Dettol today announced it has developed a play-based program, ‘Catch a Habit’, to teach Australian children to adopt good hand hygiene habits and help stop the spread of germs.
The program was inspired by research from Dettol, which identified a hygiene literacy gap in Australia with teachers, parents and children confused about how to wash hands properly and lacking an adequate understanding of the importance of hygiene.
Shockingly, almost half (45%) of Australian primary school children do not always use soap when washing their hands at school, with more than one in three (36%) having not learnt how to wash their hands at school at all.
Harnessing the power of play to enhance children’s ability to learn new skills, the ‘Catch a Habit’ program is designed to help close the hygiene literacy gap by teaching children handwashing skills in an impactful way.
Marketing director at Reckitt Health AU, Henry Turgoose, said: “Communicating important hygiene messages in a language kids can understand – through play and creativity – is critical to breaking the chain of infection and improving hygiene outcomes in the community as the country opens back up and kids return to school.
“Through the gamified Catch a Habit program, we’re aiming to reach one million children in year one to improve hygiene literacy and create lifelong behaviours that are intrinsically ingrained into their psyche.”
The innovative program will encompass:
- Direct-to-consumer education, through a new multi-lingual handwashing jingle, available in English, Mandarin and Arabic, with social competition incentives to drive participation and engagement
- Hygiene Quest, a global schools program developed by leading educational partners that teach children the importance of hygiene via gamification, comic books, activity sheets and more. Hygiene Quest will be available to classrooms across the country from January 2022 and for parents to access at home.
- Partnerships, such as the newly announced Sydney Opera House collaboration which sees Dettol offer interactive experiential learning through a new Centre for Creativity, and Creative Play workshops that will be housed at the Opera House.
The ‘Catch a Habit’ program is being supported by a digital and a media partnership with Nine, across digital, radio and TV. For more information on Catch a Habit or Dettol, and to access Hygiene Quest, visit www.dettol.com.au/catch-a-habit/.
Credits:
Client: Dettol, Reckitt Benckiser
Catch a habit creative platform: Saachi & Saachi.
Jingle writer: Michael Burrows, Brand Music
Animation & Creative Execution: RB Studios & Yukfoo
Hygiene Quest Schools Program: Leo Learning and Preloaded studio
PR: DEC PR
Media: Zenith
Media partner: Nine
