• by Les Luchter , 3 hours ago

 

Have a bad cough? Tough guy Robby Tussin, aka “Cough Hitman,” will “take care” of it, asserts a new character-driven campaign from Haleon’s Robitussin.

“Take Care of Your Cough,” the largest integrated campaign in Robitussin’s 77-year history, is designed to “disrupt and get noticed,” Karen Bouhadana, Haleon’s senior director, respiratory, tells Marketing Daily. The cough/cold/flu category is “very crowded, there’s a lot of noise, and it’s important to break through,” she says.

“We’re leaning more into culture and entertainment,” Bouhadana explains. “The choice of this character, the tone of voice, the humor…is all intentional.”

In campaign content, Robby Tussin brandishes all the tropes of movie hitmen -- like a trench coat, a hidden interior jacket pocket, and a knowing look in the mirror.

One gangster-inspired :15 spot, set in a public restroom, shows Robby Tussin approaching a helpless coughing man who pleads, “Do it quick.”  Tussin responds by whipping out …not a gun, but a bottle of Robitussin.

The campaign -- which will include other spots set in a kitchen and a bedroom -- is running on broadcast, cable and OTT via such networks and streaming services as ABC, CBS, HGTV, USA and Amazon.

To target a younger audience -- which Bouhadana acknowledges “we haven’t been speaking to directly in the past”  -- Robby Tussin is also set to have a lot of social presence, both paid and organic.

Paid social includes a series called “Robby Reviews Reviews,” in which the character reads real Robitussin reviews from Robitussin.com as if they were reviews of himself.

In another paid social iteration, the brand spoofs the GRWM (“Get Ready With Me”) video trend by showing Tussin suiting up for “a night of handling business,” including the various places where he stashes his weapon of cough medicine -- like his jacket pocket, ankle strap and sock.

Organic social, which will include a couple of posts a month, is designed to introduce Robby Tussin as “that man who spends years perfecting his technique to get rid of cough very quickly. He handles jobs very quickly and doesn’t make a scene,” Bouhadana explains.              

Those posts will include “a lot of fun content to make sure we bring the character to life, with the right touch of humor and dramatization to really communicate how fast and effective Robitussin relief is.”

Some 18 lifestyle influencers will also be used, with content including  dramatizations of “the relatable tipping point when a cough becomes ‘unacceptable’ and it’s time to call Robby Tussin.”

“We want to make sure the brand becomes part of the social chatter,” notes Bouhadana.

The campaign -- which also includes online video and retail media -- marks the first for Robitussin by Publicis LeONE, a bespoke Publicis Groupe team that took over all of Haleon’s global creative a year ago this month. 

The brand says the current campaign will run through this year’s cough/cold/flu season.  While Bouhadana wouldn’t provide an end date because that would be “critical information for my competitors,” she stresses that Robby Tussin will continue on as Robitussin’s new identity.

“We hope people are going to have fun with the character and he’s going to become synonymous with who we are as a brand.”