We succeeded in convincing an audience, culturally conditioned against our product’s benefit, to give us an extra 8.4 million euros thanks to an unconventional-sounding gameshow and because we became comfortable in our planning processes with the paradoxes in human behavior. The idea that a woman can be an expectant mother and also want to shake that heavy belly with laughter just as much as a millennial beer-drinker… shouldn’t come as such an odd idea. Any audience can have different complex needs in one space or context.

This is a timely reminder that the question, “what are the touch points?” should not be confused with the question, ”how do I touch people when they are at that point?”. Those are fundamentally different questions, and it is often in the tension between them that a great effective strategy is created.

In our case, we answered the latter question with a sincere exploration of what would make a difference, and followed the logic to a creatively subversive end. We deployed elements of jeopardy, drama and mischief as part of a complete charm offensive of content, from banners to videos to contests to social, and in the end these elements shattered big lazy assumptions about what new Mums want.

By deciding to entertain people - when everyone tells you to inform them – we helped a fabric conditioner variant break through the clutter … and in the process demonstrate that consumer journey data and smart targeting still need great creativity in order to touch the consumer, hiding and often giggling behind the numbers.