Does Man in Black need Vim in Black? Well, the marketing team at HUL and Lowe Lintas‘s creative team believe so.
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) recently launched a digital campaign #VimBlackForMen for its popular dishwashing brand ‘Vim’. Through this campaign, they introduced a new product called Vim Black, exclusively for men. It was made live for orders on HUL’s website (The U Shop) for a limited period. They sold it for free and it was out of stock soon after the campaign was launched.
Those who could manage to order and receive one found that it was the same old lemon-yellow liquid gel in a new black color pack. Yet HUL is calling it the world’s 1st ever dishwashing liquid for men. Why? Are they trying to cheat the customers or are they just trying to rebrand Vim?
The Campaign and fallout.
A short digital-only campaign was launched with a video starring Ex-Super Model turned fitness promotor, Milind Soman. The ad was released on Instagram by MTV and Milind Soman. The video shows a man in a gym talking about how he helped his mother do the dishes. The protagonist Soman enters the frame, praises the man satirically for bragging, offers him Vim Black, and says, ”Vim Black for men, easy to clean, more to brag”.
Soon social media started buzzing with reactions. Videos and screenshots flooded Facebook and Twitter. Brand and Soman were trolled for promoting a ‘sexist’ idea. While some felt that the ad is demeaning the male demographics, others got angry at the blatant stereotyping of gender roles. Many thought it was a self-goal by the brand. Was it a bold attempt by the brand to address gender stereotypes or it just backfired?
Divided response to ad
As the day passed, reactions were polarized, and many came out supporting the campaign. People started praising the brand for a bold attempt. Some argued that the ad was a perfect balance of sarcasm and quirkiness. Others felt that the ad fulfills the objective but there should have follow-up ads. Experts also felt that Vim is a mass brand, and its audience may not be present on the channel chosen to deliver the message.
The clarification from Vim
It was a joke.
As it started getting noisier, Vim clarified that the campaign was just a continuation of its long-term communication strategy to address the gender stereotypes in our society. During COVID, a positive behavioral change was noticed. Due to lockdowns and work-from-home arrangements, more men started sharing the daily household chores with female members of the family. But now when things are getting back to normal, men have started moving away from household work. We wanted to remind them about their role in household work.
A bold mission
In research done by Vim, it was found that the general perception is ‘women must do the household chores and somebody is only going to share her load’. As a responsible brand, Vim is on a mission to educate everyone to own their chores, be it a man or children. This was not the first time such campaign was launched by a leading dishwashing detergent brand in India. In late 2020, the Brand launched a series of ads with the swashbuckling opener of the Indian Cricket team, Virender Sehwag. Continuing with the theme, Vim again launched an ad in 2021 with a pretext of ‘arranged marriage‘.
The brand was anticipating a strong reaction and critical debates around this campaign. But keeping their long-term objectives in mind, they put out this campaign to provoke and trigger talks about the cause. As per the brand, they have successfully achieved the campaign’s objective.
The verdict
While Vim claims that they have successfully achieved the objective of the campaign, many still believe that the brand has been caught off-guard and they were not prepared for the backlash. Some experts argue that there are many problems with this campaign. First, Vim is a mass-segment brand and Milind Suman does not represent their actual target audience. Second, the overall campaign was too abrupt and one single ad won’t bring change, which is the brand’s long-term objective. Others said that the ad was gimmicky and upset both men and women.
On the contrary, some of the best creative mind and top marketers feels that humour help sell products. But if you are not using humor, you are playing too safe to get noticed. Social media reactions are always unpredictable. But it also provides the perfect platform to test innovative ideas in a controlled way. Not to forget, there is always risk involved in creating a path-breaking campaign. After all, the customer is God and the brand can reach out to them sincerely, humbly, or boldly.
I am Dipak Kumar. I am an entrepreneur and blogger. In my long professional journey, I have worked with various organizations at different levels as a marketer, retailer, and merchandiser. Throughout this journey, I have worked along the consumer funnel. I have witnessed customers’ ever-changing buying behaviors, from brick-and-mortar stores to organized retail to E-Commerce.
I am writing this blog to share my knowledge and understanding of trending news, events, and subjects from Marketing, Retail, E-Commerce, Edtech, Travel, and Start-Ups. It’s not a nine-to-five job for me. It is a whole day and night job requiring in-depth research and collaboration to put things together and bring a new perspective for your consideration. I love doing this and hope you also like it and share it with your contact and online communities.
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