RID Amazon Challenge Takes Digital to the Jungle
Australian insect repellent brand RID has teamed up with Publicis Mojo for a digital competition that seeks to take the Facebook winner to the real Amazon jungle.
Publicis Mojo Brisbane has launched a social media campaign aimed at reinvigorating the iconic Aussie brand RID.
Whether consumers are at the beach, in the bush, or just enjoying a barbecue at home, Australian insect repellent brand RID has been a predominant fixture in Australian households since the 1950s.
But after years of dormancy and declining market share – now at 15 percent against the market leader Aeroguard – RID has turned to Facebook to tap into a new generation of Australians in its bid to increase brand awareness.
The campaign – The RID Amazon DT Challenge – targets Australian families and outdoorsy types using a combination of traditional marketing and social media.
Facebook users have been invited to nominate their friends, family, or coworkers for the RID Amazon DT Challenge. The lucky – or not so lucky – winner (who has just been announced as Sean England – congrats Sean!) will then face up to 2.5 million species of insects in the Amazon jungle wearing nothing but his DTs (a cheeky Australian colloquialism for men’s swimwear) and lathered in RID while he undergoes a number of challenges to test the product’s efficacy. The five-day Amazon journey will be documented by filmmaker Justin Lyons, formerly the right-hand man of famous Australian wildlife expert Steve Irwin.
Since the campaign’s launch last month, the brand’s Facebook page has increased its “likes” more than 10 times – from 300 to more than 3,400.
“We needed an idea that was going to stand out with minimal spend. We believe it has achieved the objective of modernizing the brand and re-introducing it to a new generation. What better way to prove the effectiveness of the product than it actually being put to use?” says, Lori Thomas, marketing manager at RID.
RID also used YouTube to push the campaign further. The 38-second clip, which details the competition, has had more than 40,400 views, with the average viewer watching 90 percent of the short promotion, according to Thomas.
As well as social media marketing, Publicis Mojo employed the services of Boom Video to recruit a dozen or so “influencers” to push the campaign through their own social channels. Popular Australian breakfast radio host “Luttsy” was one of these influencers and leveraged the campaign from his Facebook page.
“It’s a really clever idea,” says Chris Reed, chief executive (CEO) of Black Marketing Asia. “RID is competing against a much bigger brand, so it is a smart way to increase the brand’s visibility.”
Reed notes, however, that the brand could benefit from the use of other visual social media platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr, to communicate the daily journey of the challenge.
“[RID] has the content and it has the story. This is an area that other brands struggle with, but RID already has it there. It’s not using a frivolous campaign to get the message across. It’s a very clever way to tie back into the core brand value,” he says.
The final phase of the RID campaign will be a post-production roll-out of the documentary. This will be available across YouTube and Facebook, but dates are still yet to be confirmed.
We can’t wait to see it. Good luck Sean!
