Brands were determined to fight against breast cancer this past October, coming up with innovative communication campaigns to show their support the cause. For the month of November, brands have been showing off the “moustache” to help fund more research and find the cure for prostate cancer.
Movember’s objective (Moustache + November) may seem silly at first, but it’s actually extremely concrete: educate people about male related cancers while promoting a healthy lifestyle. Who says educating people about a cause can’t be fun?
The annual Movember communication campaign encourages men to let their moustaches grow free throughout the month of November and to raise money for the cause.
This movement began in 2003 in Australia when a group of young people decided to let their moustaches grow out in support of one of their friends who was suffering from prostate cancer. From there, the movement has spread to many other countries such as Canada, USA, UK… It’s now completely widespread.
World renowned organizations have joined the Movember cause, creating incredible communication campaigns. And the cool thing about it is that anyone can participate: males are called “Mo Bros” and females are called “Mo Sistas.”
There is also No Shave November. Although it is not as well known worldwide, it’s just as important because the companies that are participating have put on some amazing communication campaigns supporting the cause. On November 1st all men are asked to shave off their facial hair. And for the next 30 days they are supposed to let their moustache grow in accordance with Movember rules. As for the ladies, their job is to support their fellow Mo Bros and help raise awareness and funds. Any help is more than welcome!
So, we’ve gathered up 10 of the best Movember communication campaigns. Check them out and don’t forget to participate next time
In this article you’ll learn…
1. Movember Foundation and BBDO Toronto (advertising agency)
The BBDO Toronto advertising agency took full creative liberty in their Movember communication campaign. Using a humorous take on classic literature, this agency created several hilarious posters in support of the Movember cause.
2. Movember Swim Team
The Movember organization itself has created an interesting campaign that talks about how a moustache can positively affect a man psychologically. After watching this video, makes you think a man can do anything as long as he’s got his moustache to back him up.
3. PlayStation
This year PlayStation chose to join the Movember cause and has announced the official partnership employing a rather unique communication campaign. They’ve product a batch of controllers that light up, calling the effect “Mo-Glow.” Quite catchy. They’ve also given one of their most famous characters a “Movember Moustache Makeover” and created a special playlist made up of the best musicians of all time…with a moustache!
Galahad and co. support Movember: https://t.co/M7dlGH08yP Join @RAD_Studios and raise money to promote men’s health pic.twitter.com/x1oZIYbvwi
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) October 31, 2014
4. Rickard’s in Canada
Rickard’s beer in Canada teaches you everything you need to know about having a moustache in its movember campaign. The company created a special event called MOI Rickard’s Beebershop (get it, Barbershop?) and invited lots of guests to participate in supporting research to advance men’s healthcare. Below is an image from their flyer on facebook.
5. Dairy Queen and Dr Pepper
No Shave November promotes this communication campaign, but they’ve definitely put their own spin on it—a rather crunchy one for that matter. Dairy Queen, a restaurant chain well known for their fried chicken and milk shakes, carried out an awareness campaign to engage users and it went like this: Customers would go in and ask for a basket of chicken and a Dr Pepper. Then they were encouraged to take the piece of chicken, hold it over their mouth, take a selfie and then upload it with the hashtag #ChickenStache on the social network of their choice. See what I meant by “crunchy?” Dairy Queen donated $1 to the No-Shave organization for every photo uploaded with that hashtag.
6. Snickers
Snickers is hands down one of the most famous chocolate candy bars worldwide. And they’ve also been proud supporters of the Movember cause throughout the years promoting it on Youtube and Twitter. Here are some the best examples as to how they helped support the movement while promoting their brand at the same time:
7. Toblerone
Let’s face it, who isn’t a little sweeter after eating a Toblerone? For this campaign, the company created a lot of visual assets and distributed them all over social media to support the movement while putting their own little twist to it, so it was “on-brand.” You can see it for youself on this image taken from their Twitter account:
8. Google Maps
Google did not want to miss out on the opportunity to show their support for the Movember cause, but “how did they do it?” Well, it wasn’t through the help of their employees growing a moustache… but rather with Pegman, the orange man that marks the way forward on Street View in Google maps. See how they gave Pegman a makeover below:
9. Gillette
As a globally recognized razor company, Gillette, did a campaign that was a bit contradictory to the product the company sells. The campaign video is all about encouraging men to grow out their mustaches and promote men’s health. Talk about an clever way to put a spin on something that seems to go against commercial values and turn it into an advantage for community building.
10. Adidas
Adidas had to get in on the action and is now a Movember partner with an entire collection dedicated to the movement. They created a limited edition collection that was specifically tied to the cultural event to show their support (while delighting their communities at the same time). Timing product lauches and creating special limited editions for particular occasions is a fantastic way to enhance corporate image in a short time period.
Why has Movember reached the impact that it has today?
All of these campaigns share several characteristics with one another that has made them a major hit, but why? They contain two key ingredients that are essential for success:
Viral component.
Social networks have facilitated the explosion of these communication campaigns because of how easy it is for people to participate and the fact that they are incredibly fun. As you can see in other recent campaigns—such as the Ice Bucket Challenge—user participation is necessary to make it spread: word of mouth is more important than ever.
Social component.
Movember is an opportunity for brands to interact with their audience—share their stories and invite them to collaborate for a good cause. That’s why a campaign needs to be simple and easy to do as to not lose your audience. Brands had to find a way to make growing a moustache “cool” so people in their community would want to be social about it and involve their circles of friends as well.
And the movement is growing. More than 21 countries have brands participating in the Movember cause with about 4 million followers in total—that translates to around $559 million. Movember has exploded on such a scale making social networks the main distribution channels with the same objective: to raise awareness and engage communities.
By Launchmetrics Content Team
The Launchmetrics content team is always on the lookout for new trends in the fashion and technology sector. We are geeks with style and lovers of good stories!
