Calgon launched an online video contest August 16 asking consumers to share the moments when they’ve wanted to shout, “Calgon, take me away!”
The company launched the contest, which will run through December 19, to revitalize the bath and beauty product brand’s famous tagline, popularized in TV commercials during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. The brand is asking consumers to post 60-second videos describing their needs to YouTube and register at http://www.takemeaway.com/contest.
Alliance, a New York-based Grey Group agency, assisted the brand with concept creation, activation and public relations.
The winner will receive an “experience worth $1,000 specifically designed to meet their personal ‘Take Me Away!’ needs,” the company said in a statement. Each participant will receive a Calgon product, while supplies last.
A panel of judges will select the winner, who will be announced January 2011.
The contest is one way Calgon is promoting its rebranding, which began in February. Packaging and logos have changed, and new products — bath beads, Epsom salts, bubble bath fizzy sets — have been added. The goal of the rebranding was to attract women age 25 to 35, said Sharon Shue, marketing and brand innovation manager of Ilex Consumer Products Group, which owns and operates Calgon.
While Calgon freshened up its image, it stuck with its venerable tagline, she explained.
“We know the catch phrase, ‘Calgon, take me away!’ is pretty much an iconic, colloquial phrase that many people use nowadays,” Shue said. “It’s the kind of phrase that is so integral to the DNA of the brand that we didn’t want to get away from it. We just wanted to refresh it and breathe new life into it.”
Calgon is promoting the contest through on-site advertising, Facebook ads, social media messages and public relations.
