Since I am dreading studying for my Russian Test that I have tomorrow, and since this blog is technically homework, I figured I would post about another Campaign that I felt was very effective in a non-traditional way.

And yes, I may be a sucker for cute men doing cute things, but at least I am being honest!

The Real Man Campaign launched June 2010 in London, right before the FIFA world cup event took place in South Africa. Statistically, domestic violence rises during major sporting events. The Campaign, which features many famous Soccer and Rugby players in tee-shirts claiming “I’m a Real Man”, is aimed at reducing that sad statistic. Cosmo magazine ran the photos (see below), and the movement has been growing bigger ever since.

I guess I have never really thought about domestic abuse, since I am lucky enough to have grown up in an extremely stable and open family. I have never experienced physical abuse from anyone, so when I read the statement on the front of the Real Man webpage that states “Globally, at least one in three women and girls is beaten or sexually abused in her lifetime” (a statement taken from the UN Commission on the Status of Women 2000), it was unnerving.

I believe that, though this campaign is not widely known in North America, it is gathering momentum. With the Shirts, Pledges and Pins available for purchase, and many a famous athlete backing this campaign, I have hope that domestic violence can be brought to society’s attention and completely erased from our culture.

Since this is a marketing blog, I thought that it would be fitting for my first post to be about my favourite marketing campaign. the Old Spice Campaign featuring Isaiah Mustafa

It’s true, growing up it was only ever my Grandpa and my Deda (Russian for grandpa) that used Old Spice , and the smell of the original Old Spice still reminds me of them. However, since this Campaign premiered in 2010, Old Spice has been able to reinvent their image and appeal to the younger generation. In fact, when I just walked into the bathroom that I share with my 14 year old brother, there was an Old Spice Ocean Spray deodorant sitting on the counter.

The secret to their success was a Social Media campaign storm, that directly interacted with the younger generation in real time. Apart from having hilarious commercials and clips (which strategically only ran for a few short days on very specific channels to keep interest high), the ‘Old  Spice Guy’ directly communicated with his audience via Twitter. Even better was Isaiah’s Youtube feed, which responded to users interpretations and questions immediately with more home-made clips (there are over 175 Youtube clips on the Old Spice Channel).  It’s been over a year since the campaign took the Internet by storm, and yet Old Spice is not losing steam. Though Isaiah has since stepped down as the Old Spice Guy, after a very public “dispute” against the stereotypical heart-throb Fabio, a new video was released two weeks ago that claims you can “Smell better than yourself” with a hot girl telling the Old Spice captain to “Not tell her nose” that he isn’t a captain with limitless treasures. Simply Genius.

All I know is that I would kill to have Isaiah Mustafa bake me a cake in the kitchen of my dreams that he built me. Thank you Old Spice for heightening my expectations of the perfect man!

I got some of my information from here

For those who doesn’t know me, my name is Katie Dergousoff and I am a second year Commerce Student at the Sauder School of Business. To those of you who do know me….. hey!!

Apart from Comm296 being a mandatory course for all Sauderites, I’m taking intro to marketing because I find the fields of marketing and advertising to be a fascinating and fast-moving environment. I remember being young, sitting with my Gramma and laughing over the old-fashioned ads in her old magazines and newspapers, comparing them to the commercials on TV….

While I am a firm believer that marketing applies to everything that we interact with and every one we interact with, I will be focusing this blog particularly on marketing within the fashion and makeup industries. Since I currently spend most of my marketing skills on promoting my own self, I believe that this is a good place to start, and a great way to share what I have learned in my intro Marketing course! I also apologize in advance for when I wander off the marketing theme, I guess this is my first whole-hearted adventure into blogging!