Schick USA is tapping a mobile-optimized video that asks male consumers to interact with an eccentric character and vote for their top three indisposable comforts to promote its Xtreme3 razors, suggesting that consumer packaged goods marketers would be well-served to offer interactive elements in their mobile video campaigns.

The video, which was created by agency Beeby Clark+Meyler and is accessible via satiric news organization The Onion?s site, as well as a dedicated site, www.comfortsofman.com/video, introduces mobile users to eccentric host Lutz, who welcomes them to ?Comfortopia: the land of indisposable comforts.? He then asks consumers to look at ten popular lifestyle items, ranging from headphones, video game consoles and the Schick Xtreme3 razor, and drag their top three indisposable comforts to the designated icons for a chance to win all ten products.

?[Mobile video] depends on the target group for the brand, of course, but suffice it to say that it is almost always critical,? said Tom Beeby, principal and executive creative director of Beeby Clark+Meyler. ?If you?re selling AARP, maybe not as important.

?Otherwise, the majority of online video is consumed on the phone. So you want to do it,? he said.

?But, BCM takes a ?mobile first? approach to most everything we do, not just video. We think it?s the smartest, most effective way to develop any content for cross-platform delivery.?

Interactive components
Mobile users will be able to interact with Lutz in the humorous video, which takes a marketing strategy of pushing an experience rather than a product. The video, which is targeted toward male consumers, prompts Lutz to offer dramatic responses each time a user clicks on one of the ten possible indisposable comforts.

One of the comforts is a Schick Xtreme3 razor, which is accompanied by Lutz describing its features while a friend performs an interpretive dance in the background.

The Onion?s new site is an optimal platform to place the video on, as its visitors are typically searching for humorous content. Brands and marketers should keep in mind which communication channels constitute prime real estate for their advertising efforts, especially when leveraging mobile video.

?Start from the smallest palette, and adjust upwards according to usage behaviors and available real estate for each platform,? Mr. Beeby said.

After users drag the three icons representing their chosen comforts into the designated area, Lutz appears to congratulate them and invite them to share their chosen items on Facebook by clicking the ?Share Comfortopia? button.

They may also click the entry button for a chance to win all ten ?comforts of man.?

Tapping social media
Lutz?s colorful responses and personality may go viral if enough users share their Comfortopia choices on social media. Ultimately, the agency believes that having an interactive video will yield an even more positive response than a passive mobile video.

?We wanted to give our target something to play with,? Mr. Beeby said. ?Passive video is something we have in our mix, and we thought it would be great to test this approach out.

?This way, guys can check out as much or as little of the video content as they want to, or have time for. If you want to just select your three favorites and share them to your friends, or enter to win them all, we make that fast and easy, too,? he said. ?We select innovations that add value to customer experience, not just as a shiny new object.

?Interactive video is fun, cutting edge, and proven.?

Schick is no stranger to tapping social media influencers for its marketing campaigns.

A Schick executive at the 2015 Mobile Marketing Association Forum New York affirmed that tapping social media influencers on YouTube catapults the effectiveness and reach of mobile video advertising, provided that the influencers are allowed creativity to expand on the brand?s message (see story).

?The idea behind sharing your three favorites is twofold: 1) to give the video experience viral ?lift,? and 2) to give guys who think the experience is funny to get the badge value that comes from being the first in your group of friends to share something funny?.to give your friends a laugh,? Mr. Beeby said.

Final Take
Alex Samuely is an editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York