Nescafe and MRM Philippines banks on humor and nostalgia to create online buzz

MANILA, Philippines—Five days after release, Nescafe’s biggest and boldest digital effort EDGAR (Earth Defending Giant Auto Robot) garnered 1.5 million YouTube views, averaging 220,000 views a day. The Japanese Sentai-inspired viral video accumulated almost 65,000 likes, 5,000 Facebook comments and was shared almost 12,000 times across social networks. EDGAR is a true viral hit that has again captivated the largest brand community of Filipinos online. How did they do it?

MRM Manila, the agency behind Nescafe’s latest viral campaign, shares that there were three important ingredients to EDGAR’s success: entertainment, entertainment and entertainment. “Ok, maybe we can throw in nostalgia there”, says Budjette Tan, MRM Executive Creative Director. It was a spot-on strategy for brand Nescafe, which initially sought to create awareness for its new “bigger, bolder” variant and re-gain appeal to a key market: the young professionals.

Pearl Ponce, Nescafe 3in1 Consumer Marketing Manager says, “Nescafe 3in1 Original has been in the market for 20 years. Ever since its launch, the youth has always been our inspiration for our campaigns and our efforts are directed into connecting with them. “

At the onset of the campaign development, Tan tells that agency first delved deep into who these yuppies are, and the kind of topics they can relate to. “Japanese Sentai shows (like Power Rangers, Bioman, and Shaider) as well as anime that starred giant robots like Voltes V and Mazinger Z were the TV shows that we all grew up with. Every generation has a favorite show about super teams and giant robots, and it appealed to viewers in their early 20s, all the way to those in their late 30s.”

Thus, Earth Defending Giant Auto Robot was born. Pop culture icon Parokya ni Edgar starred as the 5-member group that volts in to become the superhero robot. Armed with an electro-magnetic red mug, EDGAR thwarts alien invader Rebolto, portrayed by online celebrity Ramon Bautista. Cosplay star Mayumi Gomez adds star power to the video as the princess in distress Esmeria.

Tan adds, “Director Avid Liongoren’s treatment made the video a true homage to those most loved shows, from the way the city was purposely created to look like a fake-cardboard city, right down the costumes worn by the characters, to trivial details like the names of the stores which made people watch the video over and over again to catch those ‘easter eggs’”.

Tan also notes that a ripple effect in fan bases took place, which greatly helped in spreading and sharing the video. Parokya ni Edgar, Ramon Bautista and Mayumi have big fan bases, who in turn also have big fan bases. EDGAR was a hit based not just in numbers, but in quality of netizens’ reactions as well “It is evident in the comments that a lot of people liked it, even wishing to see it on TV”, says Tan.

Ponce says that the material solidly defined what the brand has been all about. “Nescafe 3in1 Original is all about celebrating our fun loving selves. It’s witty and inspirational. Any material on Nescafe 3in1 will always have this recognizable feeling of fun and betterment,” she says.

Success of the brand in its campaign resonated not just on online metrics. Nescafe is named the most popular FMCG brand in the Philippines, according to the most recent global poll from Kantar Worldpanel. The brand is chosen by 985 million times a year by more than half of the population. It has a high penetration rate of 94.3% and bought purchased by households 54 times per year on average.

Manny Fernando, MRM Managing Director, says that the success of EDGAR is proof of the agency’s knack to create content that engages the brand’s market. “It’s the new kind of engagement that the online community is looking for. Nescafe has the advantage of a solid and successful fan base, and MRM has put the right tools to better understand them. We know they crave entertainment and conversations, and that’s what we continually offer them.”

Nescafe’s Ponce agrees and adds, “There are two factors to this amazing success: one is our consumers love for Nescafe and second is passion of the people behind it, the very creative MRM team and the Nescafe brand team. Consumers’ love for Nescafe as shown in their posts and comments, serves as our ultimate source of inspiration for continuously finding out ways to deliver on our commitment – delighting the consumer anywhere and every time,” she concludes.