JWT Vietnam creates first ever brand campaign for eye care range OSLA driving up sales
OSLA has launched its first brand campaign in 15 years via JWT Vietnam. The campaign positions OSLA as a legacy brand that has journeyed with consumers, step by step, through the country’s transformative changes.
Sales shot up 300% after the launch and this sharp jump in sales illustrates the power of brand building in Southeast Asia’s emerging markets, where domestic companies are taking on overseas competition.
Vietnamese pharmaceutical company MERAP, which has historically done little media advertising, brought JWT on board in March to help modernize and refresh their OSLA eye drops brand, to bolster market share and fend off competitors. The campaign, which ran from September 9 to October 31, included print (below) and the brand’s first-ever TV ads.
“JWT’s campaign has put our brand on a new growth track. It really hits home at who we are, and our connection to the Vietnamese people,” said Doan Sy Hien, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at MERAP.
The ad features an array of Vietnamese people seeing the strife of the past transformed when gazed upon with ‘new’ eyes. A young woman works hard at a piece of pottery which is transformed into a classic Vietnamese vase, an old man surveys his drought-stricken crops turning into a lush green field, followed by a worker in a dusty construction turning to gaze upon Ho Chi Minh’s modern skyline. The voice over speaks of ‘washing away weariness’, ‘cooling drought’ and ‘soothing all hardship’ – comments pregnant with historical referencing. It draws to a close with a plethora of Vietnamese faces coming together to form an eye as the voice over says: ‘A million drops, one love for eyes’.
“Many Southeast Asian companies, which typically built scale with mass market production, are now starting to invest in brand building. Domestic companies have the unique opportunity to tap their inside knowledge of the market’s consumers, customize products to local tastes, and to play up their history to differentiate their brand from global competitors,” says Saby Mishra, CEO of JWT Vietnam.
“Some local brands have tremendous value locked inside, including long-standing reputations that are born of storied histories and uniqueness that transcends age. Often, it’s all about identifying those existing pearls and bringing them to the forefront.”
Monthly sales of OSLA’s eye drops grew four times, by volume, after the campaign ran, and the company’s market share jumped to 40% from 25%, putting it on even footing with its main competitor, V-Rhoto eye drops, which is made by a Japanese multinational.
“Vietnamese consumers are among the most pragmatic. But the success of this campaign shows that emotional communication done right can truly elevate a brand, and make a real difference,” said Mishra.