Singapore population: approx. 5 million.
We reached an equivalent of 1/5 of the population with one FB post.
Durex // An Apology
For regulatory reasons, Singapore is something of a ‘dark market’ for Durex.
Singapore is fundamentally still a conservative society in terms of values. There are also strong legal restrictions on what a contraceptive brand can do in the way of communication and promotion. Traditional advertising is very restrictive (ie. anything deemed sexual in any sense is not allowed). However, there is a little more leeway given in the online space.
The Opportunity
SG50 (Singapore’s 50th birthday celebration) was a massive occasion. The marketing landscape was saturated by chest-beating, earnest, patriotic campaigns in the lead-up to National Day.
By that time, the Singapore audience was frankly getting sick of it. They were primed for a brand to do something a bit bolder – to celebrate the occasion, in a smaller and more pointed way, without a multi-million dolllar TV campaign.
They were also ready for a brand to poke fun at the occasion in a well-timed, and well-meaning way…
The Insight
Singapore’s birth rate has been dropping for many years, and it is now one of the lowest in the world.
For locals, this is not a sensitive topic in the slightest – in fact the issue, and the government’s attempts at solving it, have been the butt of jokes for years. (In the past, the government even attempted its own dating service!)
Local audiences have also become a lot more open to satire and laughing at themselves in recent years. So this gave us the perfect opportunity …
Idea
An Apology. In a tongue-in cheek manner, Durex would publically ‘apologise’ for its apparent role in lowering the birth rate.
Conclusion
We celebrated Singapore’s 50th birthday with a simple facebook post, which made a nation realise that Durex understood their problems, their humour and the people of Singapore. No extravaganza. No elaborate prank.
Just an apology that delighted a nation, forging an intimate social media relationship between brand and consumer.
Amplified organically on another Singapore-focused humour channel, SGAG.
Trade publications such as Campaign Brief Asia picked it up.
And also Marketing Interactive.
And to add icing on the cake… Even though, it was never released on print