PJL-21

Personal KIDS: the roll within a child’s reach!

What is the most difficult job in the world? Being a parent!

There are no schools, no manuals, no training courses nor Ph.D’s. Just “on-the-field” experience. No theory, just practice. One way to go about it is to turn everything into a game, and even something as simple as a toilet roll can constitute a valid aid for parents. With this idea in mind, in 2002 the marketing department of Santher launched on the Brazilian market Personal KIDS, the toilet roll for children, exclusively dedicated to anyone... under 11 years of age! Heading the project are Jaime De Sousa and Ana Pugina of Santher’s Marketing Dept.


Maura Leonardi


PERINI JOURNAL: WITH PERSONAL KIDS, CHILDREN HAVE BECOME YOUR REFERENCE TARGET. BUT WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THEM?

Jaime De Sousa: My previous work experience before Santher was in the Marketing Dept. of a famous soft drinks company.

There, I catered to the commercial development of non-alcoholic beverages and soft drinks. I worked in close contact with teenagers and children, getting to know the habits of these little consumers and their parent’s attitudes – for it is they who hold the purchasing power – who willingly spend on a regular basis in order to obtain the best products for their little ones.

At Santher, I wanted to create a new product in the paper segment, a segment which is typically static and not very receptive to innovations. All operators that work in this field reasoned in automatic, standard fashion. For this reason, I wanted to introduce new concepts, new ideas, a new approach to the toilet roll. People purchased toilet rolls from store shelves simply because they recognized or remembered a certain brand, or because the price of a product was inferior with respect to others.

The rolls were plain and simple rolls of toilet paper. There was no involvement in the consumer’s purchasing decision: the main trend was to look on the shelves, check the price and finally purchase, employing just five seconds. This was the reason that Ana and I launched ourselves in this project with the intention of renewing the Brazilian market by segmenting demand and considering the roll as a game to help children (much more than their parents) to overcome the transition period “from diaper to potty”.


PJL: DURING THESE PAST FEW YEARS, WHAT HAVE BEEN THE GUIDELINES TO DEVELOP YOUR MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGY?

Jaime De Sousa: Our marketing policy in these last few years has been concentrated on the research for new market stimuli, innovative concepts to change consumers’ perception of the toilet roll; we wanted to stir the market through new ideas capable of effectively differentiating the tissue product segment, thus arousing consumers’ interest.

The success of Personal KIDS constitutes a great satisfaction for the marketing policy that our company has led. The aim has been reached: the interest of potential customers for the tissue products present on store shelves has increased.

Today, Brazilian consumers pay more attention to the characteristics of the product and to the emotional message that it evokes during the purchase choice.

As a first step, we have re-launched colored toilet rolls, which have never been really accepted by the Brazilian market. In Europe, color has been present for a long time in toilet rolls, and has constituted a very popular feature, but in Brazil, color was synonymous of poor quality.

A new concept needed to be launched, to be connected with a high-quality, high added-value product. Personal, our Premium Quality product, was the right connection for the launch of a new range of colored toilet rolls which come in peach, apple and vanilla scents.

The choice of colors and fragrances was strategic because they recall cosmetic products typically used by consumers. or example, apple is a frequently used fragrance in shampoos, vanilla and peach are the main ingredients in many body lotions.

Many consumers thus found in the toilet rolls perfumes that they already knew well. The whole operation was a very important one, which allowed us to change the perception of the roll from a simple commodity to a veritable cosmetic product. The results obtained have been optimal: total product sales have witnessed an increase of 40%.

This innovation was appreciated not only by consumers – which constituted our reference target – but also by traders who very much liked this new approach, which in a short time has succeeded in causing a stir in a market that had remained static for such a long time.

Our intention was to differentiate ourselves from other competitors in Brazil, also with a captivating communication project.

The advertisement campaign was very entertaining and unusual and was promoted in magazines, on the main Brazilian TV and radio channels where the protagonists were normal, everyday people.

A new, entertaining and simple way of advertising: “in life you can find a good solution for anything, except for a bad quality toilet paper. Personal: everyone wants a toilet paper like this.”


PJL: IN WHAT WAY HAS PERSONAL KIDS WITNESSED SUCCESS?

Jaime De Sousa: The success of Personal supplied the stimulus necessary to continue on our marketing strategy, and to bring innovation of the Brazilian market through new segmentation of the demand. And so “the children’s products market” came to constitute a good opportunity.

Our goal was to capture kids’ attention – children from 4 to 11 years of age – to stimulate their interest by entertaining them.

We contacted Nickelodeon, the main TV channel dedicated to children, very popular in Brazil. Their ecological and innovative approach is very similar to our company philosophy, and so the Personal KIDS adventure began.

Key concept of our advert campaign was the new idea of the toilet roll.

Our aim was to create a sort of “game”, simple and fun for kids, and an instrument for parents that could help in their children’s difficult stage “from diaper to potty” – a very delicate moment in the life of every child (and every parent).

A winning project that conquered the directors of Nickelodeon, who were very enthusiastic at the idea of sponsoring a product that aims to eliminate the negative effect of abandoning the diaper, seeing in this idea a social benefit; “This is the potty and this is the toilet roll for growing children”.

The roll thus becomes a veritable game, a game that helps children to grow. This is a key element of our philosophy, a perfect association, an idea very well liked by both children and adults.

The success was immediate and unexpected, because Personal KIDS began as an experiment, a commercial operation finalized at the promotion of our brand, a partner in the success of Kids’ Day, a Brazilian holiday dedicated to children, that comes just before the Christmas period. This feast represented the perfect occasion to launch the new Personal KIDS product.

The advert campaign was supported by a 15-second film transmitted by Nickelodeon, protagonists and mascots were the “Rugrats” series of cartoon characters, the ideal context for boys and girls. We have also sponsored an important event: a sort of Kids’ Oscar ceremony organized in a Brazilian amusement park called Hopi Hari, where 10,000 children enjoyed a day of entertainment. The park’s public restrooms were decorated with the Personal Kids campaign, and at the end of the day, each participant received a sample package of the product.

The promotion continued directly inside shops with specially-created promotional material that attracted the attention of our little consumers.

Considering that the children’s segment constitutes such a small market niche, the results of the new product were immediate and surprising. Personal KIDS represents today about 10% of Santher’s two-ply product sales.


PJL: WHAT ARE THE PRODUCT’S CHARACTERISTICS?

Ana Pugina: Personal KIDS is a two-ply product, soft, colored and scented. Yellow is our unisex color, perfect for both boys and girls, and the fruit fragrance is a pleasant recall on the market shelves. It is available in packs of four rolls and here, packaging makes the difference. Nickelodeon has allowed us to use the images of the “Rugrats” on our packages, the most beloved cartoon characters by Brazilian children, thus transforming the roll into a veritable game.


PJL: WHAT ARE THE MARKETING MIX INSTRUMENTS THAT YOU HAVE USED MOST?

Ana Pugina: All the marketing mix instruments have been studied and utilized to obtain the best possible launch effect of the product. Let’s start with price: considering that we are talking about a product exclusive for kids, unique on the market, we have offered it at a price that is 5% higher than the Personal version already present in supermarkets.

For what concerns the product, we have chosen two plies, yellow because it is a unisex color, while to perfume the roll, a fruit fragrance was chosen (tutti-frutti), pleasant and perfect for kids.

Finally, for the Promotion and Communication aspect, a 15-second span of the “Rugrats” cartoon was used, in which the characters promote the roll using simple and fun language. The promotional material was distributed in all sales points and we sponsored the “Kids’ Oscars” event, promoted also by Nickelodeon.


PJL: IN YOUR COMPANY, WHAT IS THE COMMUNICATION POLICY AND WHAT ROLE DOES IT PLAY?

Ana Pugina: Communication is an important aspect for Santher, as is demonstrated by the success of Personal, which is now one of the main brands on the Brazilian market, with an 18.5% share.

Product visibility has grown over the last three years, and Personal has conquered an important position in the minds of consumers. Our investment in Marketing and Communication for 2003 was of RS$ 5 million.


PJL: DO YOU THINK THAT INNOVATION CONSTITUTES A RISK OR AN OPPORTUNITY?

Ana Pugina: For our company, product innovation represents a great opportunity, especially in a market such as the Brazilian one that has for many years remained unreceptive to novelties.

In the last three years, Personal has undergone constant renewal, surprising consumers with different types of products and concepts. Consumers have reacted well to these continuous novelties. “Constant innovation” is our company motto.


PJL: HOW HAVE MARKET COMPETITORS REACTED TO THE INTRODUCTION OF KIDS?

Ana Pugina: Presently in Brazil there are no other toilet rolls that have been conceived with the same concept as that of Personal KIDS, but surely the launch and the success of this new toilet roll have caused problems to other products present on store shelves.

As I mentioned previously, Personal is market leader, and success stories like KIDS reinforce brand image in the minds of consumers.


PJL: FOR THE FUTURE, WHAT CAN BE THE DEVELOPMENTS FOR TISSUE PRODUCTS IN BRAZIL? WHAT ARE THE POSSIBILITIES OF DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH FOR NICHE PRODUCTS?

Ana Pugina: This is our secret, but you will be the first to know!!! •


SANTHER IN BRIEF

Santher is one of the 15 most important tissue producers worldwide. For over 60 years, its philosophy has been to aim for the utmost quality through continuous innovation. To accomplish this, important investments in technology, modernization of its systems and valorization of human resources have gone hand-in-hand with the company’s history. 200,000 tons of paper produced each year in four facilities: San Paolo, Bragança Paulista, Governador Valadares and Guaìba. 155,000 of these are for the tissue segment. Environmental respect and customer satisfaction represent the most important reference values for the Brazilian company – a company that is abreast with the times, monitors market changes, promotes innovative solutions and establishes long-lasting and solid relationships with its customers worldwide. The KIDS product is made at the Bragança Paulista facilities, on a Crescent Former PM supplied by Beloit – PM1 – while for converting, Perini technology was chosen in the form of a Sincro 7.6. The packaging line is supplied by KPL PACKAGING S.p.A.•

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