Cannes Contenders: J. Walter Thompson Hong Kong
How will Asia Pacific perform at Cannes this year? In the lead up to the Festival, Campaign Brief Asia will be showcasing the work we hope will impress the judges…
J. Walter Thompson Hong Kong
Three in four women will experience yeast infection at least once in their life time. Canesten, an over-the-counter medication available from any local pharmacist in Hong Kong, is an easy and effective solution for this common condition. Yet we faced a big barrier in this market – Chinese women are embarrassed to discuss the topic with anyone, let alone to mention it to a pharmacist in a public area. The brand wanted to remove the taboo on the subject, and to empower women to ‘speak up’ to get help.
We decided to clear this big cultural hurdle by leveraging an even bigger pop culture trend. While women in Hong Kong refuse to open up about their personal health condition even to their closest girlfriends, they make no secret of their K-pop and K-drama obsession. So we developed a code word by twisting the word for yeast infection, ‘Yum Tou-Yim’ into a hunky Korean-sounding name ‘Kum Tou-Yin’ to pique interest, make people smile and to eliminate the discomfort about saying the word out loud. We then created an online Korean-style drama series, revolving around a woman with a secret she was hiding from her friends, to help lift the taboo and get people talking.
Want to showcase your agency’s best chances at Cannes this year? Open to all Asian based agencies entering Cannes this year. Just email kim@campaignbrief.com with a paragraph or two on each of your best chances at this year’s festival. Include a link to the case study/TVC or supply jpegs if it is print.