PHILIPPINES, FEBRUARY 14, 2011 – In less than a year, Splash Corporation and Publicis JimenezBasic have cemented their partnership, helping grow the company’s brands and solidify its status in the industry.
“One thing we admire Splash for is the fact that they know their market, they know how to communicate with that market in the best platform and tool possible and they are not shy to take risks,” said Publicis JimenezBasic Executive Creative Director Don Sevilla.
This is apparent in the latest “Bacne to Backless” campaign created by Publicis JimenezBasic for Splash Corporation’s exfoliant brand, Maxi-Peel. For a body soap that effectively clears skin of acne and blemishes, the agency thought about helping women who have pimples on their backs, to stand out from the clutter of the beauty soap category.
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We know the consumers well, especially the personal care market, having handled one of Splash’s competitors before. We have mastered the Pinoy psyche when it comes to personal care,” explained Tats Caluag, senior executive officer, client business development of Publicis JimenezBasic.
The relationship between Publicis JimenezBasic and Splash started when the latter awarded its hair solution brand to the agency in a multi-brand agency pitch early last year. Splash is the only Filipino-owned company effectively competing with multinationals in the personal care industry specifically in the categories of skin whitening, exfoliants and hair solutions.
But Publicis JimenezBasic was bent on acquiring the entire Splash business. “We were excited to get Splash brands because of our affinity to local and Filipino-owned companies. Local companies comprise 85% of our roster of clients,” JR Ramos, Joint CEO of the agency, said.
Splash, on the other hand, had apprehensions awarding all of its brands to a single agency fearing any one brand may suffer from creative “fatigue”. “We told client to give us a chance to prove we can handle all of their brands since we have what we call the ‘Chinawall principle’ where each brand is assigned a separate dedicated team,” Ramos added.
A few months after awarding just the hair solution brand, Splash asked the agency its point of view on one of its biggest brands, Maxi-Peel, and was impressed by the agency’s determination to handle more of its brands.
Publicis JimenezBasic gives credit to OMD, Splash’s media buying agency, which was equally creative and innovative in recommending the right platform for the “Bacne to Backless” campaign mainly through outdoor advertising.
Carol Alvarez, Client Service Director of OMD was up to the challenge of coming out with a media plan that’s cost efficient. “In the absence of TV, we recommended a mix of out-of-home and radio as platforms for this campaign”. Alvarez said.
The right mix of platforms indeed resulted to Splash surpassing its business targets. Maxi-Peel’s tremendous success has earned it the megabrand status reaching more than P1 billion in value sales, controlling 85% of the market in the exfoliant category.
The agency feels they owe it to client for letting them fulfill their duty to create ideas for their brands. “We are impressed by the culture of the Splash organization. They have competent leaders mostly coming from stellar companies and multinational backgrounds. They really have elevated their brands to become market leaders and performers. And they start working on it from within their organization.” JR Ramos said.
In photo: JR Ramos, Tats Caluag and Don Sevilla of Publicis JimenezBasic
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