Low-hanging fruit / Trying to change perceptions of a product can be a tricky business. In How Brands Grow, Byron Sharp puts it like this: ‘It would seem logically possible for a brand to point out new uses for the category […] however, things that are logically possible can in the real world, be extremely difficult or unlikely.’ Redoxon reduced the risk by meeting its audience halfway, creating a strategy using insights about existing behaviour. Not only did time spent at home during Vietnam’s brief lockdown lead to a trend for home cooking, more importantly, Vietnamese home chefs took to social media to share their creations. Wedging the brand into existing social sharing behaviours helped it to connect with audiences in a way that felt more organic, helping it gain attention over its competitors.
Easy as pie / In David Halpern’s book Inside the Nudge Unit, he argues for the importance of reducing friction when you want to influence a behaviour. The whole campaign made cooking with Redoxon as simple as possible: the brand redirected those already looking for recipe ideas using paid search ads, and cooking bundles enabled budding home chefs to participate in just a few clicks. Ease of use is highly valued by the campaign’s target audience – a Kantar report highlighted the growth of retail channels driven by convenience in Vietnam.
Creative juices / Not only was the campaign based on existing behaviours, it was an unusual strategy that had not been done before in the category. Redoxon was struggling to stand out in a sea of products that were using the opportunity of the pandemic to boast immunity-boosting properties. By taking a different tack, Redoxon was able to gain an advantage over its competitors.
Another brand that has managed to distinguish itself in the category by changing perceptions about its consumption is Baileys, which capitalised on its creamy texture to encourage its use as a dessert ingredient. Harsh Kapadia, ECD of VMLY&R, London, who worked on Baileys’ Recipe Unfudged campaign, said: ‘Rather than targeting audiences, we target occasions. So new times and events when people can think about and consume Baileys.’ By pioneering the use of effervescent tablets in cooking, Redoxon was able to achieve its goal of increasing regular usage, and also, like Baileys, own a new consumption occasion.
