Bronze: Best Use of Shopper Marketing 2015

Imitation may be the greatest form of flattery, but that’s small consolation when your brand is being imitated by its competitors. In 2013 haircare brand Pantene launched a partnership with The Weather Channel and Walgreens, a key feature of which was Pantene dynamically delivering to subscribers of The Weather Channel’s daily mobile forecasts a “haircast” complete with geotargeted recommendations of relevant hair-care products based on the local weather conditions. The campaign was so effective, competitors began to copy elements of it.

These competitors in turn spurred Pantene and agency Arc Worldwide/Leo Burnett Chicago to expand and enrich the customer experience by creating a Haircast hub within The Weather Channel’s website. This microsite provided local five-day haircasts along with weather-appropriate product suggestions. Visitors could also watch style tutorials to help prevent frizzies in humid conditions, static in dry weather, and other weather-related hair tribulations. These videos also appeared on the Pantene Weather YouTube channel. Pantene encouraged bloggers to offer suggestions, and it provided how-tos on its own social media as well. In Walgreen stores, innovative displays promoted the Haircast hub while showcasing Pantene solutions to local weather conditions.

The campaign definitely wasn’t a case of hair today, gone tomorrow: Women began making visits to the Haircast hub a part of their daily routine, with 44% repeat traffic. Pantene’s year-over-year sales at Walgreens rose 10%, and overall category sales at the retailer grew 9.5%, outperforming rival drugstore chain CVS by 11%.