Title	THE COOLEST PR CAMPAIGN EVER
Brand	LASOL / BERNER
Product/Service	WINDSCREEN WASH
Category	A06. EVENTS & EXPERIENTIAL (INCL. STUNTS)
Entrant Company	IVALO Helsinki, FINLAND
Advertising Agency	IVALO Helsinki, FINLAND
Production Company	BRONSON CLUB Helsinki, FINLAND

Name	Company	Position
Ilkka Ruotsalainen	IVALO Creative Agency	Creative
Jouni Seppänen	IVALO Creative Agency	Creative
Emmi Mattila	IVALO Creative Agency	Creative
Leena Komulainen	IVALO Creative Agency	Account Director
Nina Antipin	IVALO Creative Agency	Strategist
Suvi Backman	IVALO Creative Agency	Production/Ad
Tia Yrjölä	Berner	Director
Henriikka Soini	Berner	Category Manager
Päivi Räty/Tarkkanen	Berner	Business Manager
Anna Hyttinen	Berner	Communications Specialist
Aj Annila	Bronson Club	Director
Jesse Fryckman	Bronson Club	Producer
Antti Kastari	Bronson Club	Producer
Henri Blomberg	Bronson Club	Cinematographer

The Campaign

Lasol - the oldest windscreen wash brand in Finland - was losing market share for cheaper foreign brands. Lasol wanted to get the attention and tell everyone why it’s important for the Finns to use Lasol: it won't freeze in any condition, which is crucial in the Finnish winter. The campaign was built on earned media. We created a PR stunt, which captured the attention of whole of Finland. We travelled to the coldest place in the European Union, created our own icy version of Manneken Pis and streamed it in full action for the entire world. And we gave the Belgians a challenge at the same time. And Why Manneken Pis? Because car's windscreen wash is called "The Pee Boy" in finnish language. The PR stunt was reported widely both by the Belgian and Finnish media, and Lasol's new brand story was shared eagerly in social media. Earned media was worth of 175 000 euros in minimum.

The Brief

Lasol competes in a category, which could be described as ”below the low interest”. We needed to create a story that would make Lasol interesting and worth caring for. Lasol was lacking an emotional relationship with its customers – and also with the media. Our goal was to make Lasol and its non-freezing abilities a topic of the day and create a fascinating story for the brand. And because we couldn’t afford big advertising campaigns, we wanted to tell Lasol’s brand story using earned media as much as possible.

Results

The campaign was featured first in Belgium media. It was estimated that campaign reached approximately one million Central Europeans. More important than that, story of Arctic Manneken Pis was featured in 34 different articles in biggest Finnish medias and in numerous blogs and facebook sites. The news were shared in Facebook total 16 670 times. The viral commercial (aka mini documentary) was viewed 215 000 times (vimeo + youtube). The media agency estimated that Lasol stunt reached minimum 3 500 000 Finns (out of 5,4 million) and the earned media was worth of 175 000 euros minimum.

Execution

Car’s windscreen washer is called ”the Pee Boy” in Finnish. The best known Pee Boy in the world is Brussel's Manneken Pis, which is turned off when the temperature drops below zero. We travelled with a copy of Manneken Pis to the coldest place in the Europe – Naruska, Finland – in January. We built our own version of the fountain from ice and made the Boy pee non-freezing Lasol throughout the winter. The process of construction was made into a viral film. We set up a live webcam stream to the Lasol’s campaign site where everyone could see the Boy’s glorious peeing. We contacted Belgian media with a press package. After the first articles appeared, we sent press releases to the Finnish media. ”Belgium is laughing at Lasol” we told them. Media after media took the bait and suddenly everyone was talking about Lasol's Arctic Manneken Pis.

The Situation

Lasol is the oldest windscreen wash brand in Finland. It has been under the pressure of foreign cheaper brands for years. Lasol has one competitive advantage against its competitors: Lasol won’t freeze in the Finnish winter, unlike its foreign rivals. That’s what we wanted to remind them of – in the middle of the winter.

The Strategy

We knew that there is one topic the Finnish media just can’t resist to write about: What does people in other countries think about us Finns? Because Lasol as a product is like Finland itself – small but tough and designed to function in the coldest corner of the European Union - we saw an opportunity to create a story that would tell something about us Finns at the same time as it tells about Lasol. We decided to make Lasol stand as a symbol of our nation’s character and create a media hassle abroad first. If we managed to do that, the Finnish media would certainly get interested and give lots of attention for Lasol.