Unilever Marketing Dir of Personal Wash U.S. Rob Candelino kicked off the second day of the IMG Sports Marketing Symposium with a discussion that largely dealt with Dove Men’s “Journey to Comfort” marketing campaign. Candelino explained what the company found in its research that led to the launch of the campaign. “There was one consistent thing, there was a spine that ran through all of our learnings everywhere from everyone we talked to, and it was this: that guys eventually reach a point in their life where they’re figuratively comfortable in their own skin. … It wasn’t just that moment that we wanted to feature. That wasn’t that important to our guys. What they wanted to hear was the journey.” The TV and digital ads first featured Yankees manager Joe Girardi, Cardinals 1B Albert Pujols and former MLBer Andy Pettitte. Dove then launched the campaign during the NCAA tournament and featured Basketball HOFer Magic Johnson, Georgetown men’s basketball coach John Thompson III and former Duke G Bobby Hurley. Candelino talked about the importance of advertising to NCAA viewers. “Forty-two percent of the audience of the NCAA Tournament March Madness is exactly in our wheelhouse. It’s our guy. And this 42%, that’s a lean-forward audience. They’re very much engaged. It’s not passive viewing like many sports are. This is one month of intense focus and they devour data.”
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