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An Accent on Performance
A year-long promotional partnership fine-tunes the positioning of a venerable Unilever brand.
If marketers took one lesson away from the 2003 television season, it's that viewers can't get enough of shows about how to look and live better. For the advertising team at Suave, the trend represented nothing less than a golden opportunity.
The 60-year-old Unilever brand, known best for its hair care products, had a lot going for it, including research demonstrating it performs as well as brands that cost a great deal more. The next step lay in communicating that message more fully to potential customers.
Consumers had begun to think of Suave as little more than a discount brand. Many also didn't realize that over time, what had once been simply a hair-care line had expanded to include body wash, skin lotion, deodorants and other personal care products.
As they considered their options for 2004, Suave's marketing team looked for a promotion that would put the accent squarely on the brand's performance while still communicating its price advantage. They found what they were looking for in "The Look For Less."
Elisabeth Hasselbeck stars in Style's "The Look For Less," which will devote a special episode to the final rounds of Suave's Search For America's Smartest Shopper
A weekly half-hour series airing on The Style Network, the show is all about getting a lot for a little. In it, host Elisabeth Hasselbeck scours sale racks, vintage clothing bins and stylish boutiques to put together outfits on a tight budget.
"It's all about getting a great, trendy outfit without spending a lot," says Marta Fearon, promotions manager for the Suave master brand. "Their premise is our positioning. We're all about great performance for less."
Suave's team approached Style executives with their idea and the two sides quickly hatched a partnership. For each, the attraction was obvious. Suave would gain a stylish spokeswoman, Hasselbeck, who would appear in promotional spots, on packaging and on other marketing materials. The Style Network, which had recently tweaked its own positioning, would gain extra exposure to millions of Suave consumers.
Although its programming had once centered largely around models on runways, Style now focused much more on real people and their quests to express a personal style in their appearance, homes and approach to entertaining friends. "The Look for Less," one of the network's most popular shows, fit the positioning perfectly.
At the center of the year-long partnership, which kicked off in January, is Suave's Search For America's Smartest Shopper, a contest that will award its top winner $20,000 and a role in a special "The Look For Less" episode. To enter, consumers write short essays explaining why they ought to be named America's Smartest Shopper.
In May, contest organizers will pick 100 semi-finalists. Each of these will receive prizes of $250 and the right to continue competing. To do that, each must submit photos and a video tape and answer a set of questions.
From the group of semi-finalists, organizers will choose four finalists who will face the ultimate shopper's test: The World's Longest Yard Sale. This nine-day event, which takes place each year in the heat of August, features more than 5,000 outdoor vendors parked along a scenic highway that runs from Gadsden, Alabama to Covington, Kentucky. Shoppers, armed with sunscreen and water bottles, come from over the country to cruise for bargains, camping along the way or staying at local inns.
It is here that Suave's Search For America's Smartest Shopper will culminate, and "The Look For Less" viewers will get to watch. Each contest finalist will receive an assignment: to shop for and create a specific look on a budget of $250. "The Look For Less" cameras will follow the competitors and film highlights of the shop-off for a special episode set to air in September or October.
"The Look for Less' captures Suave's value proposition. It's a good fit for both Style and Suave." — Mary Beth Berkson, senior media manager, Unilever
Suave and Style began promoting Suave's Search For America's Smartest Shopper in January. Hasselbeck appeared in spots telling viewers about the contest, which consumers could enter by visiting Suave.com, Stylenetwork.com or Eonline.com, the website of the network's parent company, E! Networks. Suave also supported
the launch phase with Sunday newspaper inserts and a radio campaign in 11 markets that are home to key retailers.
During phase two of the campaign, spots celebrate the semi-finalists and drive consumers back online, where they can order free "The Look For Less" co-branded coupon organizers. "In this phase, we're rewarding consumers who are smart shoppers," Fearon says.
Spots this summer and fall will celebrate the finalists and later the grand prize winner, who also becomes an honorary member of the "Suave Squad," a panel of value and personal care experts.
Suave's partnership with Style adds a new twist to a long-time relationship between the brand's parent company, Unilever, and cable. The consumer products giant, which also markets such brands as Lipton Tea, Dove soap and Birdseye frozen foods, uses a mix of TV, cable, print and online advertising to reach potential customers, says Mary Beth Berkson, Unilever's senior media manager. "Unilever as a whole purchases time on about 16 cable networks," she says. In addition to Style, Suave tends to use TBS, TNT, USA and Lifetime. It airs commercials in both general market and Hispanic TV, Berkson says.
Suave's relationship with "The Look For Less" includes on-air spots, a presence online, Sunday freestanding inserts and an 11-market radio campaign
By searching for America's Smartest Shopper, Suave marketers are also looking for a new relationship with consumers. "It was essential that we have a master brand feel to this campaign," Fearon says. "We'd found that we'd been talking in different voices for different products, but the partnership with Elisabeth Hasselbeck features standards and guidelines for all of our agencies. Consumers will see the same look and feel in the treatment of Suave. Our whole goal is to present a master brand message."
And the message, Berkson says, comes across loud and clear in Suave's partnership with The Style Network.
"'The Look for Less' captures Suave's value proposition," she says. "It's a good fit for both The Style Network and Suave."
Reprinted with the permission of Adweek Magazines.
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