Unilever's Omo brand detergent, Brazil's market share leader in the category, has taken consumer tracking to an entirely new level. Fifty boxes of Omo have been fitted with a GPS device to allow the company to follow their customers home.
Creepy? Perhaps, but if the customers don't scream about invasion of privacy they will be awarded prizes for the entire family. In an effort to call attention to sales of a new stain-fighting version of Omo, the company has decided to try something brand new.
According to the trade publication, Ad Age, Omo's ad agency, Bullet has stationed 35 teams of company employees around Brazil to pounce when the tracking device alerts them that a box has been taken from a store shelf.
That will might enable the team to appear at the customer's home prior to or at the same time as he or she does. If not, it is not expected to take long to do so. The company will hand the customer a pocket-size video camera and offer an all expenses paid day of outdoor fun for lucky consumer's family.
For those too fearful to answer the door, the Omo folks will activate the GPS device to start making sound, in an effort to allay fears and demonstrate the veracity of the story they are telling.
The yearly marketing budget for Omo in Brazil is $23 million of which $1 million will be spent on this stunt. "It costs more than a traditional promotion and is riskier because it's never been done before, but it's worth it," says Fernando Figueiredo, president of Bullet.
Omo's motto has been "Dirt is Good" to which they now add, "Try Something New With Omo." The product, according to Ad Age has found a home in 80% of Brazilian homes and holds a 50% market share in its category.
Dirt certainly has been good to Unilever's Omo detergent. Whether its buyers enjoy being tracked right to their door might be another story. Only data on the success or failure of the venture plus time, will tell.
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Comments
#1 They are creepy!
they should never allow a company to put a gps tracking systems in to a product to track people home. That is just rude! I wonder what they will think of next.