In the extremely competitive Health & Beauty sector (a sector that is constantly innovating) a clear brand identity and the ability to stand out from the crowd are crucial components to success - particularly if you are planning to launch a new product at the busiest time of the year!

The Challenge

Last year, Elizabeth Arden were faced with the challenge of launching a new celebrity fragrance, into a fragrance market already crowded with celebrity brands [1]. Needing to create excitement and generate awareness around the launch of Usher's new fragrance, Elizabeth Arden wanted to get samples into the hands of potential customers (young urban males and their young female counterparts who might potentially buy 'Usher' as a gift for the men in their lives).

The Media Choice

Radio is great at generating buzz around product launches and pushing listeners to websites [2] but in the past some Cosmetic and Beauty advertisers have felt that it lacks the visual elements on which their industry so relies. However, Elizabeth Arden recognised that station websites amply fulfil the visual role and would also add a high level of measurability to their campaign.

The Strategy

Because fragrances are such a 'sexy' product (generally sold on their ability to make people more attractive to the opposite sex), ZM's Breakfast host Polly came up with the word 'Hotterist' and the station proposed that they run a 'ZMs Hotterist Guy' competition for the new 'Usher' brand.

Housed on the ZM website, the competition was boosted with constant on-air mentions pushing listeners to enter online as well as visual promotions through the popular 'ZM Downlow' E-Letter [3]

Alongside the online activity, the ZM and Mai FM street teams did what Radio promo teams are so good at - getting out on the streets to put Usher samples directly into the hands of the public. And the presenters added their voices to the sampling by giving out Usher spot-prizes on-air.

The Results

The sampling and on-air spot prizes placed Usher samples into the hands of hundreds of listeners and ZM received 663 entries to the 'NZ's Hotterist Guy' competition. 

The competition itself generated an average 371,000 impressions a month over the 4 months (Nov-Feb) the competition ran. This pushed the ZM website to over 1million impressions for the first time ever - in fact Usher was the largest digital promotion ZM has had to date. 

These figures were made even more impressive by the fact that the campaign ran over the Christmas holidays when online figures usually decline.

So, it was a highly successful piece of branded content for ZM - and as for Elizabeth Arden, well they were delighted too because Usher debuted as the #1 Men's fragrance for December.

To find out how Radio Brands can help you reach out to your Health & Beauty consumers, talk to your

TRB Account Director

[1] Celebrity Fragrances now account for as much as 40% of the fragrance market:  Euromonitor.com 'Celebrity Craze Hits Men's Fragrances Market.'

[2] Over a third of radio listeners have searched for a website after hearing it on the radio according to 'Radio and the Internet: V Foundation Research Study Jan 09'.

[3] Sent out weekly to 65,041 opt-in ZM fans.