20 Sec Handwashing

In response to COVID-19, Pears Soap launched in May 2020, a public service style activation that featured a video reminding people to frequently wash their hands for 20 seconds. It was aimed primarily at the South Asian Canadian audience but as a popular legacy brand, it was designed to be inclusive and appeal to a wider audience.

The strategy was based on the below:
• South Asian populations are the largest visible minority group in Canada (25%).
• The campaign was 2 fold: 1. to educate the consumer about cleanliness and handwashing, 2. to increase brand equity by reinforcing Pears’ positioning as the soap for purity and cleanliness
• We crafted an activation to target the South Asian community directly via ethnic TV and culture specific websites, and the entire Canadian community at large with social media posts and ads.
• The deliberate messaging and ad placements were centered to remind people to wash their hands for 20 seconds with frequent washing during commercial breaks of their favorite TV shows. The commercials were strategically placed right at the end of commercial breaks and while browsing the internet, when leaving the website or social media page. The desired outcome was to trigger people to wash their hands often, in between chores even when sitting on the couch or at the laptop.
Strategy helped create the persona of the core visible minority – South Asian and also their media habits. We created an extremely relatable video, online banners and selected the media channels which maximized reach to our core TA.
• The video was created on lines of the global brand campaign
• Localized with products and SKUs available in Canada
• Audio was tailored to appeal to the persona of the South Asian Canadian by using an Indian voiceover artist.
• English was used in spot as well as on the social and digital support tactics to cater to a wider target audience and remain inclusive at all times.