*This Blog Post was written during my Masters Degree*

For this week’s blog I have decided to talk about purpose-driven content. Purpose-driven content is the term for when marketers create an authentic campaign based on a valuable shared interest that stands up for an important cause. 

There have been many recent great examples, including Barbie’s ‘You Can Be Anything’ campaign. https://youtu.be/l1vnsqbnAkk

But I decided to talk about the more male driven campaigns which are fighting to break down male stereotypes of how men are ‘expected’ to act in order to be ‘men’. The first campaign I will mention is Lynx ‘Presents Shower and Shave ASMR Tutorials’. This campaign was released at the beginning of this year. The second campaign that I will talk about is Doves Men+Care ‘Care for every position you play’ campaign which was released in partnership with the Rugby World Cup. 

Let’s start with the Lynx ‘Shower and Shave’. If you have not seen these adverts, and need a good laugh, have a watch. The adverts wanted men to express their individuality through their hair, with three ‘shavetorials’ on how to shave their: ‘Legs’, ‘Chest’, and ‘Balls’. 

“I think this campaign from Chris Baur and Rachel Sato-Banks shows that guys today don’t have to be buff, or swim, or bike or have an excuse to shave themselves. They can just be regular dudes who like the comfort of being cleanly shaven on all different kinds of body parts.” The Creative Quote from the Director at 72 and Sunny Amsterdam.

So why does this style of advertising work? According to research by Cone Communications and Edelman, 79% of Americans are more loyal to purpose-driven brands, and 77% feel that they have a stronger emotional connection to the purpose-driven brand, compared to non-purpose driven brands. What I especially enjoyed about this campaign is that it has come from a brand whose main marketing theme was previously sex-oriented, but who are now using their brand to help reverse what they once were a symbol for. To keep with their purpose-driven context Lynx has now made it their mission to ‘Ditch the Label’. The shavetorials remain in line with Lynx mission to ‘Ditch the Label’ as it is breaking down those stereotypes of male body hair. 

The campaigns also used humour as a way of engaging the consumer. A meta-analysis looking at humour in adverts showed that humour enhances attitudes towards both the advert and the brand. Lynx has created a funny, entertaining campaign that has tried to break the male body hair stereotypes of how men should look, and by doing so they are trying to encourage men to express their individuality. 

The next campaign that I am going to talk about featured during the Rugby World Cup. I think i’ve spent just enough time mourning that I can now refer back to the World Cup and not be deeply gutted about that final match. Inbetween shouting at the tv, I remember going ‘Oo this is a great ad’ when Dove’s Men+Care ‘Care for every position you play’ advert was shown.

The advert featured British players including Courtney Lawes, Stuart Hogg, Peter O’Mahony and Alun Wyn Jones, who all give their take on balancing their rugby life and their home life. 

These adverts keep in line with Dove’s Men+Care purpose-driven content which aim at raising awareness for championing better paternity leave worldwide. These social media adverts have also built a connection with the consumer. This is because the brands have created social relatedness, through the joining of the paternal community.  A study explored engaging consumers and building relationships in social media, they reported that consumers who were extrinsically motivated were more enhanced by perception of high social relatedness. 

The Dove Men+Care the adverts were shown during the Rugby World Cup. Having a large male audience allows the campaign to vocalise the importance of Father’s being involved in looking after their children. That fathers don’t have​ to fit the stereotype of typical gender roles. This campaign is in line with their purpose-driven content by raising awareness for championing better paternity leave worldwide. 

Purpose-driven content can be a perfect way for a brand to vocalise their alliance with an important topic among their consumers, while also benefiting their brand perception among their consumers. Hopefully this will become a trend and we will see more adverts that are taking current trending topic and aligning with them to engage in more change in our world.