As I looked up at the entrance to Dundrum Shopping Centre on a cold Saturday Morning in November I notice something strange. A giant black design on the front of the glass pains. Maybe it’s too early or maybe it’s too cold, or maybe, just maybe, there actually is a giant moustache on the front of Dundrum?
Being November I feel it is fitting to write about one of the most active campaigns that is happening across both the online and offline world. That campaign is Movember.
Things you might know about Movember:
· It’s a month long campaign that encourages men to grow moustaches to promote awareness of Prostate Cancer.
· It happens every November (Hence the Movember…yes, you probably knew that one already.)
· Friends and Family are encouraged to donate to the mo’bros (that’s what participants are called) and all proceeds go towards helping to fight Prostate Cancer.
· Fun events are held at the end of each November to celebrate the end of the campaign, congratulate the participants and help remove moustaches in humorous ways for the purpose of further fundraising activities.
Things you might not know about Movember:
· It started in Melbourne, Australia in 2004.
· News and photos of their moustache-growing movement spread throughout the web, rapidly transforming the campaign into an annual effort involving over 1.1 million (source: Google Chrome )
· Prostate Cancer is the number 1 cancer suffered by Irish Men.
· People can also get involved by ‘adopting a mo’ for €1 a day.
So why moustaches you might ask? Well the purpose of Movember and its hair raising antics is to raise awareness to get regular health checks and prevent prostate cancer related deaths, and after all ‘What is manlier than a moustache?’ What is important to note is that this is no ordinary health charity appeal, instead it is one which utilizes all that digital media has to offer brilliantly and showcases how an entire global community can get involved in a good cause. The proof is there that this works and to date Movember has raised €21,296,255 for its cause. That can buy you a lot of moustache combs! From an Irish perspective Movember’s success is as tangible with 12,506 registrations to pledge to grow a moustache having raised €216,865 so far and its support base on its Irish Facebook boasting 10,252 likes. The below video demonstrates how involved the global community has been in the success of the campaign to date.
Movember has further heightened its engagement with people by creating links with many commercial organisations such as Golden Disks, Marshall Amps, Swatch and Heineken. From a marketers perspective this is very clever collaborating on the commercial organisations behalf as it showcases their social responsibility whilst also appealing primarily to their
target market, most of whom are adult males. Personally, I am a big fan of the Movember Goods offered by the Irish Online Clothing Store HairyBaby.ie. Novelty tshirts and mugs are on sale with Hairy Baby promising to donate €10 from the sale of every Movember themed t-shirt and €2.50 from every Movember Mug. These mugs allow even the moustache growing unabled to produly sport a tashe for the month at every given opportunity. Great!
target market, most of whom are adult males. Personally, I am a big fan of the Movember Goods offered by the Irish Online Clothing Store HairyBaby.ie. Novelty tshirts and mugs are on sale with Hairy Baby promising to donate €10 from the sale of every Movember themed t-shirt and €2.50 from every Movember Mug. These mugs allow even the moustache growing unabled to produly sport a tashe for the month at every given opportunity. Great!Posted by: Paula
