Mannings’s 40th anniversary TVC introduces digital cat

The TVC was originally aired in two parts, showing the "Manning's cat" researching herbal remedies and then scouring the countryside in search of the treatment. In the second part, originally scheduled to air on 6 January, but leaked to YouTube and Facebook earlier, the cat finally finds a Mannings pharmacist, and returns home to find the girl already happy and healthy again.

Matt Tse, creative director of Metta, said the ad was aimed at a large demographic in Hong Kong. "This ad needs to appeal to six-to-60-year-olds, and we didn't want to do a hard-selling approach," he said. "The special feature of this Manning's TVC is the two part ‘sandwich’ media buy, to arouse viewers' interest and (have people) eager to see how the story continues."

The key creative message is that 'those who really care about you are already around you,' the agency said. This aimed to convey the Manning's brand spirit that it plays an active role in everyone's health and wellness.

Esther Chou, group marketing manager of Dairy Farm - which owns the Manning's brand - said this was the first time the group had used a "sandwich" media buy to arouse viewers' curiosity.

"The father and the little girl in our recent Mannings ads are well liked, this time we used a cat to make it more relevant to normal families, and makes the ad more and emotional and memorable," she said.

The first burst of the TVC will run for three to four weeks running on TVB, TVB J2 and Now TV.  Point of sale materiels featuring the cat, as well as online and print ads will also be used.

Credits

Client Mannings
Project Mannings' 40th anniversary
Metta team Andrew Lee, Matt Tse, Silent Wong, Ng Siu Hung, Candy Li
Mannings team Athen Chung, Esther Chow, Vivian Wong
Exposure TV, print, online, POSM