Huggies Pull-ups Promotional activities

Identification of the target audience

The main mode of communication of the Huggies Pull-ups was the TV commercials. The target audience of the commercial was the kids and their mothers. The kids always liked to copy the grown ups and the mothers are most concerned about the growth and hygiene of their children. So the direct targets are the kids and the mothers become the indirect targets. The toddlers have the tendency of night soiling in the bed and the mothers want to prevent it by all means. The presently available disposable diapers were designed to wrap around the waste or had conventional attachments. Or they were special pads which were placed inside the underwear of the kids. They cannot be worn like normal underwear. The pull-ups are sold as a unique solution to all these problems.

The design of the communication message

The message conveyed by the video commercial of the pull ups is sung by the kid who is telling us proudly that he wears a pull-up and now on he is also a big kid. The training pant is like any other underwear and can be removed and put on very easily. The kid can do whatever physical activities he wants to do. Be it playing, running or cycling and he can do it naturally without any hindrance which is not the case of standard diaper. The other salient point is that he can wear it all day and night and it very effectively prevents night soiling and the mothers need not to worry about that aspect. The kid is so proud to announce that he is a big kid now. The days of the ordinary diaper are over for him now.

The kid, the consumer is passing through the three stages as follows.

Cognitive stage- the knowledge that every child think of growing big and doing things that the grown ups do has been carefully exploited in this advertisement. What the kid is trying to say is he is now a big kid because he is wearing a training pant which is highly comfortable and be put on and be removed so easily like any other underwear.

Affective- The emotional aspect of the promotional video is that when the kid is comparing him with a big kid who wears his underwear by pulling it up. The fact that the big kids are not likely to wet their beds in the night is also projected as the advantage of the pull-ups.

Behavioral- the behavioral targeting (of the internet users ) was done using the internet by advertising through commercial websites and other promotional activities like the pop ups etc.

The media communication mix

The promotional video of the Huggies Pull Ups used in two ways: to inform and to persuade.  The idea was to promote the salient features i.e. the comfortable, convenient and innovative aspects of the diaper. The commercial informs the kid and his mother that this particular diaper puts away their worries of leakages in the bed and keeps the kid highly confident. And what is the result of that, according the commercial? The kid learns things well because of this newly found self confidence.

The kid (and indirectly his mother) is the target customer. They are being informed of the uniqueness of this diaper. This is done by the song which is accompanying the commercial. The song says that the kid has now become big just by wearing the Huggies Pull Ups. In another commercial the girl child is (in the accompanying audio) said to be more confident because she now wears the Pull ups. It also says that she now will learn confidently and learn more.

The talk about the grown up kid and the more confident kid are well suited for the target customer i.e. the kid. Every kid wants to grow big. Every mother wants her kid to grow big and confident and learn more and fast. So the mix used in this advertisement is very effective to inform and persuade the target customer.

The commercial is inductive in nature. The references made by the commercial in the song and the audio are very direct communication. There is no ambiguity. The message is that by using the diapers on offer the kid feels big and confident at the same time. The message is very clearly conveyed to the target audience.

The commercial is socially responsible. The Pull Ups are meant to make the kids more confident and more hygienic. It helps the mother to feel secure about their kid’s growth and the health of the child is promoted by the advertisement. A more confident child is of course is an asset to the society and the commercial is banking on that aspect to deliver its message.

Sales promotions: The sales promotion via internet included free coupons, discount coupons, free samples, free trials and activities by social forums, internet press releases, free gifts, pop ups, complementary subscription to parent’s magazines,

Press releases were used to advertise the launch and sale of products. The products were offered with free gifts for the online shoppers.

Huggies India tied up with Snap fish to promote the products by allowing the mothers to upload their photos of their loving kids.

As one of the public relations activities, Huggies pull up games were promoted. The games offered techniques, tips, songs and games, to help the mother and the child with potty training. Sponsor ship is being done many websites like LSH Global Trading Company, Diaper.com, www.pull-ups.com, www.happyhealthypregnancy.com  etc.

The product website provides information for the mothers about pregnancy, baby rearing and pull-ups. But the website does not sell products directly. The online sales is done at the Kimberly-clark.com

The use of internet for marketing is inevitable for all products. The Huggies do this by hosting the commercial on its own websites and offering the discount coupons and other freebies and stuffs like games, potty training on the websites of other products which are dealing with kids products. The game DVDs and the training programme CDs are very helpful for the mothers. And the information provided at the product website is very informative for the mothers who are concerned about the pregnancy or the well being of their growing kids. This is a very creative idea that will help create a positive feeling about the product among the target customers (here the indirect target customer of the Pull-ups is actually the mothers).

References:     www.lshglobaltrading.com.au

www.Diaper.com

www.pull-ups.com