Pert Plus turns to Engauge for new strategy

Innovative Brands has tapped Engauge to develop a new campaign for its Pert Plus 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner.

The campaign will play off of a new brand message — the Pert Plus Keep it Simple Philosophy — that was developed in response to ethnographic research results. Engauge's research for Pert Plus discovered that brand users were interested in “laid back” and “low maintenance” hair care, so ads appearing will carry the tagline: “Crazy good hair, without the craziness.”

“We previously targeted ‘limited effort' consumers, which was more behavior-based for women who wanted to spend less time in the shower,” said Roanne Wallace, director of marketing for Pert Plus. “That target is still relevant, but as we listened to consumers and how they thought of themselves we realized there was a much broader mindset of low maintenance people who were comfortable with who they were and didn't need to do a whole lot to themselves to get great-looking hair, so that was the idea behind the Philosophy campaign.”

Pert Plus' target audience is broad: men and women between the ages of 25 and 54. More than half of the consumers who informed their research related to the “low maintenance” mindset.

On May 11, the Philosophy campaign released a full-page insert with coupons in Sunday papers. A second insert went out on June 29. An e-mail blast has also been sent to a database of past buyers and promotion participants. In-store displays are currently being installed in retail outlets, and more brand messaging is going up on the Pert Plus Web site.

Engauge is helping Pert Plus create a multi-media marketing plan, which will fully debut this fall. Engauge is the only agency that Innovative Brands has used for Pert Plus; it purchased the shampoo brand from Procter and Gamble in 2006.

“Engauge is known for having a strong history working with heritage brands like Pert Plus that have high awareness but need to improve their top-of-mind awareness and make sure they're relevant and up-to-date,” Wallace noted.

She added that the company will gauge the campaign's success by measuring market awareness, consumer response to promotional offers, responsiveness to the Web site and sales of the shampoo.