Problem: SHAMPOO BUYING: A"BAD HAIR" DAY?

When was the last time you purchased shampoo or other hair care products? How long did it take you to choose? How did you decide? The hair care aisle of a typical drugstore has more than 200 choices for shampoo. The packages promote a myriad of benefits including repair, protection, hydration, control, and nourishment. How does a consumer make the match between his or her needs and the brand benefits? It's not easy to choose, and therefore not a surprise that many shoppers spend about 20 minutes in this aisle when they select a shampoo brand. The confusion builds when you consider that it is not just shampoo that we buy. There are gels, mousses, hairsprays, shine enhancers, and conditioners. A recent Mintel survey shows that three-quarters of consumers use conditioner in addition to shampoo, and these numbers are even higher for women. One way that consumers try to simplify the purchase process is by referring to compelling advertising, so ad agencies work hard to create effective messages that can reinforce current brand loyalty or persuade consumers to try a new brand. Hair care product advertising relies heavily on television, print, the Internet, and outdoor advertising, most commonly in the form of billboards. In addition, many ad campaigns feature appealing celebrity endorsers such as Katie Holmes, Nicole Scherzinger, and Sofia Vergara. And it's not only women in the United States who scratch their heads over these choices. To the women of Singapore and the Philippines, the choice of hair conditioner poses the same challenges.

To connect with women in these countries, Unilever tried a nontraditional campaign to show the benefit of Cream Silk Hair Fall Defense, a conditioner brand the company sells in those countries. Cream Silk's core benefit is the "strength" it gives hair. With the help of advertising agency JWT, Unilever was able to break through the advertising clutter and deliver its message in an entirely new format. JWT began by contacting Paul Goh, the leading violin bow maker in Singapore. For this promotion, Mr. Goh was asked to switch out the horsehair violin bows he traditionally used and exchange them with human hair on four of his violin bows. This hair had been washed and conditioned with Cream Silk. To demonstrate the strength of the hair, a string quartet used the bows as it played during a 4-hour concert in a busy shopping mall in Manila. Good news for Unilever: The entire concert concluded without even one broken hair on the violin bows! You can view the video yourself on YouTube; just search "The Human Hair Quartet." According to JWT, the event was fully successful in engaging Cream Silk's target market. The people who flocked to the concert rose to as high as 600 at one point. Over 450 samples of the shampoo were distributed. A survey conducted at the event showed that most of the consumers left with a positive impression about Cream Silk. What do you think? If you were looking for stronger hair, would this advertising convince you? How is this approach superior or inferior to others that conditioner brands typically use?

Discussion questions

1. Describe Cream Silk's promotion within the context of the multiattribute model: Which attribute(s) were central to the promotion and how does the model explain what the company was trying to accomplish with the "Human Hair Quartet?" What limitations might this model have for predicting consumer's attitudes and purchase behavior towards Cream Silk? (Hint: Take a look at the Theory of Reasoned Action.)

2. In contrast to the Cream Silk promotion, Old Spice used its characteristically quirky approach to persuade men to try its hair care products. The integrated campaign, "That's the Power of Hair," incorporated a popular Huey Lewis tune, an interactive Web site, and funny ads featuring animated hair. Discuss the type of message appeal and the Elaboration Likelihood Model route each campaign used.