If you want to use event marketing as a product launch vehicle, there are a few simple prerequisites, says Ted Arnold of Jergens Canada.
For a start, you have to know your target well. And you have to be sure that your product actually speaks to them.
Oh, and if your product happens to be something that consumers can plaster on the ends of their noses while they’re at the event itself – well, so much the better.
All of these elements were in place when Jergens’ Biore brand of facial cleansers and moisturizers sponsored last summer’s phenomenally successful Lilith Fair concert tour, says Arnold, senior marketing manager with the Mississauga, Ont.-based company.
The launch of Biore’s new Pore Perfect Deep Cleansing Strip, designed to clean pores and remove blackheads from the nose, coincided with the Lilith tour, he says. And a more perfect fit could not have been found.
Lilith Fair, an all-female music festival featuring the likes of Sarah McLachlan, Jewel and Sheryl Crow, attracted a core audience of women aged 18-34, which just happens to be Biore’s target.
On-site product sampling was key to Biore’s Lilith Fair sponsorship. Biore ‘patrols’ at the concerts handed out product brochures and free samples of the Pore Perfect strip.
The strip is supposed to be applied to the nose for 10-15 minutes, and then peeled away. So while concertgoers waited for the music to start, they had a chance to slap the product on their noses and put it to the test.
Arnold says the strip proved a popular giveaway, with many people returning for seconds. In all, more than 100,000 strips were handed out at Lilith’s five Canadian dates.
The combination of the Biore staff wearing outfits in the brand’s trademark blue and white, and prominent signage featuring the Biore logo – a stylized female silhouette – gave the brand a strong visual presence at the event, he adds.
The Lilith Fair sponsorship was initiated by Jergens’ u.s. head office, and carried over into the Canadian market.
In addition to the sponsorship, the launch of Pore Perfect in Canada was supported with television spots and print ads in major women’s magazines, including Chatelaine and Flare. Deutsch New York was responsible for the tv creative. Toronto agencies Creative Art & Design and Jacques Paris et Associes handled the English- and French-language print ads, respectively.
Arnold says event sponsorship was the ideal vehicle for this particular product launch. Pore Perfect is the sort of fun product that’s just right for sampling, he explains, and in Lilith Fair, Jergens had an event that put a large cross-section of the brand’s target audience in one place at one time.
Other events at which Biore has had a presence include bridal shows and beach festivals.
Also in this report:
– Sponsors look beyond sports p.28
– Leveraging events to launch new products: The trick is to draw a credible link between the unknown product and a well-known event p.30
– Spotlight on Olympic TV Creative p.32
– Setting objectives fundamental to success p.35
