2021 Brand Experience & Activation

SOUNDS OF LUST

TitleSOUNDS OF LUST
BrandRFSU
Product/ServiceRFSU SENSE ME
Category A02. Healthcare
Entrant RADON CREATIVE Stockholm, SWEDEN
Idea Creation RADON CREATIVE Stockholm, SWEDEN
Media Placement SCREAM Stockholm, SWEDEN
PR RADON CREATIVE Stockholm, SWEDEN
Production RADON CREATIVE Stockholm, SWEDEN
Production 2 STUDIO BARNHUS Stockholm, SWEDEN
Post Production RADON CREATIVE Stockholm, SWEDEN
Credits
Name Company Position
Magnus Klang Valtech Radon Creative Director
Hampus Fernström Valtech Radon Project Manager
Nathalie Folkeryd Valtech Radon PR Specialist
Sarah Turner Valtech Radon Copywriter
Gustaf Anker Söderman Valtech Radon Art Director
Frida Karlsson Valtech Radon Account Director
Marcus Lundin Valtech Radon Director
Agnes Ahlstedt Valtech Radon Producer
Leo Köhler Valtech Radon Motion Design
Petrus Lidbeck Valtech Radon Edit & Grade
Carl Åborg Valtech Radon Composer & sound design
Niklas Panthell Valtech Radon DOP
Kornél Kovacs Studio Barnhus Music Artist
Andreas Almkvist Freelance DOP
Daniel Kieth Freelance Gaffer
Johanna Nordlander Freelance MUA
Sofi Rönnerstrand Scream Project Manager - Media
Cecilia Nyström Scream Social media specialist - media
Åsa Sohl Scream Innovation - Media
Nathalie Smeds Scream AVM Specialist - Media

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

This work represents a new level of immersive brand experience: a campaign centered around an auditory sensory experience scientifically designed to turn the audience on. This creative experiential activation solved two major challenges: RFSU is strongly limited in social media by “sexual content” restrictions and the media budget was very limited. The activation was orchestrated with multiple touchpoints to create a multi-layered brand experience. For example, we created shareable social media content including an engaging Snapchat lens and a library of sounds where people could test and share what sounds turned them on.

Background

RFSU is a Nordic organization promoting access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, both nationally and internationally. They also sell condoms and lubricants to fund their mission and are the market leaders in both categories. Our task was to launch a new series of lubricants that could enhance your sex life. The lubricant category is relatively small in the Nordic countries and lubricants have mainly been positioned as a way to treat a problem, rather than to intensify sexual pleasure. With the launch of this new product line, RFSU needed to change this perception in a target group more likely to buy products like sex toys than lubricants to enhance their sexual experiences – 25-35-year-olds. They also wanted to maintain their position as a market leader and reach a category sales growth of 8%.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

The creative idea focused on the fact that the products stimulate all of the senses. All but one: hearing. Thus, we set out to create the sexiest piece of music ever made – based on science. We delved into neuroscientific research that showed music could activate the same pleasure centers of the brain that respond to sex. This insight led us to conduct a large study with 3,000+ Nordic respondents on what sounds turn them on. We also commissioned music professor Martin Ljungdahl Eriksson to conduct a meta-study on what frequencies and BPMs awaken pleasure centers. Drawing from this research, we let acclaimed Swedish music producer Kornél Kovács create a unique musical experience with a single mission: get people into a sexy state of mind. We released these scientifically sexy sounds for everyone to enjoy and combined them with a steamy visual world that introduced the Sense Me products.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

We defined the target audience as all gender identities between 25 and 35 years of age in the Nordics. Among this group, research shows that almost 80% think good sex is necessary for a good relationship – but about 60% are dissatisfied with their sex life. Why this large gap? Well, sex starts in the mind and is connected to all of our senses – a touch, a taste, or just a scent can turn us on. The problem is our minds are constantly distracted, affecting our ability to pay attention to our senses, both in our everyday lives and in bed. The Sense Me products help with this problem, by stimulating all senses – except hearing. We saw this as an opportunity: what if we could awaken the fifth sense to make the launch of Sense Me a complete sensory brand experience, inspiring people to tune into their bodies?

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

This was a Nordic activation with two main challenges. Firstly, RFSU is strongly limited on social media platforms by restrictions of “sexual content.” Secondly, the media budget was very limited. We needed to be smart around execution, releasing our sensual auditory experience through multiple touchpoints in innovative ways. First, we created a website with a library of sounds where people could test themselves on what sounds turned them on and share with someone special. We also created shareable social media content, including an engaging Snapchat lens. The artist collaboration let us reach the target audience’s headphones through Spotify, for example by getting picked in “hot music right now” lists. Teaming up with an acclaimed artist also opened up great media opportunities that were leveraged in several segments, supported by results from our pan-Nordic survey. This was complemented by online TV ads in reality TV shows, and banners on youth websites.

List the results (30% of vote)

RFSU crushed their ambitious 8% sales goal with a 19% increase in sales (YTD August 2020–2021) – surpassing their goal by almost 150%. In the countries where RFSU ran the campaign (Sweden, Norway and Finland), they also showed an incredible 21.2% increase in market share, now holding 82% of the market. This can be compared to a 5.5% increase in Denmark, where the campaign did not run (source: Nielsen). The Snapchat lens gained over ​​220,000 earned impressions and became the most successful Snapchat lens in Sweden 2021 (so far). Despite the hard restrictions of sexual education content on social media, we reached over 2.5 million unique users. We gained a PR reach of more than 2.7 million people on the small Nordic market, resulting in a PR value of around US$ 200,000 – well over the total media budget for all other channels combined.