“Your nose is over it”, “Your eyes are sick of it” and “Your skin has had enough” are the messages Sorbent uses to advertise its new DermaCare tissue range. Alongside the product box, the posters feature enlarged facial details and complaints that, according to the creators’ concept, the nose, eyes and skin might voice after a cold or allergies.
The campaign Do Your Face a Favour was developed by Melbourne agency The Reactor, taking as its starting point facial sensitivity that is further aggravated by frequent nose wiping. This gave the promise of soft tissues a specific communication angle: the moment when even the slightest additional irritation begins to bother the user
Head of Strategy at The Reactor, Angus Smallwood, explains that the idea came from the feeling that accompanies a cold, flu or allergies, when the eyes and nose become so irritated that you can almost hear them complaining. The agency took that thought literally, bringing it into the ads and giving them a voice.
In the outdoor advertising, the complaints appear in large lettering against a blue background, while the tissue box remains clearly visible. Different messages are spread across posters on public transport, at stations and on large outdoor advertising surfaces. A consistent tone allows each execution to address a different part of the face while remaining recognisable as part of the same campaign.
Sorbent presents the new range as the softest, strongest and most absorbent tissues on the Australian market. This is the brand’s claim underpinning the product launch, while the creative work gives more space to user discomfort and humour than to listing product features.
Alongside this approach, the agency also drew on the existing sonic identity. Creative Director Nick Brown highlights the use of Sorbent’s familiar jingle as an opportunity for the new idea to retain a sense of familiarity with the brand. The launch thus gains a new verbal expression, accompanied by music that audiences already associate with Sorbent. The campaign is currently running across outdoor and digital advertising and social media.
