Ariel::: Think about wasting water

BRAND OWNER :Procter & Gamble
CATEGORY :Household Goods
REGION :Germany
DATE :Jul 2008 - Sep 2008


Ariel is one of the two big players in the German detergents market, with competitor Persil benefiting from a strong heritage of over 100 years. Ariel needed to position its product and communication strategy to appeal to people's support of sustainalble consumption, which is still strong even in times of economic strain.
Ariel's target is environmentally conscious, but only when it is at little extra effort and saves money.

Ariel's new detergent technology allows the consumer to forego the pre-wash, saving water and money. The challenge was to educate the target to the scarcity of water as a natural resource and to the financial cost of over consumption.

Ariel started with a pre-launch phase before the official start of advertising. To sharpen the targets awareness Ariel used 10 TV Specials: "Surprising water facts" spots from daily life.

Questions like 'did you know that you consumed 160 litres of water yesterday?' - were placed within Sat. 1 breakfast TV, catching the target as she starts her daily routine.

Once awareness had been sharpened, the target was invited to share their own water saving tips. Prizes worth 20,000 Euros were used as incentive, and the education was continued on Sat. 1's online portal. Underscoring this campaign was the fact that using Ariel allows you to give up your pre-wash, and do your bit for the environment.
In September 2008 Ariel took over market leadership in volume (+3.4ppts ahead) from long-time German market leader Persil for the first time.