Lux Soap Art
Lux Global
Issue 25 | December 2012
Agency
JWT Singapore
Creative Team
Executive Creative Directors: Juhi Kalia, Tay Guan Hin Creative Director: Karen Muck Copywriter: Juhi Kalia Art Director: Aurelien Bigot
Production Team
Account Directors: Hinoti Joshi, Sue Mulhall Account Managers: Kryse Ynieto, Anjali Bewtra Traffic Manager: Ryan Wee Senior Project Manager: Jaslyn Choong Agency Producer: Gerri Hamill Advertiser’s Supervisor: Marit Kievit Editors: Jeremiah Marcelo, Mark Doney
Date
March 2012
Background
Lux is one of the largest and oldest soap brands in the world. To revitalise the brand, the business was repositioned on a fine fragrance platform. The new strategy required Lux to stop thinking and behaving less like a soap and more like a fragrance product.
The key insight was that fragrances evoke emotions and feelings rather than rational benefits. And art was seen as the most powerful way to express feelings.
The core thought behind inviting famous artists to work with Lux to create powerful, emotional experiences was it only required a few drops ( 'Just a little Lux', the new brand line) to stir up some big emotions.
Idea
Spanish artist Gabriel Moreno was invited to create the world’s first liquid soap painting in front of a live audience at the global launch event of Lux Spell Soap.
Inspired by the exotic fragrance of the rare orchids in the product, he created ‘Bewitch’ using the challenging and unexpected medium of purple and orange liquid soap.
Celebrities, the press and Unilever directors were able to watch, smell and feel the work of art as it took shape.
Results
The audience was quite literally bewitched as they watched Gabriel pour his feelings out on canvas. Journalists from key markets such as China, India, Indonesia, Singapore, South Africa and many others covered the event and raved about the surprising and creative expression.
The painting was taken on the road to be showcased in Lux’s important markets. For Unilever, it was a paradigm shift from the usual TV commercial selling rational soap benefits to an event which elevated the brand into a more expressive emotionally rich territory.
Our Thoughts
I am a big fan of Unilever. Its determination to double the size of its business while seriously reducing its impact on the environment is laudable in every way.
The only problem is that to achieve the ambitious objectives of its CEO, Paul Pohlman, the company’s marketers need to be released from the shackles of Preview, their very own research process. Because it’s a company that does not tolerate failure, anyone brave enough to attempt to do something different deserves respect. I’m glad that JWT have put their client’s name in the credits because Marit Kievit is the real star of this idea.