In highly competitive suncare category, Vaseline was only a segment leader in the relatively smaller and less ‘advanced’ HBL SPF segment (Hand & Body Lotion with Sun Protection Factor). This segment in Thailand was a duopoly, contested by Vaseline and Nivea. Yet unlike Vaseline, Nivea’s sun portfolio extended well beyond HBL segment - Nivea was an undisputed force in the larger and expertise-building ‘pure-play’ suncare category, driving massive investments in R&D, developing ‘breakthrough’ SPF technologies and ingredients.

On the eve of 2022, Vaseline was instead worryingly losing momentum: The brand’s efficacy scores were sliding, dropping by 6 points, from 75 in October 2022 to 69 by January 2023 on the top ‘Protects Me From Sun’ attribute. Driving with it a slide in value share in the key SPF 30+ variants, dropping by 11.1%, from 52.3% in October 2022 to 41.2% by January 2023

Vaseline urgently needed to rebuild edge in sun protection, i.e. expertise and efficacy equity - without being able to rely on the category’s tried & tested endless stream of innovation, advanced-sounding science and superiority claims.

Hence, we demonstrated Vaseline’s expertise in SUN, by alerting Thais that sunrise & sunset sunrays are much more harmful than they assume.

INTRODUCING A UNIVERSAL SYMBOL OF SUN DANGER - SUN WARNINGS “!”

We flipped the sun's rays to halt sunrise and sunset lovers in their tracks; instantly commanding attention, the symbol served as a poignant reminder of the sun's dangers during these hours, urgently, urging everyone to use sun protection.

AN SPF CAMPAIGN THAT ALSO SERVED AS SUN PROTECTION TIME REMINDER

The campaign defied conventions in the sun care category with a truly unconventional approach. Instead of a traditional TV launch, we asked the question - which MEDIUM will help us deliver this MESSAGE best.

Our TOUCHPOINT STRATEGY was led by a Disruptive Contextualisation when our audience was least expecting it. This necessitated a fusion of content and context, yielding the greatest impact when the inverted sun beam intersected with the real one during pertinent hours, in hyper-relevant destinations. Hence, TV and Video, were choice fully left out from the mix; helping us achieve maximum results, with a fraction of the usual campaign budget.

The following channels were deployed as pivots for the campaign:

1. D-OOH DURING SUN RISE AND SUN SETS: Out-of-home showed a flipped sun beam, replicating the scenery of the location it was placed in, creating intrigue, and making people stop by to read the message. They were placed in key outdoor locations with high pedestrian traffic: beach, parks, buildings.

2. INFLUENCERS TO AMPLIFY THE MESSAGE: Social media, the very space where user enthusiastically share pictures of sunrises and sunsets, became the focal point of the influencer strategy. Leveraging these pictures, the influencers ingeniously transformed their stories into sun warning signs, generating awareness, and sparking conversations around the campaign message throughout the duration of the initiative.