Downy Unstopables in-wash scent beads went from P&G fabric care’s leading growth driver to plateauing in 2022. The brand had won over early adopters and needed to attract the skeptical mainstream consumer. Those consumers believed scent from their detergent was sufficient and didn’t believe Downy scent beads could make clothes smell fresh for 12+ weeks. As skeptics, they needed a proven, unique value proposition to try a new product.

That’s why we set out to prove Downy scent beads really do make clothes smell fresh for far longer than detergent alone. We needed to explode trial and convert skeptics into believers.

Downy created a 12-week long Super Bowl ad: a long product demo to prove its long-lasting claim. We used a cynical celebrity to sniff his hoodie for weeks leading up to the game. He refused to reveal his identity until he was convinced Unstopables last, making consumers want to Sniff it to Believe it themselves and making media want to talk about us.

We started our campaign in December way before other brands via a statement on social from the mystery celebrity and via films on TV/OTT. By releasing content throughout, as well as bringing in partners like DeuxMoi, we fueled the media and consumer conversation around Unstopables and drove trial.

Come Super Bowl, we revealed our celeb, Danny McBride, and his verdict - Unstopables really last. Danny was such a believer, he changed his name to Downy McBride and busted out of his laundry room to tell the world.

We activated an integrated strategy of earned, influencer and social sharing, which led to a steady drumbeat of coverage and digital results that reached consumers for an elongated period with frequency and reach. The ultimate goal was to drive excitement, intrigue, awareness and trial – and we did that via a pulsed-out storytelling approach.

To establish the foundation for our earned momentum, we positioned a well-rounded story via trade to kick off the program. We then were able to sustain pre-reveal momentum with top-tier national placements.

To extend the conversation to social leveraging additional platforms, we launched a strong 3rd party content creator program to spark more engagement and brand affinity.

Additionally, we extended reach to sports and lifestyle audiences via a partnership with scent-obsessed Buffalo Bills’ player, Stefon Diggs, who was on the ground at Radio Row to drive product experience.

Leading up to the Super Bowl, we created a 12-week sniff test with a secret celebrity. He refused to reveal himself until he could "Sniff it to Believe it" for himself, encouraging consumers to join the sniff test. From early December until the game, we checked in on his journey from skeptic to ultimate believer with new content releases and invited consumers in on TV including NFL games, OTT and on social.

Come Super Bowl, we revealed our mystery celeb, Danny McBride, and revealed his verdict - Unstopables really last. Danny was such a believer, he changed his name to Downy McBride and busted out of his laundry room to tell the world.

The campaign turned around the Downy beads business, generating a 22% lift in sales (YoY) and set a record for the most monthly sales since beads were launched in 2011. Not only did we set a record for beads, the entire Downy business set a record for consumption, representing a halo effect that grew the entire category for P&G.

In just the ten days around the Super Bowl, 320M lapsed and non-users purchased beads, achieving our goal of converting skeptics to believers. We also distributed 150M samples, proving we made people curious enough to try.

By developing a long-lead campaign, Downy was able to secure 2X+ the amount of merchandising and support from retail customers (YoY) - the lifeblood of the CPG business.

We also garnered 9.1B+ earned media impressions, 183MM social listening impressions, and 63.3MM organic social impressions, more than the past two Tide Super Bowl campaigns.