When all hair ads are the same, the brand with the biggest voice wins. So one brand decided to stop shouting and start listening. VO5 Express Yourself asked girls to turn the tables, show us how they like to do their hair, express their style, share tips and send in demos. And not just hair. Music too. The campaign uses crowd-sourced content through Shazam-enabled TV ads, print and online, hubbed around a girl’s song writing competition that will culminate in July, when the winner sings her song, her way (and with great hair) on the Isle of White Festival main stage.

Our media choices enabled VO5 to help curate self-expression.

1. We tapped key influencers to share content, ensuring audience engagement at launch.

2. We launched our campaign in multiple channels, including a unique X-Factor placement encouraging Emily to Shazam via her mobile. Facebook and YouTube then invited Emily to find out more about the competition and explore styling.

3. Emily could enter her own music video on Facebook or vote for the videos of others whilst learning more about VO5 styling products.

4. We’ve since found our winner and we’re all set to celebrate her unique style. Stay tuned.

Part-way through, we’ve already grabbed attention, shifted brand attitudes and put serious volume back into sales (12 w/e MAT YoY from date of campaign launch, unless otherwise indicated). Unilever results show:

• Post-campaign research shows that Emilys aged 16-24 are 50% more engaged with our campaign than the UK norm, finding it ‘interesting’, ‘distinctive’ and ‘involving.’ Even Emilys aged 25-45 are finding it 35% more engaging

• The VO5 brand is now perceived to be ‘fun’, ‘young’, ‘funky’ and ‘extrovert’ – a complete shift away from the sensible/mumsy image of the old VO5

• Emily now believes that VO5 is committed to helping her DIY style and creating her look

• VO5 female ‘styling’ products are out-performing the market with 25% growth YoY

o As well as attracting a new audience to the brand (Emily) which is driving an increase in volume sales, our customers are also paying more for their VO5 – re-positioning the brand away from its old ‘value’ image

o Sales of ‘Pink’ styling are up 36%, with Hairspray up a whopping 53%. Meanwhile celeb driven Elnett, the most popular category brand, is in decline by 1.6%

• Encouragingly, the style credentials have also increased sales of VO5 wash and care - up by 12.3%