sunsilk #1 Turning around a brand in disarray
When purpose brings a fallen brand back to growth Time for a Makeover The roots of Sunsilk go back more than 50 years, when it was launched in the UK as an one-application shampoo. By the year 2000, it was a top selling hair care brand in developing countries. But slowly, the brand became a victim of its own success, as it struggled to have a global conversation with women in over 69 countries. Brand communications were being pulled in a myriad of directions, marketers were getting increasingly frustrated at not having a clear brand voice. Inevitably, Sunsilk’s growth took a turn for the worse. For 5 years it spiralled downward, losing share and volume.
A product to buy, an idea to buy into Strong brands create connections with the people who buy them not just because they offer great products to buy, but also because they offer an idea to buy into. Coke’s product uplifts us so we can fuel our optimism. Dove is about selfacceptance. Apple sells the freedom to think and create. Chipotle fights for the right to better food. By standing for an idea, a brand can connect deeper with people. Not just with “consumers”, but with real people: brands that stand for an idea help us solve our tensions, build our identities. We buy their products because they bring to life a point of view on life that we love. To get Sunsilk back to growth, we needed to redefine what idea its products stood for.
People first The journey started with people. We went back to the young women who used Sunsilk around the world, taking the brand marketers with us for long conversations at their homes. Not just about Sunsilk, but about their lives, their struggles, their aspirations. In Rio and in Istambul, in Delhi and in Buenos Aires, in Jakarta and in Bangkok, the team discovered that the girls they worked for had more in common than they expected. Because they all belonged to the middle class in developing countries, they shared a strong desire to grow, build their
lives, gain full autonomy. But they also shared the struggles to fight poverty, the judgment of others, the pressure of their parents or society to follow the steps of others, settle down and have children. They all wanted to build their own story, but the odds were against them.
A brand with a purpose After these conversations, the team regrouped in Brazil for a 3-day workshop. A group of 35 people coming from 8 countries, the global brand team, the agency, the R&D team: the brand had lost its way and we wanted to ensure that the team would find it back together. It would allow them to work together in one direction, rather than going through long months of alignment. We designed the workshop as a series of experiences shared by the team – from a historical analysis of the brand communication to a rediscovery of the product. And gradually, a shared understanding appeared. In the history of the brand, the same themes appeared across the world. In Brazil, the brand launched the first products and ads that celebrated the hair of Brazilian “mulatas”. In Thailand, the brand was launched during a brief period of vibrant democracy, and its ads featured girls with short hair and decisive attitudes that had marked the time. In Turkey, the brand grew as the dictatorship withdrew, becoming a voice of the women. In Indonesia, it had had its best success with products that celebrated the dark, shiny hair of the local women, in the face of the temptation to dye them into fake brown borrowed from foreign girls. Everywhere, it seemed to have thrived when it dared to say: “be yourself”. These re-discoveries resonated with the stories of the girls they had met: all of them, too, were trying to liberate themselves from what pushed them down. All of them tried to beat the odds that were against them to build their own story. And it always started by feeling good about themselves, and putting their hair on their side. Sunsilk, we all realized, was a liberating brand. Through innovation that gave young women access to great products, it could make them feel good. Through codes and colors that were easy and joyful, it could celebrate femininity as a pleasure. Through progressive advertising, it would engage them to write their own stories – against the odds. Sunsilk, it seemed, has its story again.
Back to growth
INNAT The Br E TOOL: and de ep dive proces CATEG s ORY: Person al Care COUN TRY Global :
To get there, the work process had been intense and unusual. It leveraged experiences and a surprising sense of play. The team, for instance, was asked to go into a salon and take care themselves of washing and drying the hair of Sunsilk users. An experience that few had done and sent them giggling, but allowed them to rediscover the power of fragrance or touch into the way hair care works. Today, it has become one of Sunsilk’s hallmark. The next months saw intense work on the products and the advertising, across geographies. Country by country, the story came to life. Advertising was refined, scores improved, shares grew.
The year this work was conducted, Sunsilk’s turnover and share were up. It was the first time in 6 years. The following year, growth went double-digit. The next, Sunsilk’s business broke the billion dollar threshold. Four years had passed since it had cracked that ceiling, downwards. Sunsilk was back.
Hello! We are business humanizers who dare to care about helping brands and businesses create more value for the people they serve. Our company has no bricks, borders or bosses, just a simple belief that generosity pays: the more we give, the more we will get. We’ll love to tell you more about our work in person! Find us at www.in8motion.com