05 Nov How Brands Are Getting Involved in Movember: The Social Media Edition
November no longer simply means the kick-off of the holiday season. It also means it’s time for Movember. The Movember Foundation is a global organization committed to changing the face (literally) of men’s health. Men are challenged to grow their moustaches, and women to support, to spark conversation and raise funds for prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health problems. The campaign has grown in popularity over the past few years and has raised over $559 million.
It’s no surprise that brands are recognizing this phenomenon as an opportunity to join the Movember conversation on social. Similar to jumping on holidays, brands must decide if this is an appropriate topic to add to a social media content calendar. Since Movember is a fundraising movement, brands need to be sensitive with how they participate. Here are some examples of some brands that are doing it right, and some brands that could have done it better.
Bauer Hockey’s Movember Activation a Perfect Pairing
Hockey and facial hair are like the Wild West and Clint Eastwood, they go hand in hand. So, it makes perfect sense for a hockey equipment company to join the campaign. Bauer does a solid job of getting user generated content while keeping the focus on the important message.
Tasteless Toblerone Misses the Mark this Movember
This is an example of a brand jumping on the bandwagon with no real purpose or call to action. It also borderlines on insensitive considering there is nothing sweet about cancer.
BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina Invests in Men’s Health with Hockey Partnership
BlueCross BlueShield of NC knows that hockey fans love Movember, so they paired up with the Carolina Hurricanes to raise funds and awareness. This was a smart partnership for the health insurance company. They even kicked things off with a fun event at the arena.
Campbell’s Chunky Soup #FeedYourMo was Made for Movember
Campbell’s Chunky Soup partnered with Movember and launched a sweeps inspired by the ‘stache. They’re asking fans to create a pub-inspired soup and a dollar will be donated for every entry. They get bonus points for supporting the cause while providing a fun contest. They also created their own Movember hashtag, #feedmymo, to accompany the program, but they aren’t doing a great job of promoting it on social. I could only find one lonely post on Facebook. Although, there are an abundance of entry tweets with the hashtag, the brand itself isn’t tagged. A missed opportunity to gain new followers.
Bottom line, don’t hijack a trend about cancer/charity work when your brand isn’t doing anything for the non-profit. Movember is a wonderful opportunity to help raise funds and awareness, so that should always be in the forefront. If your brand does participate, it’s important to keep the focus around the mission. This is not a checklist item on a topics calendar or a gateway to promote your own products and services. It is better to ride the bench on this one then to offend or look greedy.
Are you growing a mo for men’s health (or supporting a mo)?
