NIVEA Visage – Putting television at the heart of the campaign
The fact that it was a free-to-air, high-reaching programme that was very targeted definitely allowed us to achieve our goals. But it was also the content and how we leveraged that right through the line.” Shameek Raj, Marketing Manager (NIVEA), Beiersdorf
Brand leaders don’t always have it easy. For 100 years NIVEA has been one of the biggest brands in skincare, but when it comes to attracting a new generation to the brand, even the biggest go back to basics.
Putting television at the heart of a campaign and leveraging that involvement effectively, and creatively, right through to point-of-sale is a recipe for success, says Sydney-based Shameek Raj, Marketing Manager at Beiersdorf, makers of NIVEA. “Television is still one of those tried and tested forums for driving people to the next stage in the buying funnel. It can drive awareness and reach very, very quickly.”
Television was at the core of NIVEA’s campaign to attract a new generation of women to NIVEA Visage, the company’s popular skincare range. Buoyed by the success of its sponsorship of Australia’s popular TV soap Neighbours and its advertising and in-programme involvement with the first series of New Zealand’s Next Top Model, the NIVEA marketing team decided to “own” the second series of New Zealand’s Next Top Model to boost the brand’s credibility among a new generation of women.
We went into Next Top Model because of the demographics. The audience was young and it was more highly engaged with the programme compared with the show’s older audience. We really wanted to engage that younger audience and be relevant to them. So we decided we didn’t just want to sponsor the show, we really wanted to be part of the show.”
Raj says TV3’s owner MediaWorks TV helped the company achieve that goal. “MediaWorks had a really fantastic producer who actually allowed us to do a lot of things within the programme. They were a real partner in the process.”
Chistobelle, the popular winner of the first season of New Zealand's Next Top Model, was selected as the brand ambassador.
On air activity included television commercials, featuring Christobelle, the popular winner of the first series who was engaged as the campaign’s new brand ambassador; product placement and use of NIVEA Visage within the show (the girls were given products from the range to clean and moisturise their skin); and a six-minute in-show skincare segment.
Credits within the show also drove viewers to a NIVEA microsite showing behind the scenes footage, Christobelle sharing her beauty secrets and details about the Live Like a Model competition, which flowed right into stores, through red-carpet point-of-sale promotions.
The whole campaign was a phenomenal success, says Raj. Sales jumped by 126%, unprompted awareness rose 43% and more than 7000 people entered the Live Like a Model competition – the vast majority in the campaign’s target 16 to 25 age range. Acknowledging this success, NIVEA won the Gold award for Best Use of Television in the 2011 CAANZ Media Awards.
The campaign resulted in a 126% increase in sales.
“TV gave us a very, very targeted approach to our target consumer,” says Raj. “The fact that it was a free-to-air, high-reaching programme that was very targeted definitely allowed us to achieve our goals. But the magnitude of the success was a combination of television and leveraging that right through to each point-of-sale.”
In today’s fragmented media world, television is still the best tool for reaching a target audience quickly, but for it to really work and drive sales you have to invest in it, says Raj. “It’s really about how you leverage what you do on television that drives the end results. You have to take the consumer through that journey, from the couch to the cashier.”
Melanie Reece, General Manager Intergrated at MediaWorks TV agrees with Raj. Television is particularly powerful for driving consumers to other platforms, such as Facebook, websites or points-of-sale where you can provide samples and engage audiences on a more one-to-one basis, she says. “The way that television hasn’t changed is it still delivers mass audiences. In last year’s recession we delivered more eyes than ever, so the chat about fragmented television is nonsensical because audiences are actually growing.
“The real opportunity for advertisers today is to use television as a driver to hang other platforms…to be the central point of a multi-platform communication. That’s the real power of it and I think advertisers are just waking up to that.”
Additional information
Advertiser - Beiersdorf – NIVEA, www.nivea.co.nz
Media buying agency - OMD, Auckland, New Zealand
Creative agency - Creativ8, Sydney, Australia
About the Author
Lesley Springall is a business journalist and freelance writer with nearly 20 years experience in corporate writing and journalism. In 2010 she was voted New Zealand MPA Business Journalist of the Year.
