Gillette Gives Roger Federer The World's Biggest Shave on Grass

Gillette created a marketing splash in London prior to Wimbledon by creating a giant grass portrait of a freshly shaven Roger Federer in a pasture the size of a football field. Gillette called on a firm called Street Advertising Services to create the massive shaving stunt, which required 3,000 liters of biodegradable green specialist grass paint and 1,000 liters of foam. 

After painting Federer's face in the pasture, the team of artists gave him the Pro Glide treatment by mowing/shaving it off, creating a terrific illustration for consumers worldwide to enjoy. Gillette drove additional consumer excitement by allowing fans at home to submit messages of support to Federer for the chance to have their message included in 10-foot-high letters underneath the grass portrait. The winner, Ryan B., saw his quote, "Go on my man, the world is yours to own!" depicted in the stunt. 

The Federer marketing stunt is part of Gillette's efforts to break their own record for the World's Biggest Shave in 2011. In January, the company lathered up and shaved an image of Derek Jeter on a 40-foot high billboard in New York City.

Check it out below:

Gillette later posted a video of Roger Federer thanking the brand and all his fans for their support:

Sources:

1. Gillette's UK Facebook Page

2. Adland.TV

Bell Canada's Playoff Dasherboard Grows a Following

Are you looking for new, innovative ways to drive awareness for your playoff signage? Are you looking for new, creative ideas in the hockey space?

During the 2010 playoffs, Bell Canada displayed one of the most creative marketing tactics seen in hockey to date.

The telecom provider leveraged its partnerships with Canadian NHL clubs that made the 2010 playoffs by featuring a rinkside dasherboard that displayed the terminology "La Vie est Bell" (meaning Life is Good in French) and accompanied the phrase with a man's giant smiling face that grew more and more facial hair each game and each round. The signage literally grew hair during the game!

Although there wasn't a direct tie-in, the dasherboard served as a tremendous way to drive buzz for the Bell Canada brand throughout the NHL playoffs, when fan affinity reaches its peak. The campaign tied in nicely with the famous playoff beard theme throughout the playoffs and kept many fans guessing. This would be a PERFECT tactic to leverage partners like Gillette, Nivea, Schick, etc.

As reported on ThePensBlog.com, here is a visual depiction of Bell Canada's dasherboard signage literaly growing facial hair throughout the game:

A special thanks to Jeff Snyder for his insights and contributions to this column... Best wishes Jeff!

Activation of the Day (12/21) - Molson Canadian

Are you looking for new ways to leverage a grooming/hair care partner? Are you looking to create a captivating campaign around your team's playoff run?

Molson Canadian created a humorous "Official Guide to Playoff Grooming" vignette to support its NHL activation in 2009. The company supported the campaign by asking fans to submit their own unique hockey grooming styles on the Molson Canadian Facebook page (www.facebook.com/molsoncanadian) for the chance to win a Molson Canadian beer fridge. Hundreds of fans responded to the call-to-action and the campaign turned out to be a nice success.

Check out Molson Canadian's Official Guide to Playoff Grooming clip below: