Our client was rapidly losing market share in the bed net market to cheap inferior imports from China. Instead of reacting with a tactical campaign, we decided to look at the situation with fresh eyes. What we found out was quite an eye-opener. Most people did not like using a net when sleeping because they thought that nets were stuffy, warm and quite flimsy; therefore, prone to tearing. Our clients’ product has been specially manufactured to overcome these concerns though no one knew about it.

Our advice to the client was to use their unique product attributes and convert non-users into users and grow the overall market for nets. This would also help to consolidate their position in the minds of our audience in the long term.

Our creative challenge was to develop a cut-through commercial which would be relevant to non-users of nets. Hence, the use of children speaking in an overly dramatic fashion. This creative strategy helped the client to double their sales with a hefty premium and also earned them an award as the “Most Innovative Brand of the Year” at the National Sales Conference (NASCO) organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing.