CASE STUDY: How Dong Wha Pharm lured young customers through a CSR campaign

Background

The brand image of Gas Whal Myung Su is traditional and well-established among South Koreans.

Aim

The company wanted to build and strengthen a positive brand image especially to attract young customers.

Execution

Based on the meaning of the name Gas Whal Myung Su, ‘Save a life with water’, Dong Wha Pharm launched a CSR campaign, created by Medicom PR, for the 2013 World Water Day on 22 March.

The company conducted a Facebook event ‘Like Action’, partnering with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), for children who die from diarrhea in Africa each year due to contaminated drinking water, lack of sanitation, and hygiene. Fans were able to 'send' clean water to such children by liking the official Facebook Page of UNICEF,‘We Action’.

The campaign featureed an eco-friendly junk art exhibition, themed ‘Forest of Life’. Created by South Korean artist Lorie Kim and Tae Gyun Kim, the junk art was a sculptural assemblage built with discarded bottle caps of Gas Whal Myung Su and other recycled materials, such as glass, scrap metal, plastic, and wood.

Both the Facebook event and the junk art exhibition were promoted through a YouTube video, which also showcased the 116-year-old corporate history of the company. The video was also displayed in LED TVs, wall-hanging TVs and iPad at the exhibition.

Results

During the campaign period from 4 to 31 March, more than 65,000 people ‘Liked’ the official UNICEF Facebook page ‘We Action’. Totally, 12.5 million litres of water was purified using water-purification tablets, which was sent to Africa, a value of more than KRW20 million (US$18,384).

There were more than 73,000 ‘Likes’, 1,300 ‘Comments’, and 1,200 ‘Shares’ for the ‘Like Action’ event posting, which had exposure to more than 560,397 Facebook users in March. Through today, the YouTube video has received 419 views.

According to the Reach Generator, the advertising cost per person amounted to KRW31 (US$0.03). As a result, the total advertising effect of Facebook event is worth around KRW17 million (US$15,629).

CREDITS

Supervisor Kyoung-ho Moon
Promoter Keon-hee Ryu, Joon-hee Ryu
Director Jung-jae Yoon
Assistant director Young-Bum Park
Staff Young-jee Shin