Sugar Free Gold: A Study in Advertising Effectiveness

The Sugar Free Gold campaign, 'First Step to Fitness', is a lesson in advertising effectiveness.

The ad (view ad here) shows a slim and sultry Bipasha walking us through a malaise that most individuals suffer from.. the desire to stay fit but the absence of action. We do plenty of thinking about staying fit, but don't end up acting on our thoughts. She goes on to promote Sugar Free Gold, the 'low-calorie sugar substitute', as a starting point to getting fit.

The ad stands out because it illustrates this problem of failure to launch cleverly and clearly. Through familiar scenes like an unused treadmill and the 'unavoidable' partaking of sweets, the spot illustrates the problem in a way that makes you nod sheepishly and say to yourself , 'Yeah, that's me..'. It gets your attention, because it’s talking about you in real life faced with realistic situations that get your fitness goat. No preposterous or over the top advertising here.

It also shows that the planners have done their job. They've studied the audience's behavior in this area and understood how the mind works - most people are bullish on staying fit, but most often its the start, the launch, that's daunting. People are wary about the fitness regime, the grind, and they create excuses to skip it or delay it or simply not begin an exercise routine. The ad has a solution...a simple one, a familiar one that gives that friendly little mental push needed to begin the journey.

'The First Step to Fitness.'

It need not be a big deal, Bipasha says. Start small. Little everyday habits can help you meet your goal. Don't take the elevator, take the stairs instead. It's that simple. And in place of sugar, take Sugar-Free Gold.

Piece of cake, isn't it? That's advertising!

The marketing message has cleverly juxtaposed the product with a social message. By placing the product as the secondary solution that simply accompanies the first, the ad takes the spotlight away from the product. It tries to indicate that the real concern is our well-being instead. By providing a solution that we know is do-able, is good for us, the ad creates trust, and then it very matter-of-factly, almost casually, slips the product before our eyes ("Lift ke jagah stairs lijiye, aur cheeni ki jagah, Sugar-Free Gold"); meaning, 'in place of the elevator, take the stairs, and in place of sugar, take Sugar Free Gold'.
They've refrained from directly selling the product. They've made it look less like advertising and more like community health advice. They know, we're more likely to digest the second pill.

The marketers have tried to kickstart a revolution that requires their product. Positioning Sugar-Free Gold as the first (and most convenient, mind you!) step to fitness is sure to have consumers switching to it to prove to themselves that they're officially on a fitness regime! It is bound to be effective.