2014 Silver Best use of Film and/or Audio

Client Durex- Reckitt Benckiser

How did the campaign make a difference? To promote Durex as a fun and playful brand, rather than a functional, safe one, the Turn Off to Turn On campaign talked to lovers about one of the biggest problems in modern relationships: technology.

The campaign delivered an astonishing 1.7 billion impressions worldwide – achieving its objective of getting people to #TurnOffToTurnOn.

Strategy Most consumers perceive Durex as a functional, safe brand. To remedy this, the campaign took a more emotional position on sex and love – changing the perception of Durex to a fun and playful brand.

Durex’s movement called on couples to realise just how their obsession with technology was leaving them totally disconnected from each other. Earth Hour was the ideal time to call on couples to escape the screen and have fun in the dark. Durex wanted people to ‘Turn Off To Turn On’ and, by utilising platforms including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter (the very platforms we’re all so obsessed with), knew its message would be seen – and spread.

The brand used a film to offer a poignant reflection on our obsessive relationship with technology and encouraged people to get involved, commit to the change and inspire people to take part during Earth Hour.

Creativity The short film offers a candid look at the way technology is distracting us from our relationships. Couples ignore each other in favour of their gadgets. There’s no dialogue, just a bittersweet rendition of the love song ‘I Can’t Help Myself’ as the soundtrack. The film develops to show how disconnecting ourselves from modern distractions helps us enjoy greater intimacy with our partners. Couples turn off in order to get it on. From one bedroom light going off, the video ends with whole streets and cities shutting down.

The campaign finished with the message that #TurnOffToTurnOn is a message for everyday and not just for one day.

Durex re-recorded ‘I Can’t Help Myself’ with up-and-coming Irish singer, Fiona O’Kane, to juxtapose the unromantic couples against a more emotional version of the song. At the pivotal point, the uplift in the instrumental helped to give the film its positive resolve.

Results People loved the soundtrack – becoming a hot topic in the video’s YouTube and Facebook comments and proving so popular that it was recorded in full and released on YouTube, iTunes, Spotify and other popular music channels. The artist even launched a live recording on her YouTube channel.

And the campaign reached an incredible global audience. On the Durex UK Facebook page alone the total reach was 20.2 million – with 400,000 organic reach. The campaign gained 81,535 ‘Likes’, 10,824 comments and 27,208 shares.

In just two weeks the film had a combined total of 63 million views – topping the viral video charts. With over 270 million engagements, the campaign caught the attention of the industry and global media. There were 470 million PR impressions from TV, radio and press – and a very grand total of more than 1.7 billion impressions from all over the world.