Hence the new recommended ad length was 15 seconds in order to focus on the product’s benefits and allowed for retelling the proposal more explicitly, with a clearer brand role and leaving out situations at the hairdresser’s/streets which were not related to San Pablo. There was still space to show both ingredients more clearly. This is why we suggested writing the mix on screen when the mix is on screen "KERATIN + ARGAN OIL".

When tested, the new final edits being produced showed a huge improvement, with outstanding results that matched the original film’s performance in the NorthEast.

It was the strongest ad the brand had aired in 3 years in São Paulo. The effects on the brand Sunsilk were also significant: it improved market share and consumer’s loyalty.

Even though this case showed us that it is possible to adapt a strategy and specific actions to culturally different environments with an appropriate research and strong partnership among those involved in a project, it also highlighted a clear need for a greater understanding of what drives success for brands in a culturally diverse market. As next steps, and understanding the value of the work done, Unilever has now drawn a budget to conduct more research and campaigns in the North East and other regions.

We first asked consumers of both regions for their opinion. As expected, responses were very different; while women in the NorthEast positively valued the piece, women in São Paulo rejected it. The cultural relevance was highly appreciated and made the film more meaningful in NorthEast. In São Paulo, people felt that many of the aspects, which made the film great in the NorthEast, were not so meaningful. They felt alien to some degree, and that sense of closeness with the ad got lost; so the results for São Paulo were poor. Women did not feel identified with the ad; it was not enjoyed and it was not directly linked to the brand. They did not feel related to the hairdresser’s or to the street and they did not understand the storytelling either. In general, the setting was nice (colourful & cheerful), but it was not clearly decoded – it could have been a beach from the NorthEast, a residential neighbourhood - distant from consumers. The plot was not clearly understood either, compromising identification with the story. We were also provided with a lot of information from our consumers, even with what they could explicitly tell us. The use of advanced technology in Neuroscience helped us to get much more than what was evident. So, we discovered that not all was lost. Other elements related to the product’s benefits were highly valued and they could still be used. So the challenge was how to adapt the film to make it culturally relevant for São Paulo as well as focusing more on the product’s components. The main recommendation was to ‘focus-focus-focus’.