Insight
Gillette Mach 3 wasn’t cutting it for young Asian men. Gillette has been an iconic male brand for generations. But while the mega-brand had very high-unaided awareness in Asia, awareness of its premium Mach 3 razors remained stubbornly low at just 6%.
Gillette knew the key moment in selecting a razor brand came young: once a man has chosen a razor blade, he sticks with it. Mediacom’s task was to make Mach 3 the obvious choice for 18-22 year olds across APAC when they selected a shaving partner for life.
A key barrier was Gillette’s heritage. Modern, young Asian men saw Gillette as an old-fashioned, ‘a brand my father used’. The agency needed to make it more appealing to a young modern male target that was also extremely cynical about traditional advertising. Research showed that Gillette needed to engage with its target on their own terms. It needed to become a brand that understands its target at a more personal level. However, Mach 3’s core identity around sport remained a powerful lever: consumers loved their sporting heroes’ constant search for greater performance.
Mediacom recognised that this mirrored their own digital lifestyles and their own relentless search for more information and entertainment. It had the opportunity to leverage this synergy and refresh the Mach 3 identity of performance through technology by demonstrating to young modern males that it was the leader of the pack. It would give them entertainment that demonstrated performance in the sporting arena they loved.
Strategy
Mobile and the internet had revolutionised the target audience’s way of life but also changed the way they understood the Mach 3 brand promise. Mach 3’s promise of performance through technology didn’t communicate a better shave, for millennials ‘performance’ stood for speed and adrenaline whereas ‘technology’ was much more around innovation.
The agency needed to give them a sporting experience that was fast, innovative and personal and identified the perfect platform on which to make it part of their digital lives. It selected Real Racing 3, a car racing, mobile game. Not only was it right in the heart of Mach 3’s sporting heritage but motor sport and its constant quest for better technology represented a perfect parable for the technologically advanced identify of Mach 3. The user base also matched Gillette’s core target audience, 91% male and with a massive reach right across APAC.
It was critical that Gillette didn’t just advertise in Real Racing 3. To deliver the target’s expectations of more personal messages, it would instead focus on make the gaming experience even better. Gillette would create an impactful, innovative, immersive and completely non-intrusive experience. The communication would be totally organic to the game environment and non-disruptive to the gameplay. In fact, the brand would add to the experience by providing additional functionality and expertly engineered experiences. Mediacom’s strategy would allow the player to fully engage in the racing game and absorb the games’ sight and sound alongside Gillette’s message.
Execution
Mediacom created the first-ever integration with an EA mobile game in APAC, covering 10 countries for 12 weeks. Gillette branding was fully integrated within the game to ensure players were fully immersed in the action while also promoting its core identity of performance, technology and speed.
It launched a limited edition Gillette McLaren car that players could download to use in races. Those who already owned a McLaren could get their existing car re-sprayed in the Gillette colour scheme for free. It also launched two Gillette in-game race challenges. Each competition comprised of four brand new courses, set up with 100% Gillette branding seamlessly integrated around each track. Weekly in-game events promoted our Gillette races and offered discounts on the Gillette McLaren car.
To help players upgrade their cars, they were offered race currency for watching Gillette videos hosted within the game, while banners and interstitials in other EA games helped promote Gillette sponsorship. Gamers benefitted from more events, additional races and the opportunity to earn in game currency, all the while being exposed to Mach 3 branding. All Gillette cars and livery brandings were made permanent features of the game, ensuring players continued to engage with the brand even after the campaign period. The partnership was also promoted through a variety of other channels, including TV, online desktop, PR, social media and live events featuring game consoles and even Scalextric tracks.
Results
The first ever-mobile in-game integration was a resounding success with extensive integration and a total of 149 million impressions. It reached all 3.7 million Real Racing users and they took part in nearly 375,000 races on the new circuits:
• Unaided awareness of Gillette MACH 3 increased by 67% across the region
• 99% of exposed gamers had heard of Gillette MACH 3
• 96% of gamers continued to engage with the brand after seeing Gillette in-game, most frequently by purchasing a Mach 3 in store (56%) or visiting the Gillette website (49%).
In key markets the effect was even more impressive: In Singapore 81% either purchased the Gillette car or re-sprayed their existing McLaren car with the Gillette branding and 95% of Real Racing players road tested the Gillette sponsored tracks. In Australia, 99.5% of Real Racing players with McClaren cars got a respray and 83% who clicked the video link watched the whole Gillette TVC. In India 95% of the players who had access to the event raced on the Gillette branded track at least once.
SALES RESULTS: 26% increase in sales vs same period year ago.