Global Gillette ‘Perfect Isn’t Pretty’ Links Sia & Training For Rio 2016

Gillette rolls out a global ‘Perfect Isn’t Pretty’ film showcasing its elite athlete ambassador talent in training mode a month before the Olympic Games start in Rio

The aim of the campaign from the world’s biggest male grooming brand is to salute the arduous journey and tough training regimes going on away from the cameras in the lead up to the Olympics

The three-minute film focuses on struggle and sacrifices in the pursuit of excellence and features a diverse range of sports stars from the Visa endorser programme: including Brazilian football icon Neymar Jr, US gold medal winning decathlete Ashton Eaton, Chinese swimming star Ning Zetao and GB cyclist Andy Tennant.

According to Gillette Global Brand Director Francesco Tortora, the ‘Perfect Isn’t Pretty’ campaign aims to capture the gritty truth of an athlete’s journey to the Olympic Games.

‘Our film and soundtrack shows how Olympic athletes directly inspire us as a global brand to keep chasing perfection, no matter how tough the road can be – because it takes the athletes’ best to reach the Olympic Games and our best to create the world’s most precise razor,’ Tortora adds.

The individual athletes are also being leveraged by Gillette’s campaign in specific social and digital pieces relating to Rio relevant events.

The best a man can get isn’t always pretty. Watch @AshtonJEaton and his journey to #Rio2016 #PerfectIsntPretty https://t.co/UYKgKij6jo

— Gillette (@Gillette) July 13, 2016

‘I think it’s difficult for people to understand the complete and utter commitment athletes have to make to perfect their sport, to become as precise as possible in execution,’ commented said Neymar Jr on the campaign message.

‘We fully commit ourselves to refining our skills during training in order to reach our ultimate goal of competing at the Olympic Games. And it’s incredible that Gillette wanted to highlight that side of the journey – not just the glitz and glam, but what it really takes to get to the grandest stage in the world of sport. I’m honoured to be a part of something that shows what really happens behind the scenes in the lead up to the Olympic Games.’

The video soundtrack features a never before heard, ad-specific mix of Sia’s ‘Unstoppable’ and the campaign also sees Gillette partner with three other global artists for the ‘Unstoppable’ track: Grammy award winning producer and musician Ariel Rechtshaid, founder member of rap duo Clipse Pusha T and Brazilian marching band percussionist Olodum.

‘When I was working on “Unstoppable” I wanted to write a sports anthem; the kind of song played before a big game to get the players pumped,’ recalls Sia.

‘As I learned more about Gillette’s “Pretty Isn’t Perfect” campaign supporting the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, this collaboration felt right and this film was a perfect place to unveil this new mix.’

Sia also pushed the campaign across her own social channels.

Check out Sia's "Unstoppable" remix in collaboration w/ @Gillette for the #Rio2016 Olympic Games film! https://t.co/L2KzrRmsV0 – Team Sia

— sia (@Sia) July 13, 2016

Her campaign track itself is also streaming across Spotify, Apple Music, and SoundCloud in over 140 countries across the globe.

Comment

Already one of the stand out trends of Rio 2016 activation is the blending of music and sport in Olympic marketing, the Gillette combination – with 3.5m YouTube views in its first five days – shows the power of this dual pronged entertainment approach.

This flagship film follows on from the debut phase of the brand’s ‘Perfect Isn’t Pretty’ activation in Spring 2016 which focused on promoting its Fusion Proshield product in particular rather than the brand in general (see case study).

Gillette, a 110-yearold brand, is one of a portfolio of brands with IOC rights under parent company P&G’s global Olympic Games TOP sponsorship.

Parent company P&G launched the first ‘Strong’ phase of its own umbrella ‘Thank You Mum’ Rio Olympic activation back in April.

The ‘strong’ idea first emerged after P&G research that found motherhood requires a ‘new kind of strength’ – with 97% of all mums admitting they did not anticipate the demands of motherhood and agreeing they needed to develop greater emotional strength once they became a mum.

This was part of a 2015/6 research project that saw P&G talk with 14,000 mums around the world to help shape the campaign (see case study).

Links:

Gillette Web:

http://www.gillette.com/

Gillette YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/user/gillette

Gillette Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Gillette

@Gillette

Gillette Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/gillette

Sia Unstoppable Remix Soundcloud:

http://smarturl.it/SiaUnstoppablePIPs…