Braun: BATTLE THE BARBER

Credits & Description:

Category: Consumer Goods, including FMCG and Household Products

Advertiser: BRAUN (PROCTER & GAMBLE)

Product/Service: ELECTRIC BEARD TRIMMER AND STYLER

Agency: IMPACT PORTER NOVELLI

Pr/Social Media Consultant: Elamin Saad (Impact Porter Novelli)

Media And Digital Communications Manager: Afif Kalo (Procter & Gamble)

Director: Jon Pryor (Impact Porter Novelli)

Brand Pr Manager: Heba Abulhassan (Procter & Gamble)

Senior Account Executive: Rana Malak (Impact Porter Novelli)

Group Managerof Brand Public Relations/Influencer Marketing (Arabian Peninsula And Pakistan): Monica Shina (Procter & Gamble)

Media placement: Music Video (Digital PR) - You Tube/Twitter/Facebook - June 2011

Media placement: Consumer PR - Interviews, Products And Press Release Issued To Middle East Media - July/August 2011

Media placement: Events - Consumer Trials And Live Track Performances - July/August 2011

Media placement: Event - Breakdance Event In Dubai Mall - September 2011



Summary of the Campaign

In the Middle East, the barber is the biggest competitor for all male grooming brands. Convincing an Arab male to self shave or style their beard needs to happen at point of market entry. Young Arabic males presented this opportunity but also the challenge: How to engage with an audience which doesn’t consume traditional media and which aims to differentiate itself from his father and the more stifling aspects of Middle Eastern culture?



The campaign put Braun cruZer at the heart of this young man’s interests, giving the brand an affinity with his urban lifestyle interests. A respected music track and video called ‘cruZin’ was created, featuring messaging in the lyrics and product placement; it was seeded through social media, events and live performances.



This call to action for men to express themselves culminated in the Braun sponsored ‘Battle of the Year’ dance event. Attracting participation from large groups of the target audience, it was watched by 1,000’s in the mall.



The outcome was clear: Braun cruZer market share rose by 5% and the campaign reached 18m unique consumer touch points across traditional PR, social media and direct consumer interaction.



For nearly 60 years the Cannes Lions Awards have set the benchmark for excellence in creative communications. This campaign represented a fresh new approach for a product category stifled by ‘old world’ communication and marked a major leap of faith for the brand to invest in the ‘cruZin’ track and social media outreach, a first for the brand in the region.



The Situation

The category of male electric shavers and beard trimmers was suffering from cluttered packaging and branding, leading to consumer confusion over which product was right for them.



Braun identified the situation as posing a substantial business opportunity. A decision was made to re-launch its cruZer product franchise with a new brand look and feel. Key focus was revamping the beard & head trimmer offering which had been in market for some time.



The Goal

The challenge was capturing consumers at the point of market entry. This led to the goal of making the Braun cruZer brand appealing to Arabic male youth, whose first choice for shaving was the local barber. These 16-35 males liked styling their facial hair, rather than just clean shaving it.



Traditional Arab dress is popular with young Arabs, who then turn to styling their beards as a method of personality expression. The campaign goal was to create an affinity with other avenues of self-expression popular in the region, primarily ‘urban’ lifestyles of hip hop, street art and DJs.



The Strategy



Initial work involved research into key audience influencers. Football stars seemed too mainstream, as such a number of regional urban influencers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were assessed.



Emirate hip hop duo, Desert Heat, were finally chosen, due to regional popularity in KSA & UAE, their calibre of music, English and Arabic rapping and strong social media presence.



The duo would also compliment Braun’s global brand ambassador, world breakdance champion, Ronnie Abaldonado.



Execution

Working with Desert Heat a ‘cruZin’ music track and YouTube video was created, featuring product placement and messaging. This was seeded through Desert Heat and Braun’s YouTube channels, Twitter and other social media networks of respected urban influencers. The track also received airtime on commercial radio and the music video (plus behind the scenes video) was embraced by MTV Arabia,



Consumer activations were held in key audience hangouts, featuring product trials and music CD distribution, plus live ‘cruZin’ performances by Desert Heat. Braun cruZer products and press releases were issued to media.



The hype culminated in the Braun sponsored, ‘Battle of the Year’, dance event making its premier appearance in the Middle East. Media interviews were set up with B-boy Ronni at the event.



Tactical TV and radio advertising, plus dedicated YouTube channel and digital marketing, also allowed for profiling of Ronnie and the Braun cruZer product.



Documented Results

Market share: Braun cruZer overall market share in Arabian Peninsula rose by 5%;



PR effect: extensive online, radio and print and consumer reach totalling approx 18m;



Specific results:

- Print PR coverage totaling impressions of 7,765,028;

- CruZin track generated 667 tweets with collective Twitter following of 1.2m;

- Multiple blogger posting with collective reach of 500,000;

- YouTube views of ‘cruZin’ video at 16,000 during campaign and to date at 50,000+. It has received 463 comments, 1053 likes and 21 dislikes, and was played and downloaded on SoundCloud 1000’s of times;

- Radio airplay for cruZIn track across 8 stations with collective audience of 2.8m (157 plays created total opportunities to ‘hear’ of 110m);

- ‘CruZin’ music video and Behind The Scenes video played extensively on MTV Arabia – total audience of 5m;

- Direct consumer reach through trials and live performances totaling 30,000+.