RB Targets UK’s Hedonistic ‘Generation Z’ With Ironic Gaviscon Campaign

Party-going, late-night drinking, kebab-eating 20-somethings are the focus of Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC’s latest campaign for its blockbuster heartburn remedy Gaviscon in the UK.

Under the “Night Labs” banner, scientists in a pair of ironic videos concoct “hilariously over-the-top solutions” to common heartburn triggers such as fatty foods and eating too fast, RB explained.

Behind the tongue-in-cheek presentation, however, the key message of the videos – created by Havas London – was that a “much simpler and far more serious solution actually exists” for heartburn, RB pointed out: Gaviscon Double Action tablets.

Alongside the videos, which would be promoted online and via paid social media advertising, RB said it had also created a “campaign microsite” which would “host recipes, useful information and a competition in which participants can with their very own Night Labs Test Kit.”

Inspired by the videos, RB said that the Night Labs Test Kit included “takeaway vouchers, anti-heartburn innovations such a crazy wiggly straw and tiny knife and fork to slow down the pace of eating and, just in case these  don’t work, vouchers for Gaviscon Double Action tablets.”

Explaining the strategy behind the campaign, RB said it was an extension of its existing “Go On” brand platform, which looked to establish Gaviscon as the go-to heartburn remedy among members of Generation Z, as they began to feel the effects of their hedonistic lifestyles as they moved through their 20s.

Young people first started feeling the effects of their “fast-paced lives of work and socializing” at roughly 23-years old, RB explained. “Despite this, people in their twenties rarely acknowledge the problem, let alone embrace a serious solution,” the firm continued. “Instead, they try their best to keep going, determined that heartburn won’t ruin their fun.”

RB was therefore positioning the brand as a “facilitator of good times, helping this experience-loving audience to literally ‘go on’ – without their fun being tarnished by heartburn and indigestion.”

“It’s not just that this demographic tends to ignore symptoms of heartburn and indigestion and rarely embraces a serious solution,” added RB’s marketing director, Charlotte Schloesing. “But also the fact that 75% of consumers remain loyal to their first form of treatment.”

“We’re determined to show this younger audience that Gaviscon has them covered when heartburn and indigestion strike," Schloesing said, "enabling them to go on with their fun times.”