Alex Pooley's Blog

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Unilever got back to me within a couple of days which is a good effort considering their web page says to give them three weeks. As it happens, I recently purchased a book that dedicates a few pages to the advertising of Lynx. Apparently when Unilever advertised Lynx they promoted the feature that it makes you smell good. The ads ran pretty well. They ended up getting BHH to come up with a fresh campaign. BBH saw the product from the eyes of the target market and started selling on the benefit that Lynx will make women find you attractive.

I’m curious to know their position on targeting mothers. While the current strategy seems obvious, it’s also pretty clear that male teens are not the ones buying the product. There’s no email address for BHH on their web site but I managed to track down an email that I’ll give a shot.

Here’s the uneventful reply for Unilever.

Dear Mr Pooley

Bradley Cursley
Lynx Advisor

Advertising can often come across as very blunt to the point where it’s almost comical. This Christmas I received my usual deodorant and shaving cream from mum and cracked up at this on the back of my Lynx deodorant can…

It seems that if you use Lynx shower gel and then pose while spraying on deodorant - you turn in to a girl. And where did you get that bikini from? No really, who takes these ads seriously? I’ve seen a lot of blunt ads from Lynx. They are dominating their male teen “personal care” sector, but are their ads translating in to sales they would not have otherwise obtained? It’s obviously hard to measure, but I did a little digging anyway.

These quotes are from the Unilever Lynx page.

“nearly half of all Lynx purchases are made by women!” C’mon Unilever, when was the last time you saw a male teen at the grocery store who was not working behind the checkout?

“Lynx’s popularity is also due to its cutting edge, award-winning advertisements which so far have nabbed 10 Cannes Lions.” But have those ads translated in to sales?

“[Originally, Lynx] was available in a choice of three fragrances: “Amber”, “Musk” and “Spice” and was packaged in distinctive black with silver lettering, giving it strong associations with maleness and sexual potency” *rolls eyes*

Anyway, I’ve sent off an email to Unilever to try to understand their strategy a bit better:

I’m a post adolescent male who’s mum still buys him Lynx “personal care” products. I find it really interesting that the message in Lynx ads are delivered so bluntly that it’s almost comical. Clearly the ads are well produced, but I, and my blog readers, are curious to know if the ad campaigns are taken seriously by teen males.

Alex and Alex’s Blog readers.

I’ll post their reply when/if I get one.

Now that the msgpad chat platform is stable and scalable I’ve had a chance to look at how I’m going to apply the system to future sites. I have lots of ideas, but unfortunately I’m time poor so I need to prioritize.

I threw an “idea reduction” system together a few days ago in an attempt to separate the good ideas from the bad ideas. I came up with a very basic three factor formula which I think will be handy for online entrepreneurs who need to prioritize ideas.

Total = developed + viral + profit

I rank each factor from one to three, then sum the factor score to derive a total score. Highest score wins, equal scores rank in priority of “developed”, “viral”, and “profit” with lowest importance.

I chose to give least weight to profit because I figure I don’t know all the profitable scenarios, and I figure if the thing gets developed and people use it (developed, and viral), then opportunities will open up that aren’t visible right now.

I defined the rating for each factor to make things a bit more black and white.

Developed

1. I need to develop heaps to get this done.
2. I only need to develop a bit because I can re-use a lot of stuff.
3. Everything is developed, I just need to re-badge.

Viral

1. One:one usage ratio.
2. One:many, many:many but only to specific niches.
3. One:many, many:many with mass appeal.

Profit

1. Pushing up hill.
2. Some solid revenue sources.
3. People would throw at the slightest whiff.

I stuck all my ideas in a table and then filled it in, sorted by total, and then sorted by factor priority. The prioritized list definitely looked much more orderly than my original list.

Obviously this is a very broad stroke technique, but it seems to works well enough for me. Maybe it will help you or someone you know. I’m sure there would be ways to jazz it up a bit, I’d be interested in any input you may have.