'Shave a Balloon' Challenge - Product Promotion
Nivea Men came to us an asked for a fun way to promote their product (Sensitive Shaving Gel) yet not to look like an advert. We got our thinking caps on and see what we could conjure up.
This was to be the start of a strong relationship between Nivea Men & Liverpool FC therefore we had to nail the brief set out to us making sure that Nivea were proud of the final outcome.
We had a brainstorming session and off the back of that decided to scour the internet for inspiration.
We then hit upon a great game of Shaving a Balloon which has been around for decades but used as a test for barbers to see how close a shave they could make without cutting the individual. In recent years it has been a popular game with teens and younger people.
We thought let’s get three first teamers to try and carry out the same challenge using the Nivea promotional product against ordinary soap and water. The Barber Shop, Dale Street, Liverpool was the set for this, which was subsequently filled out with Nivea products and some quirky LFC hair related photography.
The only real major changes that needed to be made were to the 'Rules' which featured the barber shop pole and cutthroat razor. Although Nivea appreciated the quirkiness and relevance to the graphic used. They felt that it was too different to a modern razor and potentially might encourage people to look to purchase them not necessarily for use as a razor.
I felt in necessary to make sure that the Nivea logo and brand stayed on screen wherever possible and make sure that the product theme would also appear enough to promote it to the viewer.
I played a pivotal role leading the concept, art direction, motion graphic design and final published edit of the work utilising the Nivea brand throughout. Trying to keep it feeling fun and not overly corporate or too strong an advertising piece.
The Results
The project ended up being an overwhelming success. It was posted on the various social media platforms and on Nivea Men’s own YouTube subscription increased by 24.3%.
It received 732k views on the LFC YouTube channel along with some extremely healthy numbers on other social media channels.
It also had various spots of programming on the LFCTV channel.
Nivea themselves were very happy saying that the final result far outweighed any expectations before the final outcomes.
What Happened Next?
Thanks to the popularity of the feature an interactive game was created by an external specialised agency, who were commissioned to produce the content to further help give longevity to the piece but also help continue promoting the Nivea product.
After completing this paid product advert, I subsequently continued to help promote Nivea products with the use of taglines and first team players in various digital media environments and platforms.
