Advertising soap powder is probably the oldest form of marketing. The challenge of getting the tone and values across for an uber brand like Persil is no mean feat.
As we know the big brands are increasingly dabbling in online video. When we worked with Unilever to create a series of baby health tips for Persil, it was good to see the agency team inching forward into the messy, uncontrollable soup of Internet distribution.
Rather than a misunderstanding the benefits of online, brand managers still seem a little uncertain and perhaps distrustful of the channel. It doesn’t yet offer the same certainties as TV advertising with it’s neat parametres and target demographics.
Having said that, the online environment is changing for advertisers; it’s being tamed, with convergence between online and TV now a reality in times when budgets are so squeezed .
After years of working in the online video arena, we’ve come of age and can offer the purveyors of soap powder and face cream honest advice and understanding of how their material can work in this mercurial and content hungry environment.