Case Study for Agency
03-1014984-027

Situation
In 1992, Procter & Gamble decided to reposition Pantene. Their goal was
to transform it from a high-priced niche product into a major
mass-market hair care brand.

Marketing Challenge
From the start, we knew the key to success would be finding a way to
make Pantene stand out in its tremendously competitive and fragmented
category. Everybody was talking about beautiful hair. We had to find a
new way to say it.

Strategic research revealed that women overwhelmingly used the word
"healthy" to describe ideal hair, and more than 70% identified shine as
the visible evidence of health. This was something new. Health benefits
had become a hot marketing topic in any number of categories. But not
in hair care. So this was an opportunity for vitamin-enriched Pantene
to assert a real point of difference.

This learning led us directly to a positioning and signature line that
indelibly merged Pantene’s beauty and therapeutic benefits: "Pantene.
For Hair So Healthy, It Shines."

Application of Solutions
The challenge now was to convincingly communicate Pantene’s promise in
advertising. A vitally important key came in the form of a visual
breakthrough—images of thick, gleaming tresses moving in slow motion,
cascading with such glistening splendor that they offered visual
confirmation of Pantene’s effectiveness. Then, to create a connection
with health, we combined these dramatic beauty images with an animated
sequence of vitamins penetrating hair. A third visual element came from
our Casting Department: models with varying hair colors and types who
all shared one common attribute: piles and piles of fabulous hair.
Pre-launch testing was so positive, we made these proprietary images
the universal visual signature of Pantene advertising.

Our next step was to help Pantene become a true megabrand. Working with
our client, we have successfully launched a broad portfolio of
shampoos, conditioners and styling products for every hair care need.
Importantly, although each of these new Pantene products has its own
business focus, all stand on the same strategic platform of combined
beauty and therapeutic benefits.

Finally, we repeated each of these steps with great success on the
global stage, launching Pantene in market after market, using local
models to reflect local standards of beauty. Needless to say, from one
country to the next, the hair care category is affected by dramatic
differences in market development and cultural sensitivities. Those
differences have made the close working relationships that exist across
our global network absolutely indispensable. With our U.S. headquarters
acting as brand steward and lead agency, we have overcome every
challenge—from simple translations to difficult regulatory hurdles.

Results
Today, Pantene is not only the number one hair care brand in the
U.S.—it’s number one all over the world. A billion-dollar brand, it’s
the most global successful beauty product in history and a leader in
more than 75 countries.