of constant aches. Everybody could relate to the loneliness and isolation that pain caused, leading to miss family and friends’ milestones, birthdays and recreational activities. The stuff that makes life...well, worth living!

In October 2020 we launched the integrated campaign “It’s not just movement, it’s a way to connect”, by setting the foundation of it on TV and OOH. Moving deeper in our consumer’s journey, to maximize our relevance, build on our foundation and scale the campaign, we launched platform-specific digital and social assets, targeting segments across moments and channels. With content from time slice YouTube videos, Slow Mo Instagram videos highlighting affinities that we identified our audience would miss out once in pain, to educational content in owned media to relieve pain, our holistic campaign shook our audience from their sofas! A campaign, co designed with key markets around the globe to touch on the specifics of implications of body pain and life, that will continue building on our promise with 24 markets being part of the plan until the end of 2021.

In every market where our campaign was launched, Voltaren has seen signs of growth, irrespective of the category evolution.

Germany:In Q4 Voltaren’s volume share grew by +8.2% vs. only 2.2% market growth. (Source: GSK Proprietary Global Consumption Data Base). This result is even more impressive considering the high level of brand maturity.

UK: While the Total Pain category (pills included) dropped a staggering -16% vs. LY and the Gels category had a -5.6% drop, Voltaren thrived with a 9.2% growth.

Netherlands: Reach of main film: A35-54 : 82,4%.

Russia:Engagement of main film: Completion rate was 82%.

Reach of main film: 86% or 15,9 mio people.

Canada: Following the December launch, Voltaren grew +3.8% vs. market -6.6%.

Italy:Highest value market share ever recorded.

Reach of main film: 83.5% on total Adults.