Ichitan

The Objective

In Thailand’s health-conscious food and beverage market, eating well is keeping well. In a country where there is increased health awareness amongst youths and a national sugar tax that has seen a decline in demand for sugary carbonated drinks over the years, Thai beverage giants Ichitan Group knew that the health beverage market was a lucrative one.

In 2020, Ichitan launched “Ichitan PH PLUS 8.5,” an alkaline water-based health drink. But it had one obstacle: competing against a growing number of foreign players who were beginning to expand into the health beverage market. To stay ahead of the competition, it decided to play up the one thing its competitors didn’t have — local appeal. To achieve this, it decided to increase engagement by forging online connections with consumers on TikTok.

The Solution

To go viral, Ichitan knew they had to first be accessible. They decided to pick the husband and wife duo of Lydia Sarunrat and Matthew Deane, one of Thailand’s leading celebrity couples, to front the campaign on TikTok. Apart from the couple’s strong social media presence, their reputation as health and fitness advocates helped add to the brand’s appeal.

Next, they decided to create relatable and shareable content that would encourage high participation amongst followers. They launched a Branded Hashtag Challenge called “#น้ําด่างไง” ("alkaline water") that encouraged users to use TikTok's duet function to act alongside Lydia or Matthew.

By playing on the idea that a rejuvenating health drink can heal tiffs between couples, the challenge encouraged followers to submit their own “duets.” But unlike normal dance challenges that follow a fixed set of movements, the challenge focused on expressing human emotions. The campaign’s relatability factor was also boosted with the participation of Tan Passakornnatee, President & CEO of Ichitan Group. By encouraging followers to perform duets with him, Tan displayed an authentic, yet approachable side to the brand. In fact, this has even garnered him cult status amongst Thai teenagers.

To encourage participation and virality of the Hashtag Challenge, Ichitan ran an ad campaign on TikTok that included a Brand Takeover and In-Feed Ads. The challenge was also featured on both the banner carousel and hashtag list on the Discover Page to further increase visibility and reach.

The Results

Throughout the duration of the week-long campaign from September 26 to October 2, Ichitan’s Hashtag Challenge garnered more than 100 million views, creating one of the highest numbers of video views in Thailand for the year 2020.

At 11.26%, the challenge exceeded benchmarks in terms of engagement rates in the country, with it's followers creating more than 84,000 videos. Adding onto this was the campaign’s exceptional completion rate of 22.93% where followers watched through at least the first six pinned videos. From quenching the thirst of consumers, Ichitan Group had finally found the perfect formula to whet the interest of its followers online.