Last week MullenLowe Singapore and Unilever hair-restoring treatment, Clear, used bald heads as mobile billboards. At the same time adam&eveDDB and ice-cream brand, Wall’s (Kibon in Brazil), were inviting beach-goers to use their bodies as billboards – their choice of a permanent or semi-permanent tattoo.
Like the Clear campaign, adam&eveDDB’sSkinvertising aims to reach their target audience in new ways, on the beaches of Brazil. Due to policies restricting the visibility of brands around the beaches of Brazil, ice creams can struggle to be visible when customers are likely to want them the most.
The campaign began with permanent tattoos applied to a number of Kibon superfans who chose from a selection of Kibon tattoos developed as part of a collaboration between Kibon and Brazilian Tattoo artists, Talita Persi and Ziza.
The campaign also included social, influencer, and OOH advertising, including walking human billboards, which drove footfall to tattoo and ice cream parlours that sprung up in kiosks at Ipanema and Leme Beach, where consumers were encouraged to advertise Kibon on their bodies in return for free ice cream.
The more consumers’ skin was covered with Kibon advertising, the more free ice cream was handed out, with an estimated 4,000 semi-permanent tattoos and 4,000 free Kibon ice creams distributed over 2 days.
After the event, Kibon celebrated their superfans’ tattoos by making them the stars of their social and OOH campaign around Rio.
Barbara Scala, global Walls brand lead, commented, “The beautiful beaches of Brazil are hot spots for Kibon Ice Cream consumption. Creating Kibon Skinvertising has allowed us to speak to our audience when they want us most, in an incredibly fun and impactful way.”
Ant Nelson, executive creative director at adam&eveDDB, added, “By turning bodies into billboards, this campaign for Kibon, finds a way to share love for the brand without visually polluting the beautiful beaches of Rio, instead Kibon have created art desired by the locals that puts Kibon at the forefront of the country’s beaches.”
Daniela Tolentino, Wall’s brand experience lead, commented, “Tattoos play a big role in Brazilian culture, nearly half the adult population have tattoos. We have made Kibon’s largest walking billboard this weekend by tattooing so much skin.”
Here is the MullenLowe campaign:
