Unilever, Mindshare launch branded channel for men

The channel is the result of a collaboration between media planning firm Mindshare, media group Catcha Digital and Microsoft to promote Axe, Clear, Rexona and Vaseline—Unilever’s range of men’s personal care brands.  

Mindshare says the latest initiative is Asia-Pacific’s first-ever branded male-content portal to be launched using the insight that “brotherhoods” strongly influence the opinions and motivations of men.

Targeted at the busy, young, urbane male, topics on the site include categories such as 'Adrenaline', 'Style' and 'Got game'.

Adrenaline topics cover everything from extreme sports to football, while style focuses on grooming and health. 'Got game', as the name suggests, will feature advice on sexual health, along with dating tips.

“This will be our biggest multi-faceted digital initiative after the launch of our women’s channel," said Hugo Verkuil, marketing director at Unilever. "We are using digital branded content, social tools and a dash of wit to help us make the connection with our male consumers.”

Shankar Rajagopal, director of client leadership at Mindshare, said, “We are pushing the envelope in the digital space by connecting consumers closer to the value and attributes of the four Unilever brands subtly woven into the content through videos, polls, quizzes and contests in the Locker Room.”

He added, “A good experience in a trusted content environment drives conversations or earned media, and this integration of Unilever brands will help drive that.”

As part of the campaign, Mindshare also put together a search marketing strategy as well as online display ads and in-store support to build awareness for Locker Room.

For Unilever, the men’s personal care market in Malaysia is an important one. According to market research company Euromonitor, the men’s skincare category is growing at about 16 per cent while the overall grooming category grew by 7 per cent in 2011.

Unilver is already the market leader in Malaysia with a 27 per cent share in the grooming category, well ahead of rival P&G, which has a 19 per cent share.

The impact of Locker Room on the brand health of the four brands will be measured through research commissioned through Millward Brown.