Colgate believes “everyone deserves a future they can smile about”, even through the adversity of the pandemic.

During the past two years, Singaporeans had fought their fight, quarantine, gathering limitations, to a strict mask mandate the moment they step out of their residences. The Singapore Smile was hidden behind masks. With the announcement on 9 February 2023 that wearing masks on public transport is no longer mandatory - one of the last COVID-19 related mandates in the country - It was a significant milestone of this more than 2-year battle and gave a clear signal that the nation is ready to move forward.

Starting from 13 February 2023, Singaporeans were no longer required to wear masks in public, and it’s a moment worth celebrating. It is the perfect opportunity to connect with Singaporeans with Colgate’s brand equity - “Smile Strong” and unlock the power of optimism in Singapore society.

The strategy is agile and simple. Connecting with as many Singaporeans as possible during this important milestone, in the lead-up to the 1st day the law is in effect, sharing and celebrating the power of optimism together.

Since the last restriction of wearing masks was on public transport, we took that into consideration for asset development and media channel selection.

On the day before (12 Feb), to tease the coming of free smiles, we had our visual on large LED billboards at major shopping areas.

On the official mask-free day, we mainly focus on high traffic transit hubs during peak commuting hours, capturing our audience to free their smiles starting from today.

We also leveraged Instagram to promote commuters who were looking down on their phone to look up and celebrate this milestone with their smile.

The idea and the kick off of the execution started as a text message at 3:20pm, 10 Feb, and eventually became a meticulously - programmed, island-wide out of home driven campaign 48 hours later.

Based on consumers’ past 90 days Mobile IDs, geo-location heat maps, and digital search tracking, we chose large LED billboards at primary shopping areas in downtown on the teasing day, 12 Feb.

On the official mask-free day, we covered transit hubs on the Central and CBD, echoed with ads on Instagram stories.

On the last day, coinciding with Valentine’s Day, we reminded people to “Free Your Smile” especially around dining areas.

In 3 days, we put our message of “Free Your Smile” on 927 unique screens island-wide during peak traffic and key hours, inviting Singaporeans across the whole island to celebrate mask-free with their smile, and sharing the optimism towards a brighter future.

- 320% uplift in Ad Recall.

- 4,899,762 impressions on DOOH, 8.7% more than planned; 713,159 impressions on Instagram

- 67% increase in brand awareness during the campaign period

- Key brand attributes uplift: +15% innovative, +11% inspiring, +9% trusted, +7% dynamic

We were able to build a stronger brand equity thanks to the act of agility and resonance.