Lion goes with men for humour in TVCs

<P>Detergent brand Lion Japan has kicked off a marketing blitz to promote the city's first 'two-in-one' washing powder and softener product range. </P> <P><br><br><BR>Lion Top with Softener hit store shelves last month, with a humorous TV spot - developed by WE Communications - breaking last week, alongside print ads and in-store promotions. Media planning and buying was handled by Lion's in-house ad agency, Lion Advertising.</P> <P><br><br><BR>WE's GM, Iris Chan, said: "It's a fairly stagnant category and market share hasn't increased in 10 years. For this low-involvement category, which usually features women in ads, we wanted to use a little humour through male characters, one of whom questions the other on why his clothes are so soft as they do judo." </P> <P><br><br><BR>The new product, which seeks to boost Lion's share ahead of market leaders Attack and Vigor, was developed in Japan. "For Lion Top with Softener's packaging, we evolved the main product's red pack into pink. Attack, meanwhile, is in green and Vigor in white and blue," said Li Hok Kwan, Lion Japan's marketing manager.</P> <P><br><br><BR>He added that research showed that 83 per cent of households in Hong Kong used softener as well as detergent. "We found that it wasn't convenient for consumers to use two products for one wash. Research by ACNielsen shows that 88 per cent of consumers liked the new product after trial and 85 per cent found it effective for softening wash." <BR></P>