SITUATION

The 2020 U.S. Presidential election was a very vocal time—many people were using their voices loudly not only at rallies, but in the social space as well. Luckily, Ricola soothes sore and hoarse throats and coughs, allowing people’s voices to be heard.

BRIEF

How do we become part of the online conversation in a hotly contested political sphere, without taking a political stance?

OBJECTIVES

Because we believe in the power of voices, we chose to encourage people to use theirs, when making the most important decision of this generation.

Your voice is powerful. But when you have a sore throat, your voice can’t be heard.

Ricola is known to soothe sore throats and coughs, but we wanted to build a deeper connection with consumers that went far beyond efficacy.

So how could we show Ricola’s support for the power of people’s voices in other ways, during an election, in a time when anything remotely political on Facebook was taken down before people could even read it?

The solution was obvious: we used the power of our own voice to show people the power of theirs.

Rather than choose sides, we spoke to every voter with an apolitical message that simply reminded them that now, maybe more than ever, their voice is powerful, and Ricola is here to help them use it, and take care of it.

DATA GATHERING

In 2020, it was obvious that people were voicing their opinions louder and more often than ever. That’s a lot of sore throats.

TARGET

While normally the key target for Ricola is skewed female aged 25-45, we wanted to expand our audience in the current political climate to reach vocal millennials and passionate Americans who are registered to vote.

RELEVANCE TO SOCIAL PLATFORM

In a climate where political advertising was prohibited on social, we crafted a message that ignored the blue vs. red, and instead spoke to all voters, reminding them that we believe in the power of their voice.

APPROACH

We took a non-biased approach to our messaging, stating that in a time when voices needed to be heard most, Ricola is here to take care of them.

IMPLEMENTATION/TIMELINE

Through a collaborative client-agency relationship, and a desire to tap into cultural moments that Ricola could own, ‘Ricola: Your Voice Is Powerful’ became a real-time-response campaign. From client approval to going live, the post in its entirety came together in a mere 24 hours, sending a powerful and timely message in the final days of the election campaign.

PLACEMENT

Recognizing the tight restrictions around political advertising in the social space, both agency and client agreed our creative needed to be in-market organically.

SCALE

We knew we wouldn’t be able to promote any post that even mentioned the election. So, we went back to our organic roots and crafted a message that was relatable and shareable, with $0 media dollars.

Speaking to our 1.6 million fans on Facebook and 2,500+ Instagram followers, the post received 100% positive sentiment and we hit 282 social engagements after 48 hours of being live, exceeding previous benchmarks of organic ‘Likes” by 159%, making it the best performing organic content on the Ricola Instagram page ever. All while spending $0 in media.