Through this operation we created a new media from something already existing and that was not considered by competitors as an usable spot: the balconies and the window of Naples. A media never used but that has always been under everyone's eyes, the perfect match for a successful and unique Media campaign that went viral all around the country making out billboards from the real hanging clothes. A smart idea considering that in 2023, finding media spaces available in Naples was almost impossible due to a series of events and local circumstance that turned it into the place to be.

The past year was the best one for the city of Naples. The city won the Italian football Serie A title and was also the scenario of important Netflix Italian Series. Because of this reason in 2023, Naples has stood out as the driving city, touching unprecedented levels of tourist turnout.

Everyone and every brand wanted to be there. But few could do it properly because all the media spaces went sold out because of the increasing popularity of the city. That's why we created a new media.

Also Naples is worldwide famous for its laundry hanging out to dry. It's a symbol that Italians are really proud of. Tourists take pics of it and post it on their social and it is also protagonist of films, music videos, travel blogs and fashion campaigns. A testimonial already famous and in the spotlight but not considered by brands competitors.

Additionally, according to data, Naples is the city that uses ACE products at most. The perfect natural scenario to promote its efficacy with a real and unexpected campaign that took place in its street.

Every client asks creatives to accept a mission impossible and produce a successful, low-budget campaign, but with a famous testimonial and the brand wanted to ride the fact of being the n.1 brand most bought in southern italy but do it in a fresh and never done before. For ACE, we achieved this by choosing a perfect real free (but still really famous) testimonial, the laundry hanging out to dry in Naples, and by creating a new media, the balconies and the windows of the city used to frame the laundry, in a specific moment in which there were no more classic media spaces available in the town due to its success and popularity.

Since the brand wanted a campaign based in Naples (according to the data there is where ACE is most used to clean its laundry) but neither the budget nor the fact that all media spaces were sold out or cost too much allowed it, the only way to do it was to change the rules of the game and invent a new way to be present there.

We achieved this by creating a new media from something already existing and under everyone's eyes: the windows and balconies of the city. No one competitor did it before and the result was that the laundry hanging out to dry become the perfect real and free testimonial for this campaign.

By framing them with 6 billboards we created a multi-subject campaign perfectly embedded in the urban context that was able to tell the brand in a realistic way, arousing the interest everyone.

Since the goal was to reach as many people in Naples as possible in the shortest time and with a really low budget and no media space available, we had to create new and creative media to talk about ACE's products.

As soon as we put up the billboards, a spontaneous strategy based on word of mouth, the press and local influencers come out. People started spotanently talking about the operation on their social media and leaving comments on the social content of the brand. Some influencers did it too and thanks to their help and the press attention we caught national people's attention, media and social pages spontaneously talked about the campaign, triggering a domino effect.

To create a popular campaign for ACE with a low budget in the city all brands wanted to be the only way was to create a new media: the balconies and the window of the city of Naples. A media ignored by competitors but always under everyone's eyes. The famous testimonial we used was the laundry hanging out to dry and really cleaned by ACE (real laundry was never used by competitors too). We created 6 different billboards to frame the laundry. The billboards hung from July 26 to August 1 but the operation still gain recognition on social media of the brand.

The operation focused on the city of Naples and was picked up by local and national newspapers, some videos on the brands social media channels and local influencers

The campaign brought strong appreciation from the current and potential target that reverberated on an increase in the growth rate of 6% higher in August than in July. And also the brand perception changed, people and competitors brands are looking at ACE as a benchmark and as a easier and funnier brand.

The operation lead to:

40 million impressions

210K engagement

1,2 million earned media

All with zero post production and zero human testimonial

We approached the project with a human-centered lens that enabled us to think creatively about collecting, analyzing, and using data to empathize with our customers’ needs and uncover hidden opportunities.

We started from 3 evidences confirmed by data:

- ACE is n.1 brand of household products in Southern Italy

- Naples, is the most iconic city for clothes hanging in the sun and have been the most visited city in Italy in 2023 due to a series of events and local circumstances (approximately 13 million visitors).

- Significant growth of Out-Of-Home (OOH) in 2023 which slowly realigns it to pre-pandemic performances.

Turning insights from the data into compelling stories and visualizations was the final and most rewarding result of the process.