How Dermazol overcame market stagnation and achieved 100% growth

Complex creative Campaign
Video&photo production
Media materials
Media strategy
Comprehensive media campaigns

Background

A detailed consumer analysis can reveal new growth opportunities, even in stagnant categories. In this case study, we’ll show how exploring adjacent categories and audience characteristics drove growth for Dermazol, the market leader in medicated shampoos.

Challenge

The medicated shampoo market is stagnant. Despite being the traditional leader, Dermazol’s significant advertising investments weren’t yielding noticeable sales growth.

At the start of the project, we set two ambitious goals:

1. Increase sales by 5% in a non-growing category.

2. Boost brand awareness among a younger audience by 10%, tracked through an increase in branded Google searches.

Solution

Step 1: In-depth market and audience analysis

We discovered that while Dermazol fully meets the need for medicated anti-dandruff solutions, there’s significant potential in the cosmetic shampoo segment.

Insight: Young people don’t want to associate themselves with a “condition,” even something as common as dandruff. They aspire to feel strong, confident, and desirable. Therefore, we decided to position the medicated shampoo as a cosmetic product, leveraging creative concepts reminiscent of popular beauty brand campaigns.

Step 2: Developing the creative idea

Our research revealed that men often ignore or try to hide dandruff, for example, by choosing light-colored clothing or wearing caps. However, in the context of relationships, it becomes a sensitive issue.

Solution: We created a series of videos showing men coming up with humorous ways to conceal dandruff, only to highlight that Dermazol is the ultimate solution. The key message: Confidence with Dermazol means being close to the one who matters most.

Step 3: Optimizing the media mix

Our primary goal was to achieve broad reach among the 18–40 age group. Given the decline in TV viewership among younger audiences, we shifted the focus to digital video, complementing it with targeted campaigns aimed at women, who often purchase shampoos for the men in their families.