P&G's Fast5 Force rescues Vietnamese women from laundry woes

Developed by Leo Burnett, the campaign utilises YouTube, Facebook and Webtretho—the largest women-oriented social portal in Vietnam, which is hosting a microsite for the campaign.

The brand aims to entertain the audience with a series of webisodes that tell the story of a five-member laundry detergent ‘special task force’. Four weekly webisodes are available via Tide's Vietnam YouTube channel.

The task force is called “Biet Doi Sieu Toc” ("Fast5 Force"), which reinfores one of the promises of the product, which is said to provide five times faster cleaning than powder detergent. Tide’s new celebrity endorser Tran Thanh plays the leader of group.

Each webisode features a real-life scenario commonly faced by modern Vietnamese women surrounding their need to ge the laundry done quickly. In the first webisode (above), the story revolves around a young wife trying to win the heart of her mother-in-law. With the insight that Vietnamese women typically live in the homes of their husband’s parents, the story resonates with the audience by taking a light-hearted approach, according to the agency.

Each story presents a fun and unexpected twist, as the Fast5 Force does whatever it takes to help. The scripts use trendy language and refer to current events to enhance the comical aspect and relevance of each episode.

Samuel Yau, marketing manager at P&G Vietnam, noted that the challenge the brand faced was to capture women’s attention from among an overwhelming clutter of online advertising while reinforcing the new “cheeky” character of the Tide brand.

“With the fun, entertaining viral approach that is unexpected from a laundry brand, this campaign has been gaining positive momentum in the market,” he said.

Vietnam ranks highest in the region for hours spent per visitor on online entertainment at 5.3 hours per week, according to Comscore Southeast Asia Digital Trends 2013. 

Kate Bayona, head of digital at Leo Burnett Vietnam, said the campaign can provide relief to Vietnamese women from their painful household chores though humorous content that resonates with their everyday life.

The webisodes have been spreading online organically and surpassing the campaign’s initial expectations, she added.