Ad wars — Sebamed vs Soap Brand leaders
A few weeks back, the German skin care major, Sebamed, released a campaign targeting leading Indian soap brands head on. It released many ads across the digital, print and outdoor medium, claiming that it was better because of its pH levels — as compared to the mainstream Lifebouy and Dove. Yes, the comparison was so blatant, that they even named these brands in their ads.
I came across the digital ads first. I actually smirked when I saw the beginning scenes which were a replica of Lifebouy ads, and when they named the competitor brands towards the end directly- my mouth was wide open in shock and surprise! The ads are courageous, and indeed bullish — but are they really prudent?
The ads have since then been restrained by the Bombay High Court. However, my guess is Sebamed has achieved what it set out to do.
Having made spoof digital ads myself for my consumer brands, I know that making the script for such ads is like walking on eggshells. Sebamed being a challenger in the soap category wanted to make noise — it had a sure shot product feature benefit compared to others which it wanted to communicate. In the past we have seen, that brands communicate this benefit through a story which befits their brand image. In this case, Sebamed had the challenge of not having an established brand imagery for the Indian consumers. In fact, my assumption is that it wont even feature in the top of mind soap brands for the consumer. In such a scenario, a straight jacketed approach of just communicating the product benefit might not have worked. The message would have gotten lost completely in the crowd.
Sebamed has ridden on the reach of consumers that established brand leaders have. Everyone who knows Lifeboy, Dove, Rin would have noticed the ad. I can say for myself, that I would not have noticed the ad if the names of the competitors were not taken.
But now, I know Sebamed.
In my experience I have seen communication strategies to be an inside out approach, where I always placed the consumer insights first which then guided the communication strategy, script and the tonality. But it appears that a front on attack for a challenger might also be worth the risk, which gets people talking.
