Winning in the sun care market can be a challenge and outdoor played a key role in ensuring that Piz Buin was at the top of London sun seekers shopping lists.
The campaign was split into two parts. In London TV, press, cinema and outdoor were on the schedule but in the control region, Manchester, only TV, press and cinema were used.
The target audience for the three-week campaign was ABC1 adults aged 18-to-34-years-old and no competitor activity was running at the same time.
The use of a control region would clearly identify the contribution that outdoor made to driving awareness of Piz Buin in London where posters ran.
Backed by the four major media owners, Maiden (now owned by Titan Oudoor), Clear Channel, JC Decaux, and Primesight, this joint contractor research demonstrated how effective the outdoor medium can be when used in conjunction with other media.
"Piz Buin Sun Protection was re-launched with new packaging, formulations and advertising creative. Given the powerful imagery around this brand ¬ with the active individuals surfing, swimming and diving ¬ the brand team at Johnson & Johnson, together with the media team at Initiative, felt that an outdoor campaign would add critical mass to the launch and drive awareness of the brand at key sites throughout the UK."
Jules Armstrong. Business development manager, Suncare, Johnson & Johnson
Campaign results
Adding outdoor to the campaign provided a major boost in awareness. In London prompted awareness of the Piz Buin brand rose to 38%, up 13 percentage points from the pre-stage. By contrast this measure was static in Manchester at 26% where there was no outdoor activity.
The impact that the posters had generated was impressive. Fifty-five per cent of Londoners who had seen the activity attributed the recall to outdoor, a massive increase of 48 percentage points after the outdoor activity ran. By contrast, the number of people identifying TV and press ads declined during the campaign in London.
The effectiveness of the campaign in driving home the brand messages was also evident. Nearly a third of all respondents agreed that the advertising was trying to portray effective protection. Nineteen per cent agreed that Piz Buin would be used by sporty and active types.
The poster campaign also served to enhance the image of the Piz Buin, with the strong creative image helping to underpin the brand as glamorous, trendy and exciting.
Finally Londoners said the advertising made them were more likely to buy Piz Buin, this measure edging up from 64% to 67% pre to post campaign. By contrast this score decreased in Manchester, falling from 63% to 58%.
So what did posters deliver to Piz Buin in terms of incremental value to a mixed media campaign? With the benefit of an eye-catching and well branded creative, this research firstly showed that posters had provided the brand with real stand out in ultra competitive and media saturated London market. But it also showed that outdoor is able to boost awareness above and beyond the effect of other media such as TV, as well as making the creative message more memorable and enhancing the image of the brand.