When Procter & Gamble set out to introduce its new Downy Wrinkle Releaser (DWR) product to the college crowd in the fall of 2000, a little show-and-tell was in order.
Convincing students that a spray-on substance could replace ironing would require live demos. Working with its PR firm, Manning Selvage & Lee, P&G prepared a corps of
surrogate "moms" to infiltrate 66 dorms and 83 laundry facilities in a series of "Wrinkle Free Laundry Week" events on 24 college campuses.
Student evangelists (dubbed "instant messengers") helped hype each impending campus event on a peer-to-peer level. To recruit these instant messengers, P&G mailed 142 DWR
kits to students who'd been identified (through market research) as active, connected leaders on campus. Each kit included a letter, press materials, promo items, a demo video,
product sample, and a feedback card. Many students who returned the feedback card (in exchange for a donation to charity) were converted into DWR promoters. With their help,
campuses were peppered with magnets, posters, door hangers and flyers plugging each "Wrinkle Free Laundry Week" event.
Student evangelists also kicked off informal viral marketing campaigns via email to friends on campus. Messages directed students to check out the official campaign Web site
(http://www.spraytugsmooth.com) where they could enter the "Plead Your Case for a Case" contest, explaining in 50 words or less why
they deserved a free case of DWR product.
As each five-day laundrypalooza event unfolded, mom-like demonstrators set up shop on campus, offering tips on laundry care, product demos and free use of laundry machines.
News of their presence spread via word-of-mouth, and through campus newspapers and broadcast stations. Students began lining up outside laundry facilities, waiting for
demonstrators to arrive (with freebies in tow).
In the end, more than 100,000 college students participated in the events. More than 41,000 got clothing care tips from on-site "moms" and 15,000 tried the new product in the
presence of a demonstrator. Post campaign surveys found students on participating campuses 23% more likely to buy DWR than a national average. The survey also found an on-campus
product awareness level of 61%, vs. a national average of 20%.
(Keith Hughes, MS&L, 212/213-7077)
Client: Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio
Agency: Manning, Selvage & Lee, New York
Campaign timeframe: fall 2000
Budget: P&G will not disclose