Acuvue - 1 Day Acuvue Moist

Cornered by perceived product parity and recession-fuelled downtrading, ‘1 Day Acuvue Moist’ needed a tangible benefit to recapture ailing market shares. We capitalized on our product technology to amplify critical moments in people’s lives where comfort is integral to performance. We used testimonials from Olympic athletes for whom every second mattered and looped in consumer engagement where Malaysians ranked 12 “moments that matter”; making comfort even more consumer-relevant. Apart from unprecedented sales, this campaign bumped up 1 Day Acuvue Moist to the number two contributor in Acuvue’s portfolio.

What was our strategic communications challenge?

Daily Lens market reaching parity levels

When Acuvue first launched their 1 Day Acuvue Moist, the category drivers were:-

1) Long lasting comfort – because the lenses are disposed of daily, this translates into longer lasting comfort

2) The Health and Convenience benefit – by not having to recycle the lens, you reduce the chances of getting an eye infection and save the hassle of cleaning it by the end of the day

Acuvue was the only player in the daily disposable lens market; however competitors quickly caught up; launching a series of daily lenses offering the same benefits, at a lower price point

Recession-fuelled Price-Driven Consumer

Due to the looming recession in March 2008, prices of essentials sky-rocketed; driving consumers to become more price-conscious. With product offering at parity, market shares for Acuvue inevitably dived.

What were our campaign objectives?

• Induce consideration and generate trial for the product among spectacle/non contact lens wearers, by demonstrating the benefits of 1-Day Acuvue Moist

• To uplift future consideration for 1-Day Acuvue Moist to 30%

It became a question of justifying the value of a premium-priced 1 Day Acuvue Moist without getting entangled in price wars. To leverage on a compelling point of difference using the right idea, message and insight that consumers will find relevant.

What was our big idea?

“The Moment of Truth”

How did we arrive at the big idea?

We knew that 1 Day Acuvue Moist is far more comfortable to wear and provide wearers longer lasting comfort when compared to competing brands – a key factor when selecting contact lens

It was then clear to us as it is for our consumers – when it comes to crucial moments; you need the best lenses to excel. It is also a human desire to perform at their optimal best to seek both internal gratification and external approval. And this is when our consumers know they can count on the brand for delivery.

How did we bring the idea to life?

For moments that matter

To give ‘The Moment of Truth’ mileage, testimonial from key individuals, whose careers depended on the health and comfort of their eyes, were sought. We also leveraged on the fact that Johnson & Johnson (Acuvue’s mother brand) was a sponsor for the Olympics, the search was therefore focused on athletes who were involved, directly or indirectly, with the Games.

2 local athletes were selected; Carolyn Au-Yong – a retired national gymnast who now trains aspirants and scouts for the National Gymnastic Team and Elaine Teo, the National Taekwondo exponent, who was training to compete in the Beijing Olympics.

Their testimonials were simple

For Carolyn – her job as a coach requires her to extend diligent watch over her students to spot the most minor of errors. Watching an entire class for their hand-eye coordination can be tough when the eyes are dry and tired.

For Elaine – although taekwondo is essentially a sport where points are gained by moves and strikes, contenders can also lose points through expressions of pain or discomfort. Elaine has even had contact lenses tear apart in some of her competitions due to blows from her opponent, so a superior lens is needed for precision and durability.

Their careers and success depended on being comfortable with their eyes during those crucial moments and 1 Day Acuvue Moist delivered when and where it mattered most.

The advertising messages featuring the testimonials from these 2 athletes ran in Magazine, Print and also in Gyms and Hair Salons (in the form of Posters and LCD Screens) to make the brand more relevant to our primary target audience.

Getting consumers involved

A contest was held where consumers were invited to rank ’12 Moments That Matter’ in the order of their personal preference. The moments that were selected for ranking were moments that had deep emotional connection with everyone i.e. Looking good for their graduation, their wedding, first interviews, etc.

We also developed a 3-minute infomercial highlighting the importance of comfortable contact lens during after-work situations; using a gym class setting to highlight the problem with dry eyes and how it affects your performance.

This created a sense of relevancy and involvement for the “Moments that Matter” campaign as well as establish 1 Day Acuvue Moist as a reliable and consistent deliverer of performance.The contest was communicated in Print, Online as well as at Optical Outlets nationwide in the form of standees and leaflets.

How do we know it worked?

A brand health monitor indicated strong total awareness and future consideration to purchase rose significantly from the high ten’s in percentage point to the thirty percent region at the tail-end of July. (Source: TNS Brand Health Monitor is a consumer online survey of the contact lens population in Malaysia tracked on a monthly basis)

Aided ad awareness showed positive trend aligned to our activities moving from the mid twenties percentage point and peaking at mid 40s percentage points in July at the tail end of campaign.

Sales growth for 1 Day Acuvue Moist also jumped to 25% compared to 9% in 2007 and became the no. 2 revenue contributor out of 8 products in Acuvue’s portfolio. (Source: Sales data obtained from Johnson & Johnson Vision Care)

Market share spiked 10% for the Acuvue brand from 67% in 1st Quarter 2008 to 74% in at the end of the 2nd Quart er 2008. Market share continued to sustain a commanding 75% and 76% in 3rd and 4th Quarter 2008 respectively. (Source: Market Share data monitored by Veris Consulting, Contact Lens Institute)

Anything else going on that might have helped drive results?

Describe all other factors in the marketplace. Judges are industry executives. Entries that omit pertinent information will be disqualified.