Winner: Marina Maher Communications - Depend and the Great American Try On: Repositioning Incontinence from the Bathroom to the Forefront of Pop Culture
For people who get to the point in life when they need to wear adult diapers, the reaction is pretty much the same: They feel that their life is over. But the reality is that Depend users are relatively young (52). So when Depend—the No. 1 brand for incontinence protection—rolled out new briefs featuring the look and feel of real underwear, the company knew it had an opportunity to alter the brand perception.
Enter Marina Maher Communications, which worked with Depend to create The Great American Try On, or GATO.
Indeed, research concluded that telling consumers that the new Depend products were just like underwear wouldn’t resonate with the target audience. But research also showed that once people tried the product for themselves they loved it, so the campaign had to convince people to experience the new Depend products for themselves to appreciate the difference.
The PR team launched GATO featuring spokespeople who don’t really need the product, such as actress Lisa Rinna, who in TV ads wore Depend Silhouette briefs under a form-hugging dress as she walked the Red Carpet. The TV campaign also featured pro football stars Clay Matthews, DeMarcus Ware and Wes Welker, who wore Depend Real Fit briefs under their uniforms, encouraging consumers to give the product a shot.
The PR and marketing strategy paid off, with Depend’s adult care category growing to 58% share of the market in 2012, from 47% the previous year. The campaign also netted the most successful Depend media launch ever, with more than 1.1 billion media impressions and favorable coverage in major media outlets including The New York Times, People and ESPN.
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