NIVEA has become synonymous with care, not only caring for skin, but also caring for the well-being of others. Pay with Care inspired care in South Africa while recognising, reflecting and paying tribute to the spirit of Ubuntu that is at the heart of South African culture.

From June to August the NIVEA Care Bus travelled 2600 kilometres reaching out to its consumers in an effort to reward people for their acts of care, distributing 109 000 free NIVEA products, and in return received 55 000 ‘care promises’ back from its consumers.

“NIVEA has hit the radar in CareVertising in South Africa and has begun relating to the consumer differently and more deeply. Younger consumers in South Africa are relating to brands with a positive social impact much like global consumers. This will become increasingly important with time,” says Toni Hughes, creative director at Draft FCB.

NIVEA partnered with Gloo@Ogilvy to craft the Pay with Care online and Care Bus strategy. With many people experiencing ‘donor fatigue’, being constantly asked to contribute to different causes, they decided to turn this concept on its head. NIVEA Pay with Care instead offered something in return for promising to help somebody else.

The premise of the campaign was that ‘even a small act of care can make a big difference’.

Sean Donnelly, managing director of Gloo@Ogilvy Johannesburg, explained, “The NIVEA online care shop concept was created in order to leverage Beiersdorf’s prominent Facebook and YouTube following via an online platform. Digital consumers could make a ‘Care Promise’ via NIVEA’s online store and be rewarded with a ‘R10 off’ NIVEA voucher sent to their phone, which they could redeem in store. We extended the dialogue by personally responding to each care pledge.”

The NIVEA travelling ‘Care Bus’ (a mobile NIVEA shop), reached consumers in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Mpumalanga from June to August. The Care Bus was fitted with 20 iPads, where consumers made their ‘care promise via their personal Facebook page. They were then rewarded with a free NIVEA product. A ‘care store’ locator, was installed on the NIVEA Facebook page to help people find the bus location.

Pay with Care was the second phase of NIVEA’s Care is Beautiful programme launched in December 2014, which focused on true stories of South Africans who care for communities in the spirit of Ubuntu.

“Through research, we discovered that South Africans feel that Ubuntu principles, while so vital for the greater good of our communities, are slowly ebbing and are no longer relevant amongst the youth. So, we strove to add modernity to Ubuntu, whilst passing on the Ubuntu values to NIVEA,” says Kerstin Bird, marketing director of NIVEA’s parent company, Beiersdorf.

“By associating this campaign with the concept of Ubuntu it was bound to be more interactive and multi-dimensional. It was showcased through different communication touch points – a care initiative that was activated around malls and amplified via outside radio broadcasts in key regions, an advertising campaign starring real life heroes, an online campaign which rewarded South Africans for helping others and collateral which not only created engagement, but also jobs,” adds Hughes.

Such a “different” campaign also had to be supported differently. Draft FCB produced a documentary style television advertisement which featured real South African people. The commercial tells the story of three everyday heroes in South Africa and celebrates their incredible acts of kindness and generosity. A 10 second tag-on was designed to inform viewers about the online Care Store, where they could make a ‘care promise’.

NIVEA also invested just over R1-million in the people and NGO’s behind this TV commercial in 2014.

“Our purpose was to inspire South Africans to care for others, even the smallest act of care can make a meaningful difference. Therefore television and storytelling is the backbone of the campaign, showing a broader audience what is possible if we give back in our own way,” says Bird.

Going forward, NIVEA intends honouring and celebrating more “real” people. “NIVEA Care is Beautiful supports the global NIVEA ‘Care for Family’, a vision of uplifting a million families by 2020. This will be a long term investment with many layers.” adds Bird.

Towards the end of this year, NIVEA will announce a long term CSR strategic partner and kick off the next three to five years CSR investment programme benefitting a local community.

For more information, visit www.nivea.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook.