Case Study: Secret

Situation

BrightHouse first partnered with P&G's antiperspirant and deodorant brand for women, Secret, to elevate its purpose—helping women be more fearless—by linking it to the brand's ethos. Later, BrightHouse helped the brand bring its purpose to life through an act that blew people away (a "BPA").


Action

BrightHouse partnered with Secret to link its story of origin as the first antiperspirant made specifically for women to its purpose of helping women be more fearless and supported the team in articulating guardrails to define exactly what fearlessness means to the brand.

Through the BrightHouse luminary network, we identified the opportunity for Secret to partner with Diana Nyad, a 60-year-old world class swimmer planning to be the first person to swim 103 miles from the Florida Keys to Cuba without a shark cage. Diana attempted the same swim in the 1970's but to date had not been able to complete it.

BrightHouse recognized that Diana's fear that at 60 her best days were behind her was shared by many other women, and her fearless effort to accomplish a dream that had eluded her was a perfect fit for Secret. BrightHouse arranged and managed Secret's $50K sponsorship of Diana's swim, including partnering with the Secret team and their digital agency, imc², to execute engaging communications that brought Secret's Fearless Platform to life.

This BPA Act not only provided financial support to make Diana's dream possible, but it also enabled Facebook fans to send her well wishes and virtual gifts to help her overcome her fears such as shark repellant, snacks and clear skies. BrightHouse also arranged to share fans' motivational messages with Diana and her team throughout the swim.

Results

By linking Secret's ethos to its purpose, BrightHouse ensured that Secret's purpose was truly authentic, inspiring and ownable. Clearly articulated purpose guardrails have enabled Secret to align its organization and provide structure to future ideations and activations.

Secret's partnership with Diana Nyad elevated the brand's point of difference—helping women feel confident in their antiperspirant—to a point of view—helping women be fearless in their lives. Diana's inspiring story garnered national media attention, and Secret engaged women of all ages through ad buys, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

Upon launching a Facebook page that enabled Secret fans to send well wishes to Diana, Secret saw an immediate and dramatic increase in Secret Facebook fans—today, they have nearly 600,000! Women saw themselves in Diana and were thrilled that Secret was making her swim possible.

The partnership was specifically linked to Secret's Clinical Strength Waterproof SKU, which led to a significant bump in purchase intent and sales versus the same time last year, even thought the SKU has been on the market for 2-years.


With weather conditions worsening, Diana was fearless enough to put her dream on hold once again, postponing her swim until 2011. When she's ready to dive in, Secret and women everywhere will be right beside her both financially and emotionally supporting her fearless dream.