Himalaya adds punch to pimple fight in new campaign

The Himalaya Drug Company–India’s leading wellness company–in its new campaign, highlights the benefits of using Himalaya Purifying Neem Face Wash over an ordinary toilet soap as a solution to tackle pimples. Weaved around the central message “Pimple Hai to Soap Nahi, Sirf HimalayaPurifying Neem Face Wash”, the campaign captures the playful banter between two sisters wherein the younger one is seeking advice from her elder sister for pimple problems.

Consumer insights suggest that when a girl gets her first pimple, she gets anxious and actively starts looking for solutions. She washes her face more frequently to stay clean, she tries different soaps and even upgrades to special soaps but pimples continue to bother her. During this journey, she doesn’t realize that her ordinary toilet soap (with high pH) is being harsh on her pimples and the same soap may be further aggravating her pimples.  

The new Himalaya Purifying Neem Face Wash TVC sets in with a beautiful screenplay between two sisters in the backdrop of a painting canvas. The younger sister is seen anxious with her first pimple and walks up to her elder sister. The elder sister cares for her sister’s anxiety and advises her to not use soap on pimples. She explains the harsh effects of an ordinary toilet soap and asks her to switch to Himalaya Purifying Neem Face Wash, as it is soap-free and has the antibacterial goodness of Neem and Turmeric.  She explains the harsh effects of an ordinary toilet soap and advises her to use Himalaya Purifying Neem Face Wash, as it is soap-free and has the antibacterial goodness of Neem and Turmeric.

Abhinav Chugh, Category Manager – Face Wash, Consumer Products Division - Marketing, The Himalaya Drug Company, said, “Himalaya is the most preferred and loved brand in the Face Wash Category. Consumers trust Himalaya for their face wash needs. It is our responsibility to build awareness around face care and advocate correct solution for consumers’ benefit. The rapidly growing face wash category still has low penetration. 7 out of every 10 consumers in urban India unknowingly use soap for face cleansing. With pimple problem, an ordinary toilet soap can be harmful and should be avoided.”

Keerthika Damodaran, Brand Manager – Face Wash, Consumer Products Division - Marketing, The Himalaya Drug Company, said, “Himalaya Face Wash provides a safe and effective solution for multiple skin problems. When it comes to pimples, consumers don’t realize that ordinary toilet soaps can be harsh on them. With this communication, we emphasize on the ‘soap-free’ nature of Himalaya Purifying Neem Face Wash, along with the antibacterial goodness of Neem and Turmeric to help prevent pimples. This campaign, with its compelling insight and strong delivery, will make consumers re-think on using their ordinary toilet soap on pimples and make them switch to Himalaya Purifying Neem Face Wash.”

Conceptualized by Eighty-Two Point Five Communications, the highlight of the TVC was to give enough reasons to the consumer using soap on pimple to switch to Himalaya Purifying Neem Face Wash to resolve their pimple-related problems.

Ravikumar C, Senior Creative Directive, Eighty Two Point Five Communications, said, “This time around, as part of recruiting new users into the category, we had to make the consumers aware of the ineffectiveness of an ordinary toilet soap when it comes to pimples. We had to communicate a functional message while retaining the brand story of two sisters, their innocence, care, and warmth. Our creative solution was simple, and added one more character to this mix, a portrait. The story revolves around a portrait of the younger sister drawn by the elder one. When one uses the portrait to showcase her problem of pimples, the other provides the solution through it without losing the innocence, simplicity, care, and warmth.”

Naveen Raman, Senior Vice President & Branch Head, Eighty-Two Point Five Communications, said, “As a creative proposition, the brand has been owning the first pimple in a girl's life for a very long time. We remained consistent to the creative hook and came up with an interesting story between two sisters to establish our proposition.”

Campaign details:

Title: Pimple Hai to Soap Nahi, Sirf Himalaya Purifying Neem Face Wash

Client: The Himalaya Drug Company

Agency: Eighty Two Point Five Communications

Brand Planning: Siddharth Roy, Malini Menon

Creative: Ravikumar C

Account Management: Naveen Raman, Sunpreet Kaur, Dhwani Nagrani

Production house: Code Red Films

Director: Gajraj Rao