How has Dettol managed to keep an array of frankly mundane hygiene products trendy? Why is Dettol obsessed with moms? How has it increased its recall value? Read on and find out…
Using Social Media to Stay Trendy
Perhaps the perfect example of this strategy is #Handfies on Global Hand-washing Day
October 15 was Global Handwashing Day and therefore the perfect time for Dettol to launch a new hashtag- #Handfies (Hand Selfies) to raise awareness on benefits of handwashing (washing hands with soap can help prevent diarrhea and respiratory diseases and also reduce child mortality rates by about 50%) while also giving their brand a major digital boost.
In anticipation of Global Handwashing Day, Dettol soap took to digital world to raise handwashing awareness through #Handfie. To participate in the movement, people had to click a picture of their clean hands and upload their #handfie. For every handfie shared, Dettol pledged to teach a child healthy handwashing habit. Handfies were featured on the campaign website ‘Give Life a hand’.
With this campaign, Dettol found a fun way to captivate audience as well as raise awareness.
Dettol’s #Handfie campaign leveraged social media to raise awareness in a fun way. It is an incredibly clever concept as selfies are extremely popular on social media and using that along with challenging others to do the same (as in case of ALS Ice bucket challenge) made this campaign rise in popularity in the digital sphere.
Mere Pass Ma Hai!
Why is Dettol obsessed with mothers?
Dettol relies heavily on using mothers as a reference of good quality and effectiveness of Dettol. In India, a quality check by mothers surpasses even that of Doctors. If a mother approves of something, then it must be right!
Moreover, in most households’ groceries are purchased by the mothers and so habitual products like Dettol handwash, soaps, spray etc., need to target her to increase sales. Therefore, making Ads or using social media in a way that specifically targets mothers by either making the ad about her or children is an effective strategy.
Dettol has extracted as many possible strategies out of this concept as possible. From TVC to Instagram Influencers, they’ve left nothing untouched. See some more successful social media campaigns.
TV Commercials
We’ve heard the jingle Dettol Dettol Ho numerous times over the last few years along with the caption Ma Maane sirf Dettol Ka Dhula.
In such ads, mothers who are always very protective of their family and especially their kids are shown trusting only Dettol to protect against germs. This implies that only Dettol can surpass the high expectations of quality that mothers have.
The jingle of Dettol Dettol ho is also a brilliant way of increasing recall of the brand while describing benefits of the products. Not only is the tune catchy and entertaining but the repeated use of the brand name “Dettol” helps in fixing the name in the minds of the consumers.
Dettol Co-Created with Moms
Keeping consumer preference in mind, Dettol co-created with Moms a range of bathing soaps and hand washes. These products had ingredients approved by moms that also gives Dettol’s trusted protection. Essentially, these products don’t have any parabens, dyes or talc ensuring that the protection offered by these products is #MomApproved. With this, Dettol has created an incredibly unique proposition.
Mom Influencers
Using influencers for marketing a brand or product has become the newest trend and Dettol is not one to stay behind on trends. So, when they were launching Dettol Disinfectant Spray, they brought in a few influencers to create a buzz about it. They named the campaign #CleanIsNotGermFree movement.
In the first phase of the campaign, they roped in Mom influencers as well as actors such as Neha Dhupia and Soha Ali Khan who are mothers as well to initiate the conversation on cleanliness of the house.
In the second phase, they showed how Dettol Disinfectant Spray was the solution to the problems raised in the first phase.
On the subject of using social media, Pankaj Duhan, Chief Marketing Officer, Reckitt Benckiser Health South Asia said “Digital mediums allow for multi-way conversations and the company is investing a significant amount in it”
Even #Handfies campaign used celebrity mom influencers like Karishma Kapoor.
Making hygiene products trendy and engaging is no small feet and Dettol has showed it's brilliance in innovative campaigns and adoption of newer techniques to reach the masses.
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