What if one man’s extremely oily face was the reason why the air kiss was invented? In the vibrant imagination of Ogilvy Singapore’s creatives, this is exactly how the tradition began.
The campaign, The Oily Warrior, launched Pond’s Men new Ultra Bright Oil Fighter face wash in Indonesia. And added brightness to a category whose advertising is so often dull.
“Who wants to kiss an oily face? No one. We started with this insight that’s as true today as it was thousands of years ago,” stated Nicolas Courant, chief creative officer, Ogilvy Singapore, “So instead of setting our film in the modern day, we went back in history and imagined the story of an oily-faced man in ancient Indonesia.
“I think everyone no matter where they’re from can relate to the dread of having to kiss an oily face. It’s a universal insight. So of course, it was no surprise that our Indonesian audience loved it when we tested the initial concept with them,” added Putri Paramita, Pond’s Indonesia Beauty & Wellbeing Lead, “While Pond’s is a global brand, we tailored our communications for this new Pond’s Men format for the Indonesian market, connecting a local insight with our product benefit of long-lasting oil control. Switching things up with an Indonesian historical setting was another strategy we used to stand out against our competitors.”
The film was directed by award-winning director, Ayappa, who commented, “The diegetic track you hear in the film was created using traditional Indonesian gamelan instruments such as the bonang and kendang drum, and composed using the gamelan pelog tuning system. Our cast’s costumes and headgear were inspired by the inventive designs of the indigenous Dayak peoples of Indonesia. They were not just an accessory but an expression of their unique identity.”
“Over the past 5 years, Pond’s Men has firmly positioned itself as the oil control face wash that saves Indonesian men from awkward moments. It is great to see how Ogilvy has evolved this with a new insight, giving it a fresh spin while still keeping to the same tongue-in-cheek humour that Indonesians love about the brand,” stated Jopa Malantic, Pond’s global brand director.
Credits:
Brand: POND’S MEN
Global POND’S Vice President: Vandana Suri
Global POND’S Brand Director: Jopa Malantic
Global POND’S Senior Brand Manager: Fawn Cher
POND’S Indonesia Beauty & Wellbeing Lead: Putri Paramita
POND’S Indonesia Skincare & Masstige Lead: Meila-Putri Handayani
POND’S Indonesia Brand Manager: Manda Ardelia
Creative Agency: Ogilvy Singapore
Chief Creative Officers: Nicolas Courant, Marco Versolato (WPP@UL)
Associate Creative Directors: Sonali Ranjit, Rachel Chew, Ria Ocampo
Worldwide Managing Director: David Dahan
Global Managing Partner: Aanchal Sethi
Group Account Director: Pritika Gupta
Business Director: Sarah-Cate Agnew
Account Director: Vinx Zhang
Executive Strategy Director: Sumegha Rao
Strategy Director: Dilip Garga
Strategist: Mellita Angga
Senior Producers: Kevin Nguyen (WPP@UL), Fabiano Beraldo
Offline Editor: Timothy Lee
Chief Strategy Officer @ Ogilvy Indonesia: Ruby Sudoyo
Copywriter @ Ogilvy Indonesia: Cessita Putri
Production Company: Earlyman Film
Director: Ayappa
Executive Producer: Anand Menon
Producer: Milin Shah
Director Of Photography: Vikash Nowlakha
Offline Editor: Dipika Kalra
Music: Sameeruddin
Line Producer: Solomon – Landmark Productions (Kuala Lumpur)
Production Designer: Jimmy Bong
Casting Director: Munie
1st AD: Jeremy Costumes Stylist: Akma
DA: Udayan Biswas
Post Supervisor: Vikram Solanki
Post-Production: TQL
Post Producer: Kyanne Tan
Colourist: Corey Spykerman
Online Artist: Edmund Fong
Audio Post: Neon Singapore
Audio Producer: Terence Chan
Audio Engineer: Jerry Teo
