Unilever begins Vaseline rebranding campaign
By Adnews Staff
Unilever Canada has begun a rebranding campaign for Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion to promote its redesigned packaging and new product line extensions. The initiative takes the form of an education campaign about the health and wellness benefits offered by the human touch. In August, the company commissioned Leger Marketing to survey Canadians on their touching habits. The results of the survey, which showed that many Canadians often go for several days without touching anybody, will be used in the public relations, advertising and online components of the campaign. The company will declare Sept. 25 to Oct. 2 to be a national "Week of Touch." Consumers will be invited to sign a pledge at <http://www.vaselineskin.com> to increase the quality and quantity of touching in their lives. For each signatory, Unilever will make a donation to Kangaroo Care, a hospital program that facilitates skin-to-skin contact between premature infants and their parents. During the week, body language expert Patti Wood will conduct a media tour of Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver to speak on the importance of touch. In addition, a campaign of 15-second television commercials will run nationally in English and French in October and November. A four-week campaign of ad banners will run on the websites of Chatelaine, Today's Parent, Flare, Yahoo and Canoe, beginning today. The creative will draw on the results of the company's survey. A 30-second U.S. television commercial has also been adapted for Canada. It will break today. The company will also conduct a draw for purchasers of Vaseline, the winner of which will receive a family reunion. Approximately 575,000 samples of the lotion will be distributed at Days Inn locations, at Pearson Airport in Toronto and through Unilever's magazine HomeBasics. The advertising for this campaign was created by Zig. PHD Canada handled the media buy. Public relations are being done by Harbinger. The in-store and sampling programs are being conducted by Segal. The online work was handled by Dashboard. All of these firms are based in Toronto.