Puck (Arla) - Selfless Shelves
Puck (Arla Foods) tasked FP7 McCann, Dubai, with developing a campaign to support Lebanese women facing severe economic hardship and unemployment. The brand aimed to demonstrate its commitment to social responsibility and empower these women to achieve financial stability, ultimately enhancing brand affinity among consumers.
Creative Idea
Puck repurposed its jars and shelf space to empower women's homemade businesses.
Puck transformed its empty cream cheese jars into packaging for Lebanese women's homemade mouneh, offering them free shelf space in supermarkets and e-commerce platforms, effectively turning its product into a platform for economic empowerment during a national crisis.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Puck had iconic blue-lidded cream cheese jars and established supermarket shelf space, enabling it to provide packaging and distribution.
Category
Dairy brands typically focus on product consumption, not repurposing packaging or sharing shelf space for external businesses.
Customer
Lebanese women facing economic hardship desperately needed avenues to sell their homemade goods and achieve financial independence.
Culture
Lebanon's severe economic crisis and rising female unemployment created an urgent need for community support and empowerment initiatives.
Company
Puck had iconic blue-lidded cream cheese jars and established supermarket shelf space, enabling it to provide packaging and distribution.
Category
Dairy brands typically focus on product consumption, not repurposing packaging or sharing shelf space for external businesses.
Strategy:
Leverage brand assets to create tangible economic opportunities for vulnerable communities, transforming product into platform.
Customer
Lebanese women facing economic hardship desperately needed avenues to sell their homemade goods and achieve financial independence.
Culture
Lebanon's severe economic crisis and rising female unemployment created an urgent need for community support and empowerment initiatives.
Strategy:
Leverage brand assets to create tangible economic opportunities for vulnerable communities, transforming product into platform.
Results
The Lebanese economic crisis is worsening, with the local currency being worthless. Women are facing a 63% increase in unemployment. The 'Mouneh' tradition is now the main source of income for women in rural areas. Puck's 'Selfless Shelves' initiative provided kitchen space and repurposed jars for women to sell their products. Their income was boosted by over 300%. 19% of jars are being repurposed. The campaign garnered significant media coverage from CNN, Forbes, Campaign, PR Newswire, The Bulletin, Gulf News, Shots, Mid East Information, Saudi Gazette, Roastbrief, Dubai One, India News, Little Black Book, Woman Leader, and Dairy News.
+300%
income boosted
19%
jars being repurposed
63%
increase in women's unemployment (prior to campaign)
Strategy Technique
Build an Utility, Not an Ad
Puck provided a tangible solution to a societal problem by offering its jars and shelf space as a platform. This created a direct utility for women to sell their products, going beyond traditional advertising.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Turn Message into Product
Puck's iconic jars, usually containing cream cheese, were repurposed as packaging for homemade goods. This transformed the product into a direct vehicle for the brand's message of empowering women.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional in its ingenious core idea, which ingeniously repurposes a product's lifecycle to create a sustainable social enterprise, amplified by empathetic product design and strategic media execution.
The design of the repurposed Puck jars, featuring individual women's names and their specific Mouneh products, is a powerful and authentic touch that fosters pride, communicates transparency, and elevates the product's story.
The strategic decision to allocate Puck's prime supermarket shelf space and e-commerce channels directly to these women's products created an impactful and commercially viable distribution network, demonstrating a creative and effective use of owned media.
The true impact of this campaign stems from the synergy between its brilliant social innovation (Ideamaking) and its tangible manifestation through thoughtful product design, strategic media application, and compelling copywriting, all working in concert to create a meaningful and measurable outcome.
