AWARENESS
Case Study
FROM HOMO ECONOMICUS TO HOMO SAPIEN: STIRRING THE SUBLIMINAL MOTIVATIONS OF AN EMOTIONAL HOUSEWIFE
A specialized floor cleaner brand, which is the leader in the category, was struggling with low penetration vis-à-vis traditional cleaners (water/detergent). Increasing disposable income meant that Indian housewives were upgrading to a large extent. Yet, these very consumers were also using traditional methods of surface cleaning.
From our previous research, we knew that there was a need to explore the floor as an emotional entity. This was a big challenge considering that most advertising in the category was (at the time of the study) built on the notion of surface care as a rational pursuit, unattached to the much larger emotional experiences of everyday life. Moreover, we had started to suspect that looking at the brand within the purview of that category meant that we were perhaps overlooking a much larger force at work that led to the inconsistency in upgradations.
We mixed traditional questioning methods with certain unconventional ones such as- scenario creation, shop along activity and role plays which allowed us to probe deeper into the implicit beliefs that constrain upgradations.
Based on the findings, an animatic was developed, and tested under Millward Brown’s LINK. This was a remarkable deviance from the previous ad, because it involved the social milieu and the emotional life around floor cleaning. Quantitatively, the LINK results reflected the high emotional and social quotient of the ad, with very high scores.
You can see the final ad here.The findings from this study were the basis for our paper at AQR-QRCA Conference 2014, Budapest
