Malaysian Media Awards Winners Showcase

The Challenge
Watsons has traditionally been a girl store. All businesses targets growth, but for the case of Watsons where 90% of its customers are women, they have reached a plateau. How then to grow the business in 2013 by 10%, when the population of women doesn’t grow by 10% overnight?

The Solution – Insight & Idea
Watsons as personal care retailer is a brand that is perceived to be female oriented. To grow the business, there’s a need to drive men to visit the stores. How do we change the perception amongst men that there’s plenty of good for them at Watsons? This requires us to delve deep into their inborn trait. Herein lies the insight: We believe men’s inborn trait is drawn to battle and brawn. Today, the battles now fought are in the football fields. Hence leading to our strategy that the football field is the battlefield where we foster masculinity by looking good. In Malaysia, the football championship known as Malaysia Cup is bigger than the Barclays Premier League. Traditionally being seen as a sport dominated by cigarette brands and now Telco brands, we wrested the Malaysia Cup rights of content from those big boys and become the only personal care retailer to exclusively target men via football sponsorship. We envision Watsons to be the sole authority in male masculinity via male grooming and we sought to be associated with the most followed championship in Malaysia, and leverage on men who looks good gracing the football fields.

The Execution
Officially named WATSONS MALAYSIA CUP, a property that we own. At the stadiums, Watsons boards surrounds the pitch, seen by spectators and home viewers catching live/delayed/repeat broadcasts. Watsons logo adorns the sleeves of players, and at the backdrop of every interview broadcasted to millions of viewers. Matches were broadcasted live across Malaysia with total reach well above 2mil viewers. Social media updates on WMCup official FB page put Watsons in the limelight seen by over 800,000 fans. What we did in-store, on-ground and online further fueled the branded content. Special edition loyalty cards printed with football teams’ photos were sold in-store and given out via contests conducted on-air and online. Match tickets were given to customers who spend at Watsons stores, driving footfall. Engagement with viewers was done during live broadcasts, prompting viewers to guess the man of the match which was rebranded Watsons Stylish player, winning them prizes. The Malaysia Cup trophy made appearances at various malls for customers to pose with. Players themselves made appearances where customers got to meet and greet them.

The Results
The unprecedented first attempt to target men exclusively by a personal care retailer resulted in: •15% increase in male grooming product sales •40% increase in male fans in Watsons FB page •94% of limited edition Watsons loyalty card sold •10 times more media value than the investment. •RM1.7mil PR value garnered from the media coverage