The Objective
Reckitt Benckiser, a global leader in health and hygiene and manufacturer of the Dettol brand of hygiene products, approached TikTok with a different kind of marketing campaign. They wanted to make washing hands “cool” and educate the public about good handwashing practices.
So Dettol partnered with TikTok for a multi-market campaign to promote good handwashing practices and prevent the spread of harmful pathogens. Starting out in India and extending to nine other markets across Asia and North Africa, its objective was to change behaviour and help the world – garnering an incredible 100 billion views (yes, with a ‘B’) in the process.
The Solution
TikTok is a platform that’s fuelled by the creativity, innovation and collaborative spirit of its users. Every day they capture the world’s imagination with new dance moves, memes and trends. Dettol seized the potential of TikTok to communicate serious messages through a fun and interactive medium, using TikTok’s Hashtag Challenge format to craft a topical campaign with built-in opportunities for virality.
The result was the #HandWashChallenge, a 6-day Hashtag Challenge campaign that launched in India as its lead market, extending to nine other markets in Asia and North Africa. TikTok users were invited to create their own moves for the #HandWashChallenge, set to a bespoke audio track with a bespoke Branded Effect featuring the #HandWashChallenge hashtag, Dettol’s brand colours and Sword logo– a great opportunity to land additional branding and increase brand recall. Finally, Dettol placed a TopView Lite ad – a high impact, full-screen placement, shown upon opening the app – on the ‘For You’ feed for a big launch moment, extending the campaign’s reach and inspiring users to take part in the Challenge.
With the help of a number of big-name Bollywood stars such as Tiger Shroff (@tigershroff) and Riteish Deshmukh (@riteishd), as well as some of India’s most popular TikTok Creators like Riyaz Ali (@riyaz.14), Gima Ashi (@gima_ashi) and Manjul (@manjullll), the #HandWashChallenge quickly grew into a pan-demo craze with millions of users taking part.
Following the campaign’s runaway success in India, Dettol knew they couldn’t stop there. So they followed up with a second 6-day Hashtag Challenge focusing on the importance of washing for 20 seconds, introducing a digital countdown timer to the Hashtag Challenge’s Branded Effect. Concurrently, the campaign expanded across nine other markets in Asia and North Africa; Singapore, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan and Egypt.
The Results
By the end of the campaign, the #HandWashChallenge had generated over 100 billion views from over 75 million UGC videos featuring TikTok users of all ages, backgrounds and lifestyles, from healthcare workers to retirees. TikTok recorded an 11.16% total all market engagement rate (including 11.24% in the Lead Market India), while Brand Lift studies recorded 15% and 18% lift in Brand Awareness in India and Japan respectively, as well as a 14% lift in Purchase Intent in India.
By meeting the moment with a campaign that captured our audience’s attention, engaged them with the world and integrated an entertaining initiative with informative best practices, the #HandWashChallenge captured the essence of what TikTok does like no other app – bringing the world to our screens and using our screens to share with the world. And with over 270M video shares outside of the TikTok ecosystem, as well as global press coverage including a CNBC interview with Reckitt Benckiser CEO Laxman Narasimhan, the #HandWashChallenge is a perfect demonstration of how TikTok bridges the gap between the digital and the actual like no other app.
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