Ahead of his IBF/WBA world heavyweight fight in Cardiff against Carlos Takam, champion Anthony Joshua fronts an integrated ‘Find Your Magic’ campaign for Lynx
The initiative – which includes a hero cinema and TV commercial, a ticket giveaway, experiential and sampling strands – revolves around the theme of male confidence and individuality.
The spearhead spot, which will debut on TV ahead of his title defence against Pulev on 28 October offers viewers an insight into the boxer’s mindset as Joshua recalls the negativity he has faced at stages of his career.
The 60-second ad, created by communications agency W, juxtaposes a critical text avalanche with AJ’s walk to the ring and ends with the tagline ‘Forget about labels, find your magic’.
The spot is amplified across the brand’s digital and social channels and supported by additional content pieces and additional product-specific strands.
A particularly interesting two-week sampling strand, starting on 12 October and promoting the launch of a limited edition ‘You’ fragrance, is Lynx Drop (on mobile site www.lynxdrop.com), sees Lynx link with the Landmrk platform to activate 1000-plus hotspots across the UK to offer hundreds of samples of the new deodorant.
This phase sees Joshua share links on his own personal social channels which, when consumers click on these they open up access to a branded Lynx map which they can use to navigate to the pick-up point locations – many of which are based in venues and at places that are linked to the boxer’s rise to the top of the fight game.
Five of those consumer searchers who locate the special samples will find ‘golden cans’ from Lynx on-site representatives: each of which come with a pair of tickets to the fighter’s 12-round clash in Cardiff.
This ‘Find Your Magic’ phase was developed in harness with consumer experience outfit TMW Unlimited and social sampling start-up SoPost.
Dilraj Athwal, Lynx brand manager at Unilever UK, said: “Anthony Joshua has long been a fan of Lynx so we thought it would be a brilliant idea to give his fans the opportunity to see him in action with this innovative campaign.”
Comment:
This treasure hunt style of geo-locked, content-led mobile gaming is a fascinating blend of the digital and physical worlds and the Landmrk platform has been used in activations across the entertainment and advertising space: from the global launch of Shakira’s ‘El Dorado’ album in the summer, to promoting the latest series of TV hit “Homeland”.
It can offer marketers impressive digital scale to real-world, physical experiential marketing through content and links that are sometimes described as ‘kinetic currency’ – where movements are traded for rewards.
The Unilever owned deodorant brand also ran major campaigns featuring Joshua ahead of and around his last big fight with Wladimir Klitschko in April 2017 (see case study).
For example, in May he was a core part of Lynx’s CSR ‘Is It Ok For Guys?’ campaign which aimed to help liberate men from pressures and labels and help them be themselves.
https://www.lynxformen.com/uk/is-it-ok-for-guys.html
This saw Lynx challenge perceptions with Google Search-driven #isitokforguys campaign starring Joshua who answered some of the most-searched questions men have asked about them on Google.
This was driven by some Lynx research with Promundo (an organisation that works with men and boys to promote gender equality and prevent violence) into social conventions dictating how men feel they should behave.
One finding of the research project was that 51% of guys think they should “act tough” when feeling afraid or vulnerable.
The campaign combating such ideas was led by a spearhead spot,
and included a set of Joshua videos in which he answered some of the most-searched questions on Google from men in search of answers:
As well as Joshua, featured other male role models including grime artist Wiley, actor Will Poulter and a selection of YouTubers.
Rik Strubel, Lynx Global Vice President, at Unilever said: “We want guys to see there’s no holds barred on what men can or cannot be. We need to help more men by tackling toxic masculinity, head on. Our aim is to create an inclusive society where everyone – men and women – can be who they want to be. Data showed us what real guys around the world are asking Google about their own insecurities, so we put forward real guys with real answers. We want to tell guys that there’s no rules around how they should look, act or feel – they should be open and proud to be themselves.”
This May CSR led Lynx initiative itself followed on from an earlier Joshua led athlete ambassador ‘48’ activation from Lynx.
Links:
Lynx
https://www.facebook.com/lynxformen
https://www.youtube.com/user/thelynxeffect
https://www.instagram.com/lynx/
Anthony Joshua
https://www.ajboxing.com/profile/partners/
https://twitter.com/anthonyfjoshua
https://www.instagram.com/anthony_joshua/
https://www.facebook.com/anthonyjoshuaboxer/
TMW Unlimited
W
Landmrk
