power of knowledge

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The Australian Effie Awards


General Entry Form 2016


Entry Number: 160

Directions appearing with each question must not to be deleted from the completed case; they serve as a guide for both entrants


and judges. Complete entry form in – Type face: black font; 10pt minimum. All data must include a specific, verifiable source.


Refer to the Effie “How to Enter” booklet for guidelines on properly sourcing your data. Data without a source will result in entry


disqualification. Answer every question or indicate “not applicable” and define your target audience in the entry. Any unanswered


question will result in entry disqualification.


Executive Summary (Please Attach the Executive Summary to the front of the entry so the


judges can read this first)


An Executive Summary of no more than 100 words is also required (not included in page count). Please insert here.


In 2015 Blackmores changed the way Australians understood their health and was rewarded for


it: Outpacing category growth by X%, achieving $X million in incremental value sales and a return


on investment of X%.


Before the campaign Blackmores’ growth was lagging behind the market it had pioneered. In the


face of this, Blackmores was brave enough to divorce itself from the category’s winning formula:


No celebrity endorsements, no big promises, no magic pills.


Ultimately, the 80-year-old brand was able to reclaim thought leadership with a little honesty and


a disruptive idea: The best supplement is knowledge.


Blackmores is back to being a Well Being.


1. Total Campaign Expenditure


What was your total expenditure including development, media, production, agency fees and any other costs? Including


production and value of donated media and non-traditional paid media.


$X


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2. What was the strategic communications challenge?


What was going on in your category? Provide information on the category, marketplace, company, competitive environment,


target audience and/or the product /service that created your challenge and your response to it.


THE CHALLENGE: THE PIONEER WAS NO LONGER THE THOUGHT LEADER


Maurice Blackmore pioneered naturopathic health in


Australia. Up against some stiff cynicism in the 1930s,


Blackmore’s ideas were nonetheless game changing – fast


forward to 2014 and the vitamin industry was worth $1.5


billion1 and booming.


Figure 1: Founder Maurice Blackmore


80 years later, the category had become commoditized.


Chasing the vitamin dollar, brands had poured into the


category with an exploding number of products. In such a


cluttered market the fight for share had led to price wars and


discounting that was deep, frequent and across the shelf. This


was driving value and loyalty out of the market and breeding


a more price sensitive consumer2, with many shifting to


cheaper varieties over the last 5 years3. It was becoming


harder for Blackmores to maintain a value proposition and the


brand had come to rely on promotions and product


advertising to hold market share4.


Figure 2: Pharmacy discounting


The pioneer was no longer leading the way – the agenda was being set by Nicole Kidman


on a swing in a sunlit meadow. As brands fought to lure shoppers with the ‘next big thing’


celebrity endorsement had become the norm. Think Ricky Ponting grinning in his baggy green,


celebrity chefs, a Wiggle Bachelor of the Year, Stephanie Rice in a vegetable patch, Shannon


Ponton in a singlet, Mark Webber on a bike, Bear Grylls taking on the wild, or any number of exmodels-turned-nutritionists with a can of vitamins in hand. Almost overnight the pharmacy and


supermarket shelves swelled with a sea of shiny celebrity ambassadors who were delivering


confusing, often conflicting health messages, and a whole lot of hocus pocus. It was an expensive


strategy to cut through in the short term and it didn’t gel well with Blackmores’ integrity as a


business.


Figure 3: Competitor advertising was dominated by celebrity endorsement


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Blackmores had lost its voice. The brand had


just 6% share of voice and ranked 8th in media


spend5. Unsurprisingly, brand health was


suffering. The deficit was both rational and


emotional: Blackmores emotional connection


with consumers had weakened and the brand


lacked efficacy cues6. This had taken a toll:


Brand Consideration was declining steadily and


projected to decline further, dropping X% in the


12 months prior to the campaign7.


Figure 4: Competitor Spend 20148


XXXX


This was hitting Blackmores where it hurt. Blackmores market leadership was slipping away:


Blackmores Value Share was down X% year on year9 – further, while the category was growing


at X% MAT, Blackmores was growing X% MAT10. Beyond this, Blackmores was losing touch with


the next generation of vitamin buyers – health conscious young Australians – who represented


20% of current customers11. In the past twelve months amongst 18-39 year olds Blackmores


conversion from Awareness to Trial had declined X% and Loyalty was down X%12.


To recapture brand value and growth Blackmores needed to reclaim its status as a


natural health thought leader – amongst all Australians and as relevant to all


Blackmores products, on a modest budget.


3. What were your objectives? State specific goals.


Your entry is expected to include compelling data including behavioural objectives and results. Only in rare instances are the


judges likely to award an entry that only demonstrates attitudinal changes. Provide a % or # for all goals. If you do not have a


specific type of objective (e.g. no quantifiable objectives), state this in the entry form and explain why and why the objectives you


do have are significant and challenging in the context of your category, etc. You must provide benchmark and context for your


goals versus year prior and in context of competitive landscape and category.


Communications Objective:


Differentiate Blackmores versus the category and increase brand relevance, KPI:


• 10% increase in Brand Differentiation and Brand Relevance (10% indicates a significant


increase according to Millward Brown). Ultimately, relevance to also be judged by


audience engagement with the brand beyond paid media.


Brand Objective:


Reposition Blackmores as a natural health thought leader, KPI:


• A significant uplift in people saying Blackmores: ‘Leads the way in natural health’; ‘Is a


brand I can relate to’; and ‘Formulated for modern needs’ (significance as indicated by


Millward Brown).


Commercial Objective:


Drive purchase intent and strong value sales, KPI:


• A significant uplift in Brand Consideration, reversing the negative decline


• 20% increase in Value Sales across total brand for the entire campaign period (this KPI


was added in collaboration with the agency, following the initial briefing in response to


the agency decision to develop a brand-led campaign rather than individual product


campaigns).


4. What was your strategy – and how did you get there?


What was your strategy? Was it driven by a consumer insight or channel insight or marketplace / brand opportunity?


Explain how it originated and how the strategy addressed the challenge.


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Challenging conventions. While historically Blackmores had relied on product advertising to


drive sales, the team believed the real problem (and solution) lay within the brand itself. This


required a leap of faith given that brand advertising had failed to move the dial for Blackmores in


the past. More, we saw that the opportunity was not just to develop a big brand idea for


Blackmores – but also to define the brand’s purpose. The truth was, the business had been so


focused on what they did, they’d forgotten to tell people why they did it. Without this purpose,


Blackmores was just another vitamin vendor. We needed people to know that Blackmores stood


for more than a pill or a powder.


The starting point: Australians were desperate for health and wellness. We spoke with


people across the nation and the full spectrum of age, health levels and goals as part of one of


Blackmores most extensive consumer research projects13. We found that ‘wellness’ had become


a status symbol, ranking ahead of professional accomplishment as a sign of achievement and


something people were actively looking for and prepared to pay more for.


Ironically, the vitamin category was making wellness seem unattainable. It had been


turned into some sort of elusive ‘Holy Grail’ and esoteric health Nirvana. As brands battled to


outdo each other with bigger better benefits, the category had assumed the Magician archetype,


promising consumers transformation into a more perfect version of themselves.


The category had a blind spot: While the market was growing – so was consumer


confusion and scepticism. People told us they felt overwhelmed from being bombarded with


contradicting messages, fads, celebrity endorsements and unrealistic promises. Scepticism


accounted for 57% of category rejecters and Confusion accounted for another 20%14. This wasn’t


just affecting category outsiders but also current users who told us “I find it quite overwhelming”


and “You don’t always believe them” 15. Shoppers didn’t know who was who, or who to trust.


Blackmores set out to change the way Australians understood their health, once again.


We decided that Blackmores had to divorce itself from the category it had created.


Counterintuitive as it may seem, we wanted to tell Australians that there was no ‘Holy Grail’, no


quick-fix and no magical transformation laying at the bottom of a pill bottle – a strategy Maurice


Blackmore would have surely agreed with.


We needed to find a way to get beyond superficial interpretations of health – to


acknowledge that health is complex and something we all seek to understand but often struggle


to do so. After all, our bodies don’t come with an instruction manual. We saw that Blackmores


could lead the way by empowering people to take an active role in understanding and managing


their own health – helping them to make the best choices for themselves.


The new Blackmores Brand Purpose: Help everyone actively manage their way to wellbeing.


The Strategic Thought: The key to wellness wasn’t magic – it’s knowledge, and Blackmores


has 80 years of experience in natural health and scientific research.


The Strategic Proposition: The best supplement is knowledge.

What was the idea that drove your effort? The idea should not be your execution or tagline. State in 25 words or less.


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Blackmores empowers you to take control of your wellbeing through knowledge


6. How did you bring the idea to life?


Describe and provide rationale for your communications strategy that brings the idea to life. Explain how your idea addresses your


challenge. Describe the channels selected/why selected? How did your creative and media strategies work together? In not more


than three A4 pages show sufficient creative examples to enable the judges to understand the campaign. These pages can be


additional to the eight A4 page written entry.


‘Be a Well Being’: A wakeup call and rallying cry to Australians to take their wellbeing personally


and understand what their own body needs. The idea launched as a brand film and brand


campaign which championed ‘knowledge as the key to wellbeing’ with Blackmores the hero with


80 years of experience in natural health and scientific research. Two product campaigns were


rolled out later in the calendar, as support points to the bigger brand idea.


The execution was a creative step-change. ‘Be a Well Being’ introduced a radically new tone


and behaviour for Blackmores. A playful, bold voice with colourful photography and graphics took


cues from educational material. The iconic brown bottle and teal colour remained as consistent


brand cues. Finally, a powerful call to action was added: Blackmores little known naturopath


service was moved into the spotlight as a key proof point, with communications encouraging


consumers to phone or ‘click to chat’ with the unbiased free service so Blackmores could


demonstrate their knowledge one-on-one.


Figure 6: ‘Be a Well Being’ Creative Executions


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Message to the power of the channel. We launched the campaign in the locations and


moments our audience were seeking wellbeing: Gyms, OOH, native, digital display and in-store.


We also utilised the channels our audience sought advice: TV, magazines, digital and social


content.


Sharing knowledge online. ‘Be A Well Being’ naturally lent itself to a digital revitalisation of


the brand. The brand’s website was redesigned to personalise people’s journey and hero a diverse


range of information to empower their wellbeing. ‘Action Plans’ were developed: A utility for people


looking for easy to follow advice at home or on-the-go. The brand’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter


and YouTube were also redesigned with this in mind.


More than an ad – the new brand purpose was integrated within the business. To help


the nation actively manage its way to wellbeing, existing pillars of the Blackmores organisation


were redesigned and new touch points were created: Community events such as the ‘Be A Well


Being Festival’; Materials for new staff training programs and benefits; New display initiatives at


point of sale; New ways of working with the right ‘Wellbeing’ partners. This also inspired the


launch of Blackmores’ first ‘Wellbeing Centre’ at Westfield Bondi Junction the month after the


media campaign ended, an enduring inspirational hub where shoppers could get to know the


brand away from the clutter of pharmacy and supermarkets.


Figure 7: Blackmores ‘Be a Well Being’ business transformation


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7. How do you know your campaign was successful?


Detail why you consider your effort a success. Refer to your objectives (results must relate directly to your objectives in (3) –


restate them and provide results) and demonstrate how you met or exceeded those objectives using quantitative and behavioural


metrics. Did your effort drive in-market results? Did it drive awareness and consumer behaviour change? Use charts and data


whenever possible. Explain what x% means in your category. For confidential information proof of performance may be indexed


if desired. Demonstrate the correlation between activity and outcomes. Make sure you address every objective, whether fully


achieved or not. Indicate why the results you have are significant in the context of your category, competition and product /


service.


Overview: ‘Be a Well Being’ successfully reversed category momentum, staking


Blackmores as the natural health thought leader, despite being significantly outspent


(+x%). In the end, Blackmores experienced a x% lift in Value Sales that outpaced


category growth by x%, delivered incremental Value Sales of $x million and a


Blackmores record ROI of x%.


Communications Objective – Surpassed:


KPI: 10% increase in Brand Differentiation and Brand Relevance (10% indicates a significant


increase according to Millward Brown). Ultimately, relevance to also be judged by audience


engagement with the brand beyond paid media. Result:


‘Be a Well Being’ is the strongest Blackmores campaign ever tested16:


• 47% lift in Differentiation – 4 times our target17


• 35% lift in Relevance – 3 times our target18


• 73% Short Term Sales Likelihood, resulting in a Green Light in Persuasion, +17


percentage points above Australian norms19


More, people actively engaged with Blackmores as a wellbeing partner beyond paid media:


• 33% increase in Blackmores.com.au interaction20


• 20% and 52% increase in calls and ‘Click to Chat’ with Blackmores naturopaths21


• 80% increase in people saying Blackmores empowered them to care for their health22


• 26% increase in Facebook Likes and engagement was 5 times higher during the


campaign vs the brand average 6 months prior23


• 117% increase in Instagram followers24


• 64% increase in traffic from Blackmores social media to Blackmores.com.au25


Brand Objective – Surpassed:


KPI: A significant uplift in people saying Blackmores: ‘Leads the way in natural health’; ‘Is a brand


I can relate to’; and ‘Formulated for modern needs’ (Significance as indicated by Millward Brown).


Result:


Blackmores achieved significant gains across the three key brand attributes.


• 52% increase in ‘Leads the way in natural health’, a significant increase26


• 91% increase in ‘Is a brand I can relate to’, 2 times a significant increase27


• 62% increase in ‘Formulated for modern needs’, 1.5 times a significant increase28


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Indicative of a strong sales result to come, Blackmores experienced gains in perceptions of


product efficacy and value.


• A 94% increase in ‘Has higher potency products’29


• A 33% increase in ‘Is proven to work’30


• A 31% increase in ‘Is good value for money’31


• A 27% lift in ‘Would be my first choice’32


Encouragingly, shifts were strong with the next generation of health conscious young


Australians – a tough audience to win over, especially given that their desire for instant


gratification was counter to Blackmores shift away from a benefit-led strategy.


• 25% uplift in conversion from Awareness to Trial33


• 10% uplift in Loyalty34


Commercial Objective – Surpassed:


KPI: A significant uplift in Brand Consideration, reversing the negative decline – and a 20%


increase in Value Sales across total brand for the entire year. Result:


Blackmores turned a X% decline in Brand Consideration the year before the campaign into a X%


increase35 by the end of the campaign.


Blackmores revitalised brand health drove record Value Sales across the total brand.


• Value Sales grew X% during the campaign vs the same period previous year36


• Delivering incremental Value Sales of $X million37


• This result outpaced category growth by X%38


• And a 3 percentage point Value Share increase from X% to X%39


The brand idea enabled the Blackmores product executions within the campaign to cut through


the clutter and achieve a significant sales increase. The two product TV executions were ‘Exercise


Multi’ and ‘Healthy Ageing’.


• Both ‘Healthy Ageing’ hero products (Lyprinol and Glucosamine) achieved over X%


sales increase during the campaign versus the same period the year prior, which


outpaced category growth by X%40.


• Exercise Multi was a relatively new product in the Blackmores portfolio (19 weeks) and


experienced a X% sales increase in the 9 weeks on-air versus the previous 9 weeks41.


Bonus Result: Long term business transformation


“Blackmores could have just done an advertising campaign, like our competitors. By putting the


idea at the heart of our business we have an enduring philosophy that sets us apart and is now


influencing everything we do as a business for the coming years. The Monkeys have developed a


range of strategies and creative ways for us to genuinely transform ourselves – and it marks an


incredibly exciting time for the business” David Fenlon, Managing Director of Blackmores.


“’Be a Well Being’ is a powerful tool within our business and it will play an important role in


Blackmores’ Future”, Paul Di Vito, Chief Marketing Officer of Blackmores.


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8. Did it achieve a positive ROI?


You need to convince the judges that the marketing investment provided a positive financial return – if that was a requirement.


Indexing of data is acceptable. Your entry will not be ineligible if you don’t provide any data, but entries that do provide convincing


evidence will gain additional marks. (Note that this data can be excluded from the published case on request.) We recognise that,


in some instances, a measurable financial return will not be an objective, but you will need to persuade the judges why


not. ROI measures by what percentage the incremental gross profit (not gross sales) generated exceeded the campaign


costs/investment. ‘Incremental’ means comparing what happened, with what would be expected to happen had the


campaign not taken place and/or that status quo maintained. So, if the incremental gross profit is $1,000 and campaign


costs are $1,000, they cancel each other out and the ROI is 0%. If additional gross profit was $1,500 the ROI is 50%.


As a result of the campaign, Blackmores achieved a strong gross sales increase of $X million42


which outpaced category growth by X%43.

Figure 10: Campaign Value Sales during the campaign versus the same period the previous year44


With a Gross Profit Margin of X% we are able to calculate a Gross Profit Increase of $X million.


The ‘Be a Well Being’ campaign delivered a Blackmores record ROI of X%.

Figure 11: Blackmores ROI calculation as per Australian Effie Guidelines


9. Convince us that the result was not due to other factors.


You must explain in your entry the effect of any other potentially relevant factors such as product changes, pricing changes,


distribution changes, competitive activity, press coverage, economic conditions, weather etc. You should acknowledge and


estimate the role played by other factors and you should advise if the communications program led to other benefits accruing


(such as retailers taking on more SKU’s, improving space allocated and access to promotional activity, or even improved support


from a sales force that has ‘increased belief’ in the brand). Advertising rarely works in isolation but the judges need to be convince


that your campaign had a major impact on results.


We have discounted the impact of Blackmores selling directly to China. Sales results have


been calculated using Aztec data, not ex-factory data. While we can never completely discount


the ‘grey market’ (product bought by consumers in Australia and sent to China) – Aztec data is


literally physical scan sales made in Australian stores. Further supporting this, Millward Brown


reported a ‘very high’ correlation between product sales, brand health and advertising exposure45.


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There was no decrease in price – price discounts were consistent. There was no increase


or change in promotional activity for Blackmores during the campaign versus the previous year.


Supporting this, Blackmores increases in Value Sales and Volume Sales were equal YOY46.


Blackmores did not outspend the category.


Blackmores did have one branded space open in Bondi Junction – but this opened in


December 2015, the month after the creative campaign, media spend and results calculations


ended (March to November 2015).


10. Do you think there are any lessons to be learned from this case about advertising


effectiveness or measurement?


Judges will give additional marks to exceptional ideas, exceptional results and to cases that teach us something about how


advertising works. A big idea is worth more than a lesser idea. A case that adds to our knowledge about advertising effectiveness


or measurement deserves additional marks. These marks are open to the discretion of the judges. This is the “I wish I’d been


responsible for that” factor. We Ask judges to reward great ideas, great results, originality, innovative measurement techniques,


and penalise poorly written cases. High scores here will be the cases we want marketing students to be inspired by; the cases we


can learn something from; the cases we want to showcase to the world.


As a case study, ‘Be a Well Being’ provides six fundamental learnings for agencies and


brands striving for category leadership.


Learning 1: Brand advertising drives product sales. As marketers, the brand is the biggest


lever we have and is ultimately more powerful than any price promotion, product feature, or


famous personality. In Blackmores’ case, the brand halo allowed the product advertising to cut


through and supercharged product sales.


Learning 2: A brand’s purpose is its most powerful tool. At the heart of all successful


brands is a strong purpose: Apple, Nike, Google. There is growing research to attest this applies


for brands in every category47. Defining the Blackmores purpose allowed us to transform the


brand from a vitamin manufacturer into a wellbeing company, on a modest budget.


Learning 3: Agency strategy and creativity must reach beyond advertising. The biggest


impact comes when a business is inspired, organised and reinvigorated from the inside out. True


transformation is not just a TV message and agencies are just as (if not more) valuable beyond


this channel.


Learning 4: Brands don’t need a celebrity to cut through. When a brand has a powerful


insight and something meaningful to say, people will engage. Celebrities might shift product in


the short-term but they do not build the brand.


Learning 5: Success does not require a bigger better benefit. Promising less can sell more.


When Blackmores divorced itself from a category promising perfection, the brand was rewarded


with perceptions of potency, preference and purchase.


Learning 6: It pays to be an outlier. There are times when brands need to be brave enough


to ignore conventions and forge new ground, just like Maurice Blackmore.


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1 Aztec, MAT National Combined, March 2015


2 Blackmores Agency Pitch Brief, May 2014


3 Ibis World, February 2016


4 Millward Brown, December 2014


5 Landsberry and James Competitive Expenditure, AQX, April 2013 to March 2014


6 Millward Brown, September 2014


7 Millward Brown, November to January 2015


8 Landsberry and James Competitive Expenditure, AQX, January to December 2014


9 Blackmores Agency Brief, Aztec, YA MAT April 2014


10 Blackmores Agency Brief, Aztec, MAT National Combined April 2014


11 Galileo Kaleidoscope, November 2013


12 Millward Brown, Brand Tracking, July 2013 to March 2014


13 Galileo Kaleidoscope, August 2014; Blackmores ‘The Next 80 Years’, September 2014


14 Homescan and Galileo Kaleidoscope, April 2013


15 Galileo Kaleidoscope, 2015


16 Millward Brown, Ad Testing, May 2015


17 Millward Brown, Ad Testing, May 2015


18 Millward Brown, Ad Testing, May 2015


19 Millward Brown, Ad Testing, May 2015


20 Millward Brown, May 2015


21 Blackmores Advisory Reporting, January vs November 2015


22 Millward Brown, Brand Tracking, January 2015 vs November 2015


23 Google Analytics, January vs November 2015


24 Google Analytics, January vs November 2015


25 Google Analytics, January vs November 2015


26 Millward Brown, Brand Tracking, January 2015 vs November 2015


27 Millward Brown, Brand Tracking, January 2015 vs November 2015


28 Millward Brown, Brand Tracking, January 2015 vs November 2015


29 Millward Brown, Brand Tracking, January 2015 vs November 2015


30 Millward Brown, Brand Tracking, January 2015 vs November 2015


31 Millward Brown, Brand Tracking, January 2015 vs November 2015


32 Millward Brown, Brand Tracking, January 2015 vs November 2015


33 Millward Brown, Brand Tracking, March 2014 to November 2015


34 Millward Brown, Brand Tracking, March 2014 to November 2015


35 Millward Brown, Brand Tracking, March 2014 – February 2015 vs February 2015 – November 2015


36 Aztec, 23/03/14-30/11/14 vs 22/03/15-29/11/15


37 Aztec, 23/03/14-30/11/14 vs 22/03/15-29/11/15


38 Aztec, 23/03/14-30/11/14 vs 22/03/15-29/11/15


39 Aztec, 23/03/14-30/11/14 vs 22/03/15-29/11/15


40 Aztec, 9/11/14-7/12/14 vs 8/11/15-6/12/15


41 Aztec, 5/7/15-30/8/15 vs 6/9/15-1/11/5


42 Aztec, 23/03/14-30/11/14 vs 22/03/15-29/11/15


43 Aztec, 23/03/14-30/11/14 vs 22/03/15-29/11/15


44 Aztec, 23/03/14-30/11/14 vs 22/03/15-29/11/15


45 Millward Brown, VDS Category Brand Health and Brand Power Correlation, April 2015 and Millward


Brown, Cross Media Study, 2015


46 Aztec, March – November 2015


47 Association of National Advertisers, ‘Purpose drives performance’, 2015