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| Computer Screens Get Clean Shave In New Web Ads for Gillette Razor |
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The Wall Street Journal Online
May 9, 2002
By STEPHANIE MILES
Maxim Online is being vandalized by virtual shaving cream from Gillette Co.
Gillette is using the spots to promote its new Mach 3 Turbo wet razor, the updated version of the older Mach 3 razor. In the past, Gillette had relied predominantly on traditional banner ads to promote its brands online, but with the launch of the Mach 3 Turbo, it added the flashier animated ads as a way to grab the many surfers who no longer notice banners or other traditional ads.
Bolder ads like the Gillette Mach 3 spot “were born out of the necessity for a higher-impact unit,” says Pam Sturchio, online marketing director at Maxim Online, the online component to popular men’s magazine Maxim, owned by the United Kingdom’s Dennis Publishing.
The site, which features original articles as well as content from the print magazine, hasn’t seen any traffic dips since it introduced the ad format last year, she says. Maxim Online draws about 1.3 million unique users a month, according to the site.
And so far, Maxim Online has received few complaints about the shaving cream vignette from readers. The ad shuts itself down after eight seconds and is shown to viewers once or twice a day. In a departure from typical ads, the spot isn’t clickable. “It should be entertaining. Driving users away isn’t what we want,” adds David Wade, advertising director for Maxim Online.
Gillette is still waiting for the results of the ads to come in, but a spokeswoman says it’s happy with the campaign so far—especially the fact that the large, animated ads are also tied into sponsorship of site content, and so are even harder to ignore. “We’ve moved from banner advertising to more of a sponsorship relationship with these sites,” she says. “We still do banners, but now it’s more integrated.”
The Ads: As the page loads, a can of Gillette shaving cream appears, spraying shaving cream all over the site so that the page is completely covered with foam. The ad message appears: “Total comfort whether you shave down or up—or even against the grain.” A Gillette Mach 3 Turbo razor shaves away the words and the shaving cream, and the site returns to its normal home page.
Cost: Gillette declined to comment on the price of the ads. Media research firm CMR estimates Gillette spent $1.37 million on all online advertising in 2001. Maxim Online said that the “take-over” spots are the most expensive ads the site offers.
Why It Works (According to Gillette): The ads do a good job of grabbing the attention of young men, according to a spokeswoman for Gillette. “The medium provides us the technical flexibility through movement, and the intrusiveness,” she says. “We believe it’s effective at getting attention.”
What Other People Think: The ad is attention-getting, to be sure, but Gillette and Maxim Online may have gone too far, says Marissa Gluck, an Internet advertising analyst with Jupiter Media Metrix. She warns that Gillette may end up irritating users by not allowing viewers to shut the ad before it finishes. “Advertisers and publishers are desperate for consumers to pay attention and respond—without any great regard for the consumer experience,” she says.
Gillette may have more luck with viewers if it let them control the ad—or even included more interactive features. “It would be a lot cooler if the consumer was the one shaving away the shaving cream,” Ms. Gluck says.
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CONTACT:
Drew Kerr
Four Corners PR
212-849-8250
drew@four-corners.com
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