MEDIA RELEASE
25 August 2008

A recent research report shows women have a significant influence on their men when it comes to getting them hooked on the all new trend of looking after their skin.

Exfoliation, cleansing and moisturising are no longer something to be scoffed at, with the report showing that mens’ foray into the previously female terrain of beauty products is now here to stay.

The report was prepared for NIVEA FOR MEN (NFM) by The Word Of Mouth Company, who ran a six month campaign for NIVEA with excellent results.

Beiersdorf Australia Product Manager Vanessa Davis, who manages the NIVEA FOR MEN brand, was especially happy with the analysis results, which revealed that after the trial, 55% of households went on to purchase at least one product, and 10% went on to purchase 3 or more from the NIVEA FOR MEN range.

“The research results showed that the campaign had a positive impact on reducing the stigma around men using skin care products and thus, increased the probability of households purchasing products from the NIVEA FOR MEN range. 

“It also showed women were happy to suggest to their men that they should try NIVEA FOR MEN, as they were sick of them dipping into their own expensive products,” she said.

“The beauty of this research is that it showed that our campaign, through word of mouth, was able to partly overcome the main barrier to using skin care products.

“Those normally discouraged by feeling that skin care “is just not a guy thing” evidently felt more comfortable following the campaign “that regular blokes do it,” Vanessa said.

Tracking of ROI (Return on Investment), measuring purchase and recommendation rates, along with consumer perceptions and barriers to usage were key research elements of the campaign. Women were mostly contacted in face to face presentations on behalf of NIVEA between February and August.  The women were partners of NIVEA FOR MEN’s target audience.

Word Of Mouth Company Director Jo Schultz said the Company’s unique tools to monitor and measure word of mouth campaigns were able to analyse barriers to usage both prior to, and after, the campaign.

“The Word Of Mouth Company’s conversation starters were invited into women’s community groups to get conversations started around the benefits of a daily face care regime for their partners – especially in the Australian climate,” Jo said.

“Four weeks after attending a Word Of Mouth Company presentation a tailored research survey was sent out to the partners of the women engaged, to track their purchase and recommendation rates along with their likes and dislikes of the product.

“Results from the word of mouth “diffusion” showed that 58 per cent of male survey participants had gone on to recommend NFM products to their friends and family within 38 days of attending a presentation, with more than 30 per cent recommending to at least two or more people in that time.”Jo said.

A database of NFM advocates has been built as a result of the research, allowing NFM to keep them engaged and up to date on brand news.

“The Word Of Mouth Company’s depth of research has allowed us to see our ROI on this campaign, and analyse results in great detail,” said Vanessa.

The Word Of Mouth NFM Campaign has been entered into the annual American WOMMIES Awards, the premier global Word of Mouth campaign showcase, to be announced in November.

-Ends-

About Word Of Mouth Company

·       Assists marketing teams in generating natural, positive conversations about their brands by amplifying positive word of mouth activity for consumer brands.

·         Specialises in online and offline word of mouth marketing for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and pharmaceutical brands, including detailed campaign analysis

·         Introduces brands to household shoppers at the grass roots level through a variety of product presentation series.

·         The Word Of Mouth Company’s team of professional ‘Conversation Starters’ are invited into established community groups as guest speakers, where they provide an interactive presentation on the brands The Word Of Mouth Company are representing.

·         The Word Of Mouth Company also extends their relationships with presentation participants via Word Of Mouth Company’s on-line word of mouth community; the Word Of Mouth Club.  

·         The Word Of Mouth Company reaches more than 14,000 people a month, through presentations held in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, and has the ability to reach around 84,000 individuals during a six month campaign.

For further information:
Jo Schultz

The Word Of Mouth Company
w      0266770101
m      0404 730824
e       jo@wordofmouthco.com.au 
web  http://www.wordofmouthco.com.au