When we think about content, it’s generally easy to fit things into a nice, neat, well-groomed box of the mighty text/ image/ video trifecta. But some brands go out on a limb to create something just a bit more unexpected and on a fresh platform that has the power to surprise and delight a young audience.
Enter Gillette and Tinder.
The brand recently teamed up with the mobile dating app to use their advertising dollars to find out if college-aged women prefer a smooth face to stubble. 100,000 random guys were selected to participate, putting up a scruff-faced photo one week and a clean-shaven one the next. Their swipes and matches were analyzed to determine which look girls preferred, proving the hypothesis that women prefer a smoother cheek.
The program lives on a microsite filled with well-designed stats, an explanatory video and call to action to Shave a Life by sending a hirsute friend the gentle reminder that baby faces get the babes in the long run. By pulling together video, bite-sized infographics and a social component, the result is simple, clever and very shareable at every touchpoint.
With apps like Tinder, Snapchat, WhatsApp and Line becoming open to brand interaction, the rules for app integration are quickly changing, giving marketers a few things to consider when developing content on alternative channels.
Let the idea lead the medium, not the other way around. This execution works because it’s leverages existing behavior of a younger target and delivers threefold: tying back to the product benefit, providing the brand with insights about consumers and seamlessly meshing with Tinder’s existing functionality to capture the ever-allusive 18-34 year old.
First impressions matter. Truly. An integral part of Tinder’s allure is the immediacy of the experience. A quick swipe is rewarded with push notifications for almost instant satisfaction, piquing users’ natural curiosity. Of course, SnapChat is even faster and more transient. If your idea is too heady or drawn out, it simply won’t work on one of these newer mediums.
Consider having your brand take the back seat. While other Tinder campaigns like the Mindy Project, Walking Dead and even Domino’s had clear ties to promotional messaging, Gillette chose not to go the direct ad route but to use the technology to create something more valuable. Remember there’s more than one way to skin (or shave) a cat.
While we know that running after the next new shiny object is a recipe for fast failure for most brands, this light and easy content play proves that new tech can be fair game with the right thinking in place.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: Gillette and Rules for the Tinderfication of Content
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