Nestle's strategic goal for the campaign was to differentiate La Vie meaningfully and drive business growth surpassing other categories. The primary focus was to become the leading brand in the competitive packaged water market, particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Objective
Unlike previous campaigns, Nestle's approach targeted young consumers, a segment that hadn't received enough attention before. Consumer research revealed that young people in Vietnam feel stressed and unbalanced due to their hectic lives. They often expend excessive time and energy seeking new experiences and facing challenges, leading to pressures in various aspects of life, not just at work. To expand the consumer base and enhance brand power, it was crucial for La Vie to resonate with these young individuals.
Consequently, the campaign aimed to spread the message of "Quiet Nature Regenerates Your Loud Life," reminding young people of the importance of nature to rejuvenate their positive energy.
Context
Before 2023, La Vie had consistently run annual thematic campaigns for its "Untouched Naturality" product functional credential for years, targeted at the same audience (people between the ages of 18 to 34). This gradually struggled to bring tangible improvement in meaningfulness and difference scores.
La Vie wasn't the sole beverage brand that wanted to become more relevant to young people. Zooming in packaged water category, La Vie's brand power score in HCMC, one of La Vie's biggest two markets, always stayed at No. 2 after Aquafina.
This campaign was the first time La Vie brought its new brand purpose to life. It's also the first time a water brand in Vietnam spent efforts to tackle a societal issue and advocated for something bigger than itself: tangibly improving the mental wellbeing of Vietnamese people.
Creative and Media Strategy
The young urban Vietnamese, between the ages of 25 and 35, were the target audience. The brand's insight: They live in a world abundant with opportunities for learning, working, and enjoyment. Ironically, they turn out to be the most stretched and stressed generation. In a hyper-hectic world driven by individual progressiveness and achievements, they must run faster to be seen, yell louder to be heard across different life aspects. Yet the more they embrace such a world, the more it drains their minds.
This campaign's formula for success: a resonant, refreshing message that reached the youth at the right places, right time, with the right formats to hook them in. TV, OOH, and digital platforms were utilized for mass-scale reach. Based on digital behaviors, and data signals, La Vie further blended itself into people's daily life with customized messages based on different affinities. Media was strategized to draw attention to the big offline event, and to echo it back onto social. Most importantly, La Vie became more than a brand; it became a social movement to take care of their positive energy, embraced by young people as a symbol of nature's best offerings.
The big idea, "quiet nature regenerates your loud life," was developed and successfully tested with more than 200 consumers in 2022. Hence, in May 2023, this expansive campaign was geared towards making a significant impact to revitalize consumers' perceptions of La Vie. This strategy involved a journey of five senses that spanned the entire consumer funnel.
By strategically combining channels, the company ensured maximum coverage of La Vie's message, resonating with various target audience segments. Through Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, we engaged users effectively and established "Quiet Nature" as a prevailing trend among young people. Simultaneously, PR stunts, social games, and a large-scale event added further dimensions to the campaign, driving brand affinity and building trust for La Vie. Embracing a multi-channel approach, the brand could cater to different segments of its target audiences and reach maximum levels of engagement with users through multiple touchpoints.
To raise mass awareness, the brand initiated an epic launch at 9 p.m. on May 9 with YouTube's masthead, complemented by social media teases and a grand-scale launch. La Vie strategically posted these engaging messages on relevant community pages and groups with a substantial following of young people, ensuring maximum reach and integrated efforts.
Next, for consideration, the brand crafted customized ads using data-driven insights. By leveraging data from YouTube and Meta, La Vie created personalized messages targeting five distinct audience segments. Engaging formats like TrueView, bumper ads, and Video Reach Campaign (VRC) on YouTube helped capture attention and drive higher view-through rates (VTR) beyond industry benchmarks.
For deeper engagement, the team also formed the "La Vie Squad", comprising nine influential key opinion leaders (KOLs) from diverse fields. During the teasing phase, they shared their personal struggles in finding "Quiet Nature" amid modern hectic lives, using an eye-catching template from La Vie featuring their own images. In the subsequent "Finding Quiet Nature" social movement, the squad offered tips to overcome stress and recharge by connecting with nature.
To further engage the audience, the brand introduced the "Discover Your Yen Style" social game, hosted on La Vie's Microsite.
The brand also partnered to the YouTube Music Night, the first-of-its-kind event in Vietnam. Partnering with VieOn, the brand developed the no-ads roadblock, which allowed viewers to enjoy content without being interrupted by ads from five hottest Vie YouTube channels. This enhanced their sense of relaxation and provided a unique experience of Regenerative moments when consumers needed the most.
Finally, the pinnacle of the campaign was the grand Regenerative Hub, the biggest nature event in Ho Chi Minh City. It captivated audiences with a fusion of nature and 360-degree projection technology, showcased through a simulated giant La Vie water droplet.
The holistic approach to execution allowed us to exceed campaign objectives and make a lasting impact in the market.
Revenue grew slowly from 2020 to 2022. Regardless of consistent efforts for thematic campaign investments during these years, La Vie's business efforts did not effectively impact the already-evolved market landscape.
Results included:
The campaign offered people a branded experience in an insightful and seamless way, yet not any less interesting and disruptive. Moving beyond the public perception of a 'commoditized' water product, La Vie's 'Nature's Regeneration' campaign created a unique, full-sensory brand world, leveraging the power of technology and digital to regenerate people at different touchpoints in their loud life. In addition, the campaign enhanced brand attributes proved deepened love for the brand.
