Dorflex: The Paid Relief
Dorflex faced a challenge where its core messaging conflicted with the economic reality of its target audience. The brand needed to connect with millions of informal workers who could not afford to stop working when in pain. Publicis Brasil was tasked with creating a campaign that demonstrated genuine care for consumer well-being while maintaining brand relevance in a competitive healthcare market.
Creative Idea
The brand paid informal workers to take a day off to recover from pain.
Dorflex redirected 20% of its influencer budget to pay informal workers to take a medically necessary day of rest. By treating recovery as a paid job, the brand proved that true pain relief requires rest, not just masking symptoms.
Turning Influencer Budgets Into Paid Recovery
Flipping the Influencer Logic
The campaign fundamentally challenged the standard influencer marketing model by replacing high-priced celebrities with 56 everyday workers. By reallocating funds typically reserved for top-tier talent, the brand empowered informal workers—ranging from tattoo artists in Rio de Janeiro to physiotherapists in Ceará—to prioritize their health. Each participant was treated as a professional creator, receiving a *cachê* to document their recovery process, which ensured they did not lose a day of income while resting.
Data Driven Human Impact
The initiative generated significant traction, recording 34.7 million views and 17.1 million impressions across social platforms. Beyond the reach, the strategy proved highly effective in driving action, with 138,100 visits to the campaign landing page and over 61,000 interactions. The campaign’s authenticity resonated deeply with the public, as evidenced by an impressions rate 413% higher and an engagement rate 855% higher than the brand’s historical averages.
A New Standard for Care
The selection process was rigorous, drawing over 4,000 initial applicants and resulting in 877 completed registrations. To maintain professional standards, the content produced by these nano-influencers was curated by health professionals. This ensured that the messaging surrounding ergonomic habits and body limits remained medically responsible. As Mauro Ramalho, Chief Creative Officer at Publicis Brasil, noted, the project transformed communication into tangible action, proving that for millions of Brazilians, the most effective form of pain relief is the ability to pause.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Dorflex leveraged its market leadership and substantial influencer marketing budget to provide direct financial support for consumer health.
Category
Painkiller brands traditionally push the message that products allow users to ignore pain and keep working without stopping.
Customer
Informal workers felt trapped by the economic necessity of working through pain, unable to afford a day of recovery.
Culture
The rising gig economy and the precarious nature of informal labor made the need for accessible rest a critical societal issue.
Company
Dorflex leveraged its market leadership and substantial influencer marketing budget to provide direct financial support for consumer health.
Category
Painkiller brands traditionally push the message that products allow users to ignore pain and keep working without stopping.
Strategy:
Convert abstract brand promises into tangible economic support to solve systemic consumer barriers.
Customer
Informal workers felt trapped by the economic necessity of working through pain, unable to afford a day of recovery.
Culture
The rising gig economy and the precarious nature of informal labor made the need for accessible rest a critical societal issue.
Strategy:
Convert abstract brand promises into tangible economic support to solve systemic consumer barriers.
Results
The campaign achieved significant engagement and reach, generating 45.7 million total views and reaching 21.2 million people. Additionally, Dorflex committed to redirecting 20% of its influencer budget to support and pay authentic, everyday workers to take a day of rest.
45.7M
total views
21.2M
people reached
20%
influencer budget redirected to everyday workers
Strategy Technique
Turn Brand Values Into Action
Dorflex moved beyond traditional advertising by funding the actual recovery of its target audience. This action-based approach proved the brand's commitment to well-being by bearing the financial cost of the rest it promoted.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Turn Message into Product
The campaign transformed the brand's core message about the importance of rest into a tangible financial product. It literally paid for the recovery it advocated, making the brand's philosophy a functional reality for users.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is elevated by its brilliant media planning and experiential design, turning a traditional advertising budget into a direct social utility. By shifting financial resources from celebrity influencers to everyday workers, the brand creates a highly authentic and impactful narrative.
The strategic decision to redirect 20% of the influencer budget directly to everyday workers is a masterclass in purposeful media allocation.
Creating a functional digital platform ('Na Conta da Dor') that assesses pain and facilitates paid rest days bridges the gap between brand promise and real-world utility.
The linguistic pivot from 'Pain Relief' to 'Paid Relief' (Na Conta da Dor) is a clever, memorable hook that perfectly encapsulates the campaign's core idea.
The cohesive use of brand colors (cyan and yellow) to frame diverse user-generated content and retro ads creates a unified visual identity throughout the case study.
“The magic of the campaign lies in how media planning and experiential design work together, transforming a promotional campaign into a direct financial and physical support system for the target audience.”
