MUMBAI: The problem of body odour is usually associated with the hot and sweaty months of summer but people are surprised that body odour can strike even if it’s cold outside. 

In a cluttered deodorants category where all brands talk about superficial fragrances, Nivea is trying to create year-long relevance for the category by driving usage of roll-on deodorants in winters to solve the problem of body odour at its source – the sweat under the sweater.

The campaign consists of four films that end with a funny twist, triggered by the sudden realisation of the protagonist’s ‘winter odour’. From an everyday cab ride to a reunion party, the films are inspired by all those incidences where body odour tends to make its presence felt.

Nivea India marketing director Sachin Killawala says, “There is a belief that people sweat only in summers and not so much in winters. Our research shows that this is not true. People wear multiple layers of clothing in winters such as warm inner wear sweaters, jackets etc. due to which they actually sweat quite heavily and that leads to body odour formation. The roll-on campaign is targeted to make the consumers aware of this winter odour caused by the sweat under the sweater.”

The task with this campaign was two-fold. First, make the audience aware of body odour in winters while also trying to create a single campaign that reached out to both male and female audiences. The key observation that led to the campaign was that body odour tends to be most obvious when one takes off their sweater or jacket. This helped in identifying situations where people were naturally inclined to take off their sweaters, and each film was crafted to bring out this ‘moment of truth’ in a fun way. Keeping in mind the sensibilities of both men and women, humour was the best way to tackle this.

DigitasLBi India head of creative for Mumbai Mark Mcdonald adds, “Advertising a deodorant in winter is a first-of-its-kind communication for the category and for Nivea deodorants. Given that we are aiming to establish a phenomenon that most don’t think about, we chose to keep the creatives simple yet fun. The situations used were everyday life situations that our TG can relate to, with a funny twist at the end that highlights the problem of body odour, even in winter. The films are done as a series - one winter day - giving us the opportunity to tackle multiple situations where body odour can strike.”

The slogan – #EndWinterOdour – serves dual purposes, creating awareness for the problem and giving it the scale of a movement spearheaded by Nivea. The films will be followed by a digital amplification plan.