Malaysian Media Awards Winners Showcase

The Challenge
The safety of infant formula milk was severely compromised when Fonterra & Danone announced that bacteria were found in their products, which could cause botulism, a potentially fatal disease. The contamination struck widespread fear in Malaysian mothers which impacted Friso. Friso had to take proactive actions to stem the crisis.

The Solution – Insight & Idea
Insight: The breach of trust by some brands, made mothers re- evaluate their current brand, with source of the milk becoming the focal point in their decision. As no competitors controlled the supply chain, and couldn’t reassure mothers about the source, we could position Friso as the SAFE CHOICE, which had Grass to Glass control over it. Strategy: With government & news editors keen to prevent a widespread panic, we found a unique opportunity to reassure mothers and highlight that Friso Gold was fully imported from Holland, and owned by farmers ensuring complete supply chain control, from the grass that cows eat to the milk that is produced. Idea: We understood that news of milk contamination would be widely reported and covered by media, worried mothers would lap up every bit of information. Therefore we planned to target them right at the point of dissonance i.e news programs. Within 48 hours of the first breaking news, we partnered with news editors to come up with first ever ‘Breaking News’ capsule showcasing how FRISO was uniquely placed amongst all the competitors to ensure control quality. For maximum impact our ‘Breaking News’ segment followed the news coverage of the crisis.

The Execution
Friso wanted to not only position itself as the safe alternative, one that moms could rely on, but also to reassure a worried mother that her baby’s well being was in expert hands. With this in mind we decided to showcase Friso’s Gold Quality control over the supply chain, right at the point of dissonance i.e. TV News. Within 48 hours of the contamination report breaking out, we developed a “Breaking News” capsule that featured expert nutritionist and Friso Brand team showcasing how Friso maintained complete quality control from the grass cows ate, to eventual packaging, therefore being in a unique position versus competitors to ensure quality. With Prime Time News being the key source of information for worried moms, we partnered with TV3, TV9, 8TV, NTV7 strategically deploying our “Breaking News” segment. It was aired immediately after the News Anchor updated viewers on latest developments. Friso was uniquely placed to offer a solution to consumers immediately after they were updated on the crisis, thereby assuring mothers and inviting them to be Friso Moms.

The Results

With only 1 day exposure the campaign reached 862,000 parents within an evening & suddenly repositioned FRISO as the only ‘safe’ choice. This has converted an all-time low of market share in August 2013 to a 1.4% increase in market share in the next 4 months! FRISO emerged a surprise winner in the category, with majority of other competitors bracing market share decline in this period.