Johnson’s Baby has seen growth acceleration on back of high-impact ads: Manoj Gadgil

Leading baby skincare brand Johnson’s Baby recently launched its new television campaign, featuring Bollywood actors Anil Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor. This is the first time that the brand has associated with celebrities for endorsement.

The ad film portrays how Johnson’s Baby is committed to protecting the delicate skin of a baby from the first day itself with the help of products that are formulated utilizing ingredients that are considered ‘safe’ for a baby's skin.

Real life father-daughter duo of Anil and Sonam Kapoor engage in a fun banter, with an over-protective grandfather Anil fussing over whether Sonam is using the best products for her little munchkin. There is also a cute reference to Anil’s ‘Mr India’ role as Sonam highlights Johnson’s baby soap’s key ingredients like Vitamin E and Naturally Derived Glycerin, which keep the baby’s skin clean, moisturized, and super soft, emphasising the tagline – ‘Protection ka Promise, Pehle Din Se’.

Watch the ad film:

In conversation with Adgully, Manoj Gadgil, Business Unit Head - Essential Health & VP, Marketing, Kenvue, speaks at length about the concept and thought behind the campaign, the message the campaign it conveys, the marketing and media mix strategy, how Johnson’s Baby is leveraging AI, social media, and technology, as well as how Johnson’s Baby is adapting to the evolving consumer needs, while appealing to the modernized parenting message, and more.

What is the concept and thought behind the campaign – ‘Protection ka Promise from Day 1’?

Last year, Johnson’s Baby launched the ‘Promise, Pehle Pal Se’ campaign, which captured the brand’s unwavering commitment to help protect baby’s delicate skin from day 1. Ahead of the campaign, Johnson’s Baby reached out to over 15,000 mums from every part of India, different cultures and backgrounds to understand their promise to their little ones. There was one resounding promise that went beyond boundaries and cultures, a promise to protect their baby. Based on this common purpose, Johnson’s Baby commits to mums to help fulfill their precious promise to their babies.

As a brand with products that are first to touch a baby’s skin, we understand our responsibility. We remain focused on creating the safest baby products, with gentle formulations bringing decades of knowledge and science. The products are backed by rigorous scientific research, with formulas tested by pediatricians and dermatologists suitable for newborn skin.

Taking our brand promise further, this Mother’s Day Johnson’s Baby celebrated the diverse journeys to motherhood with our ‘The Long Wait for Day 1’ campaign. The film highlighted the resilience and determination of mothers who have endured different paths, such as an IVF treatment, adoption process or had a pre-term baby. With this campaign, Johnson’s Baby is committed to supporting motherhood in all its forms, celebrating that no matter the journey to Day 1, every mother promises to protect their baby.

With our latest campaign, ‘Protection Ka Promise from Day 1’, Johnson’s Baby furthers its commitment highlighting the role of its superior products to help protect a baby’s skin from Day 1. The film stars one of Bollywood’s favourite father-daughter duos, Anil and Sonam Kapoor, as they come together to deliver our promise in a heartwarming and fun film.

What is the message that the campaign is trying to convey and what are the expectations of it? Which creative agency has conceptualized the campaign and what was the creative brief given?

Our latest campaign, conceptualized by DDB Mudra, aims to reinforce Johnson’s Baby as a trusted brand to help protect a baby’s delicate skin from day 1 with a portfolio of products formulated with purposeful ingredients.

With the new campaign, we wanted to deliver our brand promise, but in a fun and playful way. Produced by Flirting Vision, the new film captures a fun banter between Anil and Sonam Kapoor, bringing alive key concerns by new parents and their families on the arrival of a newborn. We are confident that the new film with the magic of the father-daughter duo, a creative script, and of course the protagonist – the baby – will resonate with parents, families, and audiences alike.

How is the campaign leveraging AI, social media, and technology to promote the campaign?

Amidst the digital era, new-age technologies have reimagined marketing, bringing rapid changes in the ways brands engage with consumers. Today, digital platforms have enabled us to better understand consumer needs, create immersion engagements, and curate compelling campaigns through various digital touchpoints.

Since the launch of our campaign, ‘Promise Pehle Pal Se’, Johnson’s Baby has launched various initiatives to bring consumers closer to the brand as well as engage through immersive formats. Last year, Johnson’s Baby launched a first-of-its-kind AR innovation that showed mums 100% ingredient transparency, purposeful ingredients, and their relevance, all this by just scanning the pack. This has enabled new parents to make informed decisions and choose the right products for their babies.

On Mother’s Day, we launched the #JourneyToDay1 campaign across various digital platforms with popular celebrities and influencers along with 1,000+ mums in various communities. The brand hosted a fun contest, where mommy influencers shared their motherhood journey through a doodle book inviting fellow mums to share their unique motherhood stories and pictures and participate in this contest.

We continue to explore various initiatives leveraging new-age technologies to create engagements with new mothers. In the coming months, we are planning some exciting campaigns to bring more personalized experiences to our consumers.

What is the marketing/ media strategy of the campaign and how has it evolved over the years? What was the reason for collaborating with Anil Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor for the campaign?

Over the last year, Johnson’s Baby’s marketing campaign has centered around the ‘Promise, Pehle Pal Se’ campaign, which captured the brand’s unwavering commitment to help protect baby’s delicate skin from day 1.

To amplify our brand promise, over the last year, we have launched an integrated marketing campaign encompassing traditional media, social media, and digital channels, our packaging, point of purchase, and much more to engage with new mothers. With every campaign film or initiative, we have taken steps to partner with parents in their parenting journey and to make informed choices.

We have not just committed to our promise, but also showed mums 100% ingredient transparency of our baby skincare products with an innovative augmented reality (AR) innovation across our packaging and at retail outlets. Additionally, to bring alive our proposition of ‘Best for Day 1’, we have been spearheading education on skincare best practices for newborns through our ‘Best for Baby’ YouTube channel, training at nursing homes and with ASHA workers, and robust media partnerships.

With our current campaign, for the first time, Johnson’s Baby has brought on board celebrities to help deliver our brand promise. Anil and Sonam Kapoor, Bollywood’s favourite father-daughter duo, represent the current multi-generation family. As Anil and Sonam donned their real-life roles on the reel, the film captures the joy and happiness a baby brings to the family, but also the dilemmas and questions that new parents encounter.

What is the significance of the ‘Mr India’s reference as seen in the campaign? What forms the core of the creative communication process at Johnson’s Baby?

In the new campaign, we took a creative route by highlighting how using ordinary skincare products might result in moisture disappearing from the baby’s delicate skin, a bit like the disappearing act of ‘Mr India’, one of the most iconic movie characters and eponymous films by Anil Kapoor.

The campaign emphasizes the superiority of Johnson’s Baby products with its gentle formula, which helps to protect the baby’s natural moisture and healthy skin barrier, making it the perfect choice for newborns from ‘pehle din se’.

How is Johnson’s Baby adapting to the evolving consumer needs while appealing to the modernized parenting message?

As a brand that has partnered with parents for generations, Johnson’s Baby has constantly adapted our strategy to meet the unique needs of a newborn’s skin.

The brand has extensively leveraged evidence-based science to develop superior products that are gentle, formulated with natural ingredients, and free from harmful ingredients. Our commitment to scientific excellence has led to breakthroughs in skincare technology, resulting in products that effectively cleanse, moisturize, and protect the skin without compromising a baby’s natural balance.

Today, new parents are more informed and research more to help them make the right decisions for their little ones. It is important that parents feel confident about what they choose to use on their babies’ skin. We believe that it is only possible when they have complete transparency and information. Over the last five years, we have pioneered category education on ingredient transparency with campaigns like ‘Turn to Learn’ collaborating with influencers encouraging them to read labels, ingredients, and claims to make informed choices.

To further strengthen trust amongst parents, we took this a step further by reimagining our packaging and paired it with an innovative AR technology bringing alive the purposeful ingredients that we use and the science behind their usage. To drive awareness and connect with consumers, we created on-ground experiences across 25,000 retail outlets to bring alive the AR technology.

Additionally, for new mums, word of mouth, especially recommendations from other new mums, are among the top two drivers of purchase. Given this, we actively engage with mommy influencers and communities through science-backed conversations and other immersive formats to better understand their needs as well as interact with the brand.

How has the performance of Johnson’s Baby been in 2023? What are the growth targets/ focus areas for 2024?

With the launch of our new campaign theme, Johnson’s Baby has witnessed growth acceleration on the back of high-impact campaigns and marketing initiatives, strong in-store presence, and executional excellence, coupled with a superior product portfolio. As a brand that has pioneered skincare innovations in baby care, we will continue to build the category by providing parents with trusted and quality products to address their existing and emerging needs.

Also Read: Kapoor Duo stars in Johnson’s Baby 'Protection ka Promise' Ad