Zulu Alpha Kilo and Betadine, together against sore throats

Betadine is kicking off October with a brand and product launch that targets sore throats in an unconventional manner. The new product launch introduces a fully integrated campaign, created in partnership with Zulu Alpha Kilo, that is intended to set the brand up to challenge the sore throat/cold/flu category.

“Research has shown that 85% of sore throats are viral and are early signs of infections like cold and flu. There are many options on the market that treat the symptoms that come with being sick, but few that actually treat the root cause of the issue.” says Sheryl Willison – Country Lead, Avrio Health Canada. “We’re incredibly excited about the direction we’ve taken with our brand. We wanted to be disruptive and breakthrough in a very competitive category, which led to us partnering with Zulu.”

The work to kick off the product launch encompasses both traditional and non-traditional creative executions. In one spot, we see a lottery host struggle to manage her sore throat, while reading the final number before cutting to her gargling with Betadine. Another ad shows a barber giving a fresh shave to a customer before feeling a sore throat and immediately gargling with the solution. A third spot shows a business call about to get underway before the presenter realizes she needs to gargle in the moment to treat her sore throat, while leaving everyone wondering what she is doing. A new web site, along with social content, round out the launch

We took the opportunity to do something really different and original with this launch (…) When we looked at the competition, we saw that so many sore throat/cold/flu brands were all saying the same things in their communication. We knew these situations would be unexpected and completely unconventional for the category

Zak Mroueh,

Chief Creative Officer and Founder Zulu Alpha Kilo

The launch campaign kicked of on October 3rd and runs through December.

Strategy and creative was led by Zulu Alpha Kilo with media planning and buying by Cairns O’Neil

Credits:

Client (Company): Purdue Pharma

Agency: Zulu Alpha Kilo

Chief Creative Officer: Zak Mroueh

Executive Creative Director: Patrick Scissons

Art Director: Kevin Sato, Gail Pak
Writer: Vinay Parmar, Irfan Khan
Agency Producer: Jac Benoit
Account Team: David Tremblay

Strategic Planner: Heather Segal, Michael Szego

Clients: Sheryl Willison, Ryan Brown, Rhea Rousseau

Media Agency: cairns oneil
Media Agency Planner: Rebecca Shropshire, Trish Irwin

Production House: Soft Citizen
Director: The Perlorian Brothers

Production House Producer: Marrie Wasson

Director of Photography: Kris Belchevski

Casting Director: Shasta Lutz – Jigsaw Casting
Video Post Facility / Editing Company: Zulubot
Editor: Max Lawlor

Compositor / Online: Darren Achim
Animation: Ed Deng
Colourist/Transfer: Wade Odlum
Audio Post Facility/Music House: Pirate Toronto
Audio Director: Tom Eymundson

Producer: Joanne Uyeyama