Essence of message scores with public
LAUNCHED TO promote Brand's Essence of Chicken, the Cortisol: Stress Management campaign combined corporate citizenship with advertising and marketing savvy to wake Hong Kong up to the adverse effects of high levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.
The advert won the gold Effie in the health/beauty and medical care category.
When the body is subjected to any form of physical or psychological stress, the adrenal glands increase production of cortisol, a hormone that triggers the fight-or-flight response. While cortisol is necessary for health, excessive production over prolonged periods leads to ill health and chronic disease.
Hong Kong's predilection for working under pressure should have made cortisol an everyday word on the streets, but few had heard of it.
A study in November 2003 by the University of Hong Kong's Public Opinion Programme commissioned by Cerebos (HK), manufacturer of Brand's Essence of Chicken, found that many people were not aware of cortisol.
'A total of 610 men and women aged between 18 and 49 - all full-time workers - participated in the survey,' said Anita Ho, product manager of Cerebos.
'The results revealed that 90 per cent of respondents had three or more cortisol-induced health problems.
But only 25 per cent had heard of cortisol. Those who were aware only knew of its mood-related impact, rather than its association with chronic ailments such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.'
So Cerebos took up the cause with an advertising and marketing campaign aimed not only at maintaining leadership in the nutritional food sector but also at telling Hong Kong's working population what they needed to know about cortisol.
Associated with the campaign was the introduction of stress management courses in secondary schools.
Leung Yiu-kin, an associate professor in the Chinese University of Hong Kong's psychology department, introduced a stress management regime that combined the latest neuroscience research findings and easy-to-manage exercises, including daily consumption of Brand's Essence of Chicken.
Cerebos' television strategy, featuring vivid images of harassed workers unable to cope with the pressures of work without Brand's Essence of Chicken, was a hit.
The overall aim of the campaign - to maintain segment leadership status - was achieved, with more than 90 per cent of market share and a 14 per cent increase in sales volume.
