Making a Splash with Reactive Content

In October of 2019, terror gripped the nation.

A mysterious jogger stopped multiple times throughout the month to defecate on the doorstop of celebrity PR mogul Roxy Jacenko, spawning national TV coverage and millions of reactions on social.

Everyone who heard the story had dozens of questions swirling through their minds. Why would someone do such a thing? How were they getting away with it? Who was behind this devious defecation? It was a real poo-dunnit.

While the Australian media and public were reeling from this news, we sniffed an opportunity. With Metamucil, the nation’s leading fibre supplement in our roster of clients, we knew there was a way Meta could join in on this national conversation. So, the Metamucil Australia team squirted into action to create a branded response that would create buzz around Metamucil and its unique regulating formula.

What we did

We leapt on the opportunity to design a funny new social post, featuring Australia’s Meta mascot, Nugget, as a detective who pledged to get to the bottom of the case. At the same time, we reached out to Roxy – to plan, script and shoot a video with Roxy and Detective Nugget within 24 hours. The content talked about the benefits of Metamucil, with the brand dominating the hilarious creative. We launched on Roxy’s social channels (252M Instagram), with the video generating 97,000 views and huge amounts of top-tier organic media coverage in outlets like 7News, The Daily Mail, and news.com.au.

To wrap the campaign, we shot a comical imagery series with Nugget at the scene of the crime, crafting a wrap-up social post that tied everything up in a neat package. Case closed.

Impact

It’s not always easy to get national attention for Metamucil through earned media. With this stunt, Metamucil was splashed all over Australia’s mainstream news sites, circulating the key messaging that Metamucil is a natural way to stay regular and support a healthy gut! Metamucil also piqued the nation’s curiosity, with a 16% increase in Google searches for Metamucil following the campaign.

What can you learn from this?

• Keep abreast of the news every day. You never know when the perfect opportunity for your brand to comment will arise.
• It pays to be bold. Inserting your brand into more controversial and loud stories creates significant brand love.
• A tongue in cheek, self deprecating tone help your brand stand out as human – like someone your audience can joke around with.