Campaign uses packaging to boost sales and brand image in Pakistan
Dubai BBDO Pakistan won a place among the prize winners at the recent Lynx festival in Dubai for the advertising sector with a campaign for Lay’s in Pakistan that used redesigned crisp packets to enhance the company’s image and sales figures.
The ‘Pass a Smile’ campaign was conceived partly as a response to Pakistan’s current political and economic uncertainty, said the agency. A skyrocketing cost of living combined with frequent power cuts and weakening law and order has resulted in the people of Pakistan smiling less, said BBDO.
‘Pass A Smile’ involved “a very clever and simple packaging design innovation” that converted Lay’s packets into “interactive vehicles of happiness, turning the packs into bright and positive smiles”.
During the campaign, the front of packs carried an image of a beaming smile on the lower half of a face. Consumers were invited to hold up the bags to complete the image with their own faces.
The agency claims the campaign was “incredibly innovative in a marketplace that is often overcrowded with hundreds of brands” and a “brutal” contest for standing out on the shelf.
“We worked with existing packaging guidelines and photographed 60 different smiles ranging from the very wide grins to the more demure smirks,” said BBDO.
“The wardrobe choices and other colour elements were carefully selected to mirror flavour hints, such as red for spicy. Our effective PR move was to involve celebrities, to whom we sent these packs. They automatically shared images of themselves interacting with the smiles on the pack.”
‘Pass A Smile’ became the most successful campaign in the history of PepsiCo Pakistan, according to BBDO. “We had not only reversed slow growth, but managed to build tremendous amounts of valuable brand love. At the end of the two-month campaign, we achieved a phenomenal 16% sales growth, an 8% rise in brand love, and a remarkable 13% rise in brand consideration, taking the top of mind share by a storm.”
A record 4.9 million entries were submitted in the promotion while #PassASmile became the longest trending hashtag in Pakistan’s history, according to the agency. Lay’s become the No.1 brand on digital in Pakistan among relevant brands and the company sold more than 70 million packs sold in two months, setting a new record for Lay’s, said BBDO.
The agency further claims that its campagin was achieved on budget “that was significantly less than our competitor”. “Our biggest win, though, was that we had managed to make an entire nation smile,” said BBDO.
A TV commercial launched the packaging as a trigger for passing a smile to someone facing a difficult everyday situation. Celebrities were encouraged to pass a smile to their followers and the agency also employed a front cover print campaign and “the first ever interactive billboard in Pakistan” on which people could share their smiles. In parallel, a 50 days ‘Lay’s Summer Smiles’ promotional leg was also crafted.