Unilever launched Domestos BactiStop - the first solid DISINFECTANT for toilets. What does this mean? It means that unlike other rim blocks with symptomatic effects (smell and color), Domestos BactiStop assumes the mission to run an extermination campaign against the invisible enemy in the bathroom – the toilet germs.

This was the insight that guided us towards the development of the most ambitious launch for a … toilet cleaner: THE GERMINATOR!

Research

We built our strategy upon thorough research: 2009 GFK Study about home cleaning products, 2010 GFK Study about Penetration Domestos Rim blocks and a Qualitative research in 10 focus groups, testing our ambitious launch concept.

What did we plan?

Breath taking awareness (1 in 4 Romanians should have heard about Domestos BactiStop until the end of the campaign), Instruction (people need to understand the difference between a disinfectant and a simple rim block), Aggressive media coverage, Enrollment (1 in 10 Romanian homes, in urban areas, should acquire the product in 2010), Emotional bond with the brand.

Strategy

Because a threat has greater impact when experimented directly, we proposed a campaign under the magnifying glass and invited the target audience to join us in a quest into the invisible world of bacteria and germs. The world of germs was reconstructed in detail, in the 3 campaign stages.

1. The Intrigue (teasing) – the first page of the most popular Romanian tabloid announced the execution of „the delinquent in Big Bathroom (a Romanian city name ?) along with its entire clan ...”

2. The BACT045S Operation - once the entire nation was alarmed, we proceeded with the second phase of the plan: The Battles! A series of launch events dedicated to different targets: journalists, Unilever employees and sales people. Trained by a team of professional fighters, all our targets benefited from an incursion in the threatening world of bacteria.
 

Weapons
Toilet caps as press packs,
Toilets seats as stools in the conference hall,
Battle glasses as an invitation, hundreds of bacteria stuck on walls,
on floors and
in toilets
in order to train for the ultimate battle

Journalists where surprized first with an unexpected invitation – a Germinator Guy visited the editorial offices and offered each journalist a pair of terminator glasses with the invitation printed on the cleaning cloth – Get ready for the battle.
At the event, journalists received toilet caps as press packs while the prss CD was a “target”.

 

 


3. Reveal & Engagement - Domestos BactiStop was revealed in the same tabloid, doubled by an educational campaign, specialist endorsement, TV and indoor campaign.
„The Executioner was found! Domestos BactiStop, the only solid toilet disinfectant that kills all germs!”

The Alignment:

We continued the offensive through: unconventional promotion in the risk areas (malls, restaurants and hypermarkets), communication on TV, in print, online and in store activations.

Evaluation:

1/ 4 Romanians were directly exposed to the campaign’s messages and 350,000 products were sold in the first 4 months after launch (1 in 9 homes in Romania, urban areas).

The press event attracted 29 press representatives and generated 68 dedicated articles in 95% of the targeted publications. All dedicated articles mentioned the Domestos BactiStop differentiators.
The campaign stood out as one of the most creative ones ever developed around a care product for … bathrooms.