The Kiss Debate
Award Category
Best Integrated Media Campaign
Agency
MediaCom
Client
Procter & Gamble
Sponsor
Objectives
Razor blades had suffered a 7% dip in sales and Gillette needed to find a way to get young men to reassess their shaving habits. The task of MediaCom was to halt the decline in blade consumption by getting young guys to shave more often and to change the perception that stubble is desirable, doing all of this this on a small media budget.
Campaign
MediaCom started a national debate to convince guys that girls prefer to kiss a clean-shaven guy by partnering with TV program The Bachelor Australia. The ‘Kiss Debate’ was introduced through 10 content pieces to spark the conversation in broadcast and digital. Kissers were directed to TheKissdebate.com.au website and a ‘Kiss Debate’ documentary was seeded across Gillette’s own channels, exploring women’s, men’s and scientific opinion on the decline of the kiss, which, in turn, sparked earned media coverage. The debate was fuelled by introducing Gillette as the champion of better kissing, with Gillette-branded results from the survey distributed through 10 TVCs on digital and mobile display, social and print channels. The Bachelorettes from the TV show were used to influence guys through extended content.
Results
Gillette experienced an 89% rise in customer sales compared with the year before. Close to 15,000 people took part in the survey and there were 193,000 views of the ‘Kiss Debate’ documentary. The campaign generated 240,000 social engagements and a 31% increase in shaving frequency.
Judges Comments
The Kiss Debate showed both depth and breadth across every element of the campaign. It took a global platform and cleverly translated it in a meaningful and engaging way at a local level. Critically, every element added demonstrable benefit to the campaign’s overall success.
