We created a new mechanism: “Divine Sampling”

We know that word of mouth is incredibly powerful, but we discovered an even more effective channel: Word of God.

With so many Israelis unwilling or unable to recognise they had dandruff, we recruited the most powerful advocate around, their religious rituals.

While families carried out their devotions for Passover, including removing any bread crumbs in the house, we would add flakes of dandruff to their removal lists.

We would do this by making Head & Shoulders part of the Passover, including special dandruff detection strips in the traditional search kit of candle, a feather and a dustpan, all used to symbolically locate, swipe and remove any tiny suspicious objects.

We bought the entire national stock of Passover kits from the sole supplier; a quarter of a million packs containing a candle, a feather and a dustpan used to symbolically locate, swipe and remove any tiny suspicious objects.

We branded each kit with the Head & Shoulders logo and added dandruff testing strips, so that the search for unwanted objects would now encompass flakes of dandruff.

In previous years, Passover kits could only be purchased at supermarkets and grocery stores, but we successfully negotiated free distribution via synagogues – a first for a brand, and acceptable because the Passover kit contained the text of a key prayer.

We even set up a hotline that people in need – the handicapped and the elderly – could call and get their homes inspected for them.

We are proud that we didn’t simply replicate the global strategy to distribute the test strips through print.

By ensuring both the means of distribution and the context of the message were culturally relevant, consumer receptivity to our message was significantly higher.

We earned US$130,000 worth of media coverage for our activity. There were dozens of calls to our hotline number, which also helped drive PR coverage.

The 250,000 Passover kits were all distributed via our national network of synagogues, ensuring that our test strips reached the homes that need them.

Sales soared. H&S’s market share grew by 35% year on year.

P&G plans to repeat the H&S Passover programme in 2016. We plan to replace the candle with a branded mobile flashlight app.