Men and morning beauty routines aren't natural bedfellows. This was the problem Neutrogena faced when marketing its new Cooling Cleansing Gel to Hong Kong's male population.
It wanted to interact with men at a time when they would be most likely to use the product - in the morning, but felt the usual outlets of breakfast and radio TV were too passive. Neutrogena wanted to speak to men in a way they would remember.
Enter Elanne Kwong, Hong Kong's hottest celebrity. A dedicated mini-site set up by Neutrogena encouraged men to enter their phone number and receive a wake-up call from Elanne herself. In the call Elanne tells the men to get up and use the new Neutrogena gel.
To drive traffic to the mini-site, Neutrogena set up a profile for Elanne Kwong on Facebook. The profile was managed internally and once word got out the superstar was online, her number of friends quickly spread virally.
So far, 1,300 men have signed up for an Elanne Kwong wake-up call. The fact that Neutrogena now has telephone numbers for its target audience offers a great opportunity for building a lasting relationship in the coming years.