We recently spotted what we think is perhaps the best example of how to properly use the Internet and the Microsite concept to market a product. The basic idea here is that the Internet clearly allows for a more edgy approach to product marketing and Norelco recently developed a body grooming product that fit in perfectly with this style and the Microsite concept. The company set up a special Microsite at www.shaveeverywhere.com that spoke, in a smug yet humorous tone to the product’s 25-to-44-year-old male demographic.
At the site, a clean-cut looking, bathrobe-wearing young man speaks about shaving backs, chests, legs and more sensitive areas, which are bleeped out in his talk, but illustrated by images of fruits, nuts and vegetables. He bluntly explains the advantages of the product and even has a music video in which he sings the praises of body grooming. All this with a budget of less the $1 million. An ad agency called Tribal DDB out of New York developed the site and campaign.
What works so well here is the fact word-of-mouth (WOM) sites like this one generate tremendous buzz. Despite this limited budget, the site still continues to generate hits and, perhaps more important, conversation. Since its launch earlier this year, the site generated traffic pass-along of 31 percent. The first week saw 313,000 unique visitors, and twice that the following week. Year to date, the site has recorded 1.73 million unique visitors, each spending approximately 7 minutes. Microsites are all about WOM and in today’s media saturated world, the value of WOM marketing should never be underestimated.
