JWT Wins Japan's First Ever IPA Effectiveness Award

JWT and Unilever won Japan’s first-ever medal at the IPA Effectiveness Award for “Building Beauty Dreams: 25 Years of Lux”, a look at the long-term positioning of Lux hair care in Japan’s highly competitive market.

The body of work was awarded a Bronze at the IPA, which is widely considered the world’s most rigorous effectiveness awards show.

“We are extremely proud and honored to win this very important award for Lux in Japan. JWT Tokyo has been nurturing the Lux brand in this market for the last 25 years, together with our Unilever client team, so the brand is so dear to us,” said Hironabu Kitajima, Managing Director of JWT Tokyo. “In Japan’s highly competitive and fast changing hair care market, it is a real accomplishment to not only establish a new value but also to maintain the position for decades. We believe it is the result of the long term efforts of both the client and agency teams, and our strong belief in the fundamental value of the brand idea that helped us stay focused and consistent.” 

In the late 1980s, Unilever’s hair care brand Lux identified a gap in the Japanese hair care market. The only hair care brands available were conservative, family-orientated, often targeting mothers. However, with the place of women in Japanese society evolving, Lux saw the opportunity to provide hair care for these women as women, not as mothers, and created the ‘Western beauty dream’ for Japanese women. 

IPA judge Sucheta Govil, the global head of marketing for AkzoNobel, described the work as “a great exemplar for marketing communications continuity”.

“There are very few cases in the world that prove the long term effectiveness of communication. Lux and JWT Japan now join this elite group,” said Guy Murphy, JWT’s Worldwide Planning Director.