Ever thought of a creative product idea addressing a very common problem related to humankind? Well a family in Utah, USA just did it by making a stool for better stools. Edwards family came up with squatty potty, a stool that addressed the colon problem known to humankind and make your bathroom business an effortless experience. Although the art of having an effortless bathroom experience had been discovered by Indians long back, Squatty Potty made Western style Toilets transform to a colon-friendly Indian style via a stool without any necessary changes to your bathroom. Through this blog let us analyze the strategy behind Squatty Potty Unicorn Video ad which broke the internet and made the Harmon brothers a poster image in the field of marketing.
Squatty Potty Unicorn Video Ad: The Challenges
The product design & production facility had been finalized but the biggest challenge was How to Promote a Toilet Product? It’s a topic which people hardly discuss or a taboo in society. The Edwards family were skeptical about promoting it through peers & friends but were adamant of having a proper market penetration strategy. Squatty Potty was a simple product so another major challenge was how to curb competition once other brands venture into this product category. The stool was easy to copy and easy to manufacture. The owners believed only a good marketing communication strategy through video ads would make squatty potty stand out in the market even if competition scales up in the future.
That’s when the Harmon brothers came to the rescue for the Edwards. The Harmon brothers had just created an internet breaking video ad named Girl’s Don’t Poop for PooPourri.com and in no time it became a trending video boosting up sales for the company. With much hesitation, though the Harmon brothers did accept the proposal to promote Squatty Potty and rest is just history.
Squatty Potty Unicorn Video Ad: Implementation
A mystic unicorn was specially created to make the video look interesting and promote the squatty potty stool in an un-conventional way without the use of human feces. Including realistic toilet subjects in the video would have been a serious turn off for the audience. Therefore the Harmon brothers instead added a comic side and introduced a mystical softy ice cream producing unicorn and knight prince describing the video in detail.
Now the video was set up in a farm with a green environment speaking about hygiene and health. The 1st challenge was cleared related to the background and environment. The next was on how to show the problem and the solution Squatty Potty addressed. This was perfectly answered by rainbow-colored ice cream scoops. The perfect poop resembles a perfect ice cream scoop and the best pooping position ensures ice cream scoop shaped poops. The idea was a super hit with the audience.
Set up in a farm with a softy producing unicorn and knight prince describing the video, the outcome was a great comic video yet delivering the message without the use of any toilet subject that would be visually unattractive.
The marketing firm met all the requirements of the Edwards family in the video though many were very skeptical about how the audience would react to the comparison of Poop with their favorite softy ice-cream. But the CEO of squatty potty trusted his intuitions and gave a go ahead.
Squatty Potty Unicorn Video Ad: Results
Prop up your legs while pooping nothing more nothing less with a 35-degree incline. This along with a video to convince humans of the 21st century that they have been taking the nature’s call wrong all this time. All through a video shot not inside a toilet but in an open environment and not using real toilet waste. Pheeeww..! Looks Tough? Isn’t it?
Read More – Top 35 Digital Video Marketing Campaigns from India with a Social Message
But the results show a different perspective. The video This Unicorn changed the way I Poop got around 15 Million+ views the year it released and till Nov 2018 it has clocked over 35 Million+ views in YouTube and 140 Million+ views and 1.6 Million+ shares on Facebook. Prior to the release of the video Squatty Potty made only $3 Million in yearly revenue but clocked $15 Million+ revenue the year video released and the Edwards put their 3 production facilities in 24/7 production schedule. The audience not only connected well with this video but this also led to rise in the conversion percentage. Online sales from different platforms grew by 600% and retail stores sales rose by 400%. According to the Harmon brothers, about 70% of the audience saw the entire length of the video & 75% of the total views were organic.
After the success of the squatty potty video ad, the product was also featured in popular American TV show The Shark Tank and exposure from high profile media stallions like Dr. OZ & Howard Stern.
So a toilet product got promoted without the use of any visually un-attractive toilet subject+ the sales percentage clocked up+ Squatty Potty completely wiped competition through this video ad campaign.
Might be a head-scratching moment for many on how a subject with very little family discussion racked up so many views & sales and people were convinced of the wrongdoings without affecting the softy ice cream industry and the creators facing criticism for relating it with human poop. But history is a witness,
Fortune Always Favors the Brave
Squatty Potty Unicorn Video Ad: Learnings for Other Brands
Squatty Potty Video Ad has a comic side but speaks of health & hygiene. According to the creators, with a comic video comes even greater risk of engagement as people might not get the satire or they might just like the video but there would be no sales conversion.
It was one of the toughest challenges to promote a toilet brand with every message to be conveyed in very detail. The comical and a non-confrontational approach paid up enabling the company to communicate to its audience about a not so popular topic. Who knew the best way to beat awkwardness was get more awkward.
The Squatty Potty Video Ad also proved that through a beautifully crafted marketing campaign the demand for a product can be shifted in the following stages:-
Negative Demand >> Latent Demand >> Full Demand >> Overfull Demand
Exactly the same as Squatty Potty Stool which had a Negative Demand initially where people knew it was a beneficial product but did not desire to buy it To Latent Demand where a customer realizes the importance of the product later and later on Full & Overfull Demand which is self-explanatory.
Often brands just sit and relax after the success of 1 video marketing campaign to cut down expenses and ramp up profits. But with more investment comes more profit and marketing is always an investment never an expense. Squatty Potty didn’t relax but went on to make another video which also started trending. The brand came up with a song featuring the same characters namely The Best Poop of your life, highlighting the beauty of having a good bathroom time and how it can impact your whole day. This ensured their audience stayed connected with their social channels and competition is completely nullified. It also gave Squatty Potty an advantage for their future product launches. The success & continuity of creative video ads also reaped results for their next product the Toilet spray.
Just because squatty potty tasted success with a comic video ad for their product doesn’t guarantee a success for your marketing campaign. The trending video genres vary with time, platform & location. Brands should do a research before finalizing the ad scripts and a competitor analysis using 3rd party video analytics tools (For Video Ads) to ensure the video marketing campaign meets the desired goals.
For competitor analysis and understanding the digital video environment, Vidooly offers a customizable video solution for brands with the following offerings:-
- Brand Intelligence Tool
- Brand Safety Tool
- Brand Lift Solutions
- Branded Content Solutions
- Video Ad Insights
So what are your waiting for start squatting or do as the Indians do it for a happy and healthy stomach.
Thanks for reading the blog. If you are a brand/agency and want deeper insights related to your video marketing campaigns then reach us at 8527863094 or send in your queries at marketing@vidooly.com
