Title	PHILIPS SONICARE IN THE SIMS FREEPLAY
Brand	PHILIPS SONICARE
Product/Service	PHILIPS SONICARE 3 SERIES
Category	A03. OTC Products/Devices
Entrant Company	THE ARTIFICIAL Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Advertising Agency	THE ARTIFICIAL Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS

Name	Company	Position
Susana Passinhas	The Artificial	Designer
Hans Gerwitz	The Artificial	Account Director
Shannon Thomas	The Artificial	Creative Director
Sebastian Meijer	Philips	Digital Engagement Lead
Christiaan Winckel	Philips	Digital Marketing Manager
Nick Jonkman	The Artificial	Motion Designer

The Brief

Philips Sonicare sought to increase awareness of both their brand and the benefits of establishing healthy oral hygiene habits. Creative techniques were sought to reach younger audiences that are increasingly difficult to influence via traditional channels. The campaign targeted the United States, United Kingdom, and France. Based on internal benchmarks from game publisher EA, objectives were set aggressively to: * reach 6.2 million consumers and drive downloads of 1.5 million virtual electric toothbrushes * lift brand preference and increase self-reported purchase intent as an indicator of oral hygiene involvement

Creative Execution

An integrated campaign was implemented with the world's most popular life simulation game, The Sims Freeplay from EA Games. A teaser campaign was launched in-game and on Philips social media properties on March 3rd, 2015. This featured Sims Scientist Max, who made players aware of the gameplay objects that were made available March 17th. Media was updated to introduce the campaign objects, including a branded bathroom vanity and Philips Sonicare toothbrush. Using the toothbrush improved the player's hygiene score, and ongoing use for 7 continuous days rewarded their new habit with game performance enhancements. A coordinated 20-second video was placed in The Sims Freeplay incentivized-viewing space. The in-game media and the video prompted clickthrough to a campaign microsite. The campaign then ran for three months.

7.2 million players downloaded a virtual Philips Sonicare toothbrush and practiced daily brushing habits with their virtual characters. As measured via survey sampling by MillwardBrown, brand preference was lifted at twice the goal rate, and purchase intent rose almost 5 times higher than hoped. Manual toothbrush users were particularly influenced, indicating the campaign successfully improved involvement in oral health. Media performance was very strong, with a clickthrough rate 3 times higher than benchmark across in-game media and an unprecedented 99% completion rate for the video. We are very pleased to see this campaign grow the market by motivating people to consider their oral health more seriously.

An integrated approach wove together the The Sims Freeplay game world and the Philips Sonicare brand with the "Max" character. Max connected existing brand messaging with the game world, and introduced the gameplay objects. The in-game objects were designed to appeal to players and reinforce the high quality of Philips Sonicare products. Most importantly, they reinforced the benefits of healthy habits by rewarding continuous usage. The resulting gameplay primed players for more involvement in oral healthcare.