Challenge

Native had made its name with seasonal fragrance drops. But every holiday, more limited-edition scents flood the market in the deodorant category, all competing for the same shoppers.

Strategic Unlock

Most holiday fragrances are sold through ingredients; cedar, pine, vanilla etc. Instead of talking about the scent at a product level, the unlock was to talk about the individuality of what scents mean to us, and what they say about us. The holidays specifically bring out a contradiction in all of us. We want to be generous, kind and on our best behavior, while quietly giving in to temptation, indulgence and a little mischief. This tension was far more interesting than another fragrance story.

Creative Solution

Building on Native's platform, Everyone Has A Story To Smell we took this contradiction to a non traditional festive setting by creating a playful encounter between a police officer and a driver. An authority figure passing judgment until it becomes clear they're both guilty of starting to give into temptation, driven by the power of the scents. Instead of advertising fragrance, we told a story everyone recognized: trying to be good, while secretly enjoying being just a little bit bad.

Results

Holiday sales doubled year-on-year, and the campaign won a Silver Cannes Lion.