Just for Men makes furry social media appeal celebrating beards
Hair coloring products manufacturer Just for Men is promoting its line for beards with a new contest in which users share pictures of their facial hair through social media, leveraging interest in playful content and the cult-like followings of sports announcers Keith Hernandez and Walt Frazier.
Men with strong beards have a chance to win a trip to New York from Just for Men by uploading photos of their bristles through a mobile-optimized micro site and social media platforms. Mr. Hernandez and Mr. Frazier, known for their facial hair and sports commentary careers will be providing narration through Just for Men?s social accounts to increase the fun of the campaign and contest.
"Social media is the best tool to reach and scale across large audiences for all campaigns and especially for contests," said Amir Zonozi, chief strategy officer at Zoomph. "With the right strategy set in place, Just For Men can leverage user generated content, UGC, to promote brand discovery and exposure across social media platforms so that more people participate.
"Just For Men should not only have users upload their images on their website but strategically target their efforts to specific audiences with bearded influencers that can generate engagement through their UGC and drive audiences across various social media platforms to the beardspotting.com website," he said.
Comedic contests
Just for Men is playing into consumers? love for facial hair-related humor. The brand is introducing its new contest to increase engagement and conversation through social media, drawing users in through a playful and fun topic.
The brand will be accepting entries to win a two person all-inclusive trip to Brooklyn, NY to be featured on the judging panel of the 2015 Just For Men National Beard & Moustache Championships. But also, all entries will be able to win a daily prize of autographed memorabilia from Mr. Hernandez and Mr. Frazier.
Mr. Hernandez and Mr. Frazier as spokesmen for the campaign
Mr. Hernandez and Mr. Frazier as spokesmen for the campaign
Social media users share photos with the hashtag #Beardspotting to be featured on the brand?s microsite or its social media channels, featuring various consumer beard images.
Mr. Hernandez and Mr. Frazier are known for their colorful sports commentary and both have developed a significant following for their playful and lively remarks, as well as their facial hair. Mr. Hernandez is a baseball analyst for SportsNet New York and WPIX, while Mr. Frazier broadcasts for the Knicks games on the MSG network.
Just for Men's aggregate for its beard photo entries
Just for Men's aggregate for its beard photo entries
The two faces of the campaign held a comical press conference for the launch of the campaign including funny lines such as ?my ?stache is back, and so are we.? It is important for brands to have fun with their fans and consumers to create a more
positive brand sentiment.
Social media leverage
Similar to this, the Hershey Company's Reese's brand appealed to college football fans this season by partnering with popular on-air ESPN personalities to get consumers in the game through social media contests, helping it stand out during the fall marketing frenzy (see more).
Also, athletic footwear brand Reebok urged its Instagram users to compete in its Fit to Attack challenges, leveraging viral social media tactics and pushes from big-names in fitness (see more).
Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer
"UGC campaigns are extremely beneficial for brands in three ways, one, they highlight current and potential customers in a fun way that gives them a platform to share how they use the brand?s product and strengthens their relationship to the brand," Mr. Zonozi said. "Two, it exposes your brand to people who have not yet experienced your product/service in a way that is authentic and genuine.
"Third, it allows brands to track and analyze using social media tools like Zoomph to better understand what motivates their audiences so that they can iterate and provide better experiences and campaigns in the future," he said.
Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer
