Scent by Downy
Procter & Gamble
Issue 46 | March 2018
Agency
Grey Group, Hong Kong
Creative Team
Creative Chief Creative Officer Michael Knox Group Creative Director Christopher Lee Associate Creative Director Jeffrey MC Wong Associate Creative Director Jackie Wong Associate Creative Director Ealon Li Art Director Jeffrey Wong Art Director Rachel Lao
Other Credits
Other SVP, Regional Business Director Anjali Jain Senior Account Director Desmond Li Account Executive Christy Leung Regional Director, PR & Corporate Communications Huma Qureshi
Date
January 2018
Background
Over the years, many consumers have imagined a world in which they may send text messages alongside scents to convey deeper emotions. Scent by Downy introduces a practical system to do so.
Idea
To celebrate Downy's first foray into China, the brand introduced: Scent by Downy.
Because scent triggers emotions and Downy Unstoppables is one of the most popular in-wash fragrance beads, the brand found a way to communicate and introduce these scents in one of the most popular forms of communications – text messaging.
Partnering with a digital scent technologist in Japan, Downy chose 100 frequently texted words. These acted as keywords to trigger one of the 3 scents built into the flower-shaped, Bluetooth-connected device, Happiness, Fresh or Love.
All people needed to do was download the app, connect their phone to the device through Bluetooth and then wait for the texts to arrive.
Since text messages could often feel stripped of emotion, tone and other subtleties that convey true meaning, this experience offered a reinvigorating way for people to communicate.
Results
There has been much press coverage of the idea.
Our Thoughts
I'll be honest, at first I thought this idea was ridiculous. Sure, it's a PR stunt intended to get the brand column inches on its arrival in China but beyond that, the barriers to usage of the device were so high I didn't think anyone would take it seriously. But the more I thought about it, the more I began to think this idea is a signpost to the future.
Five years ago, the UK was spending a million a day on air fresheners so it's safe to say it will be more today, and that excludes scented candles and sprays.
Now think about Nest and the connected home. Who'd have imagined that domestic heating could ever be cool but now you can change your settings remotely, heating has become interesting.
So, the idea of having interactive air-fresheners, activated by your friends when they text you doesn't look quite so daft. Especially since it gives Downy a whole new market to move in on, moving it out of the laundry room into the sitting room.