Stabilo is the inventor of the modern highlighter: an asset that the brand could build on for decades. And which (in Germany) almost made it a synonym for the product category it once established. The problem: in today’s online world people use highlighters less and less – which also means less interaction with the brand as a whole. Our task was therefore to win over a new generation of Stabilo customers with an online idea demonstrating the usefulness of Stabilo highlighters. A surprising concept that would get people talking about Stabilo again – re-establishing the brand as an innovator in its field.
Creative Execution
The plug-in is simple and very focussed on its main purpose. In „view mode“ it takes you to the privacy policies of the site in question - and automatically highlights passages in different Stabilo colours. Even if users do not open the plug-in, it still alerts them to the level of threat to their privacy: the TrueColours icon in the upper right corner of the browser screen changes its background colour to green, yellow or red. In „edit mode“ users can mark passages themselves. Their input is then added to the TrueColours database. This is the same database our app uses to display the results „on the go“ - and alert users to updates within privacy policies. The plug-in was launched via google's play store, the iOS app via itunes. Both services will be maintained and updated by Stabilo in the future.
With the simplification of terms and conditions being an important consumer protection issue on the EU level, we expect to see significant coverage both in online blogs and offline media. Test users have already shown a positive change in brand perception (innovative, modern, useful, relevant, close to consumer's everyday needs) leading to a higher purchase intent as well. But not only that: they were also way more likely to actively deal with privacy policies - a change in behaviour they attributed to the brand's initiative. TrueColours can easily be adapted to different markets and will hopefully stand out as an example for a branded tool that effectively turned communication into a relevant service in people's everyday life.
Everybody knows what a highlighter is. That’s why we chose to not talk about our product at all – but to actually demonstrate the power of Stabilo in a fresh and striking way. We turned its main use (helping people instantly see the important bits in long texts) into an innovative online tool, that addresses a relevant need of our target group: dealing with long and boring online privacy policies. By using a browser plug-in as a communication tool we turned our advertisement into a proper service for our clients.