Tontine are the largest manufacturer of pillows in Australia. The objective was firstly to create a promotion that increased sales in the category. By doing this they automatically would get the lions share. People don’t change their pillows often enough, we had to change that. The secondary objective was to ensure that when people reacted to the promotion we provided them with a ‘Tontine only’ solution.

The idea and promotion revitalised the clients business. In the activation week sales increased by 345%, our initial target was 30%. Sales continue to track 145% above the previous year since the date-stamp was devised. Beyond sales success, the idea has galvanised a company, renewed its leadership position, strengthened its brand and rejuvenated its retailer relationships.

The promotion was developed so that we firstly created the problem and then gave the solution. We spent the entire marketing budget on a 5-day media blitz. All communications were delivered either just before people were going to bed to lay their head on their old pillow or first thing in the morning when they got up. We told people about the eco-system that grows in their pillow over time. Then we told them that Tontine date stamp all their pillows with an expiry date so they will always know when it’s time to change it.

The 5-day promotion blitz created the euphoria that was needed to wake up the category. Pillows are not top of mind but we made them so. We also had pillow dumps during the time so people could swap their old pillows for a date-stamped Tontine pillow. It appeared all over national TV and got airtime on all the current affair programmes. The method was brave but produced the results. Even after the promotion finished the date-stamp lives on.