Task One

Extract information from written sources

News paper article

  

Media & Advertising

Adding a Masculine Edge to Body Wash

By ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN

Published: September 7, 2009

THE humble bar of soap has been under attack in recent years, as liquid soaps and hand sanitizers like Purell grow more popular. Women have been more apt to snub it, with 29 percent reporting that they never buy bar soap, compared with 24 percent of men, according to a 2008 study by Mintel, a market research firm.

Print ads for Nivea for Men Active 3 stress the product’s various uses, as a shampoo, body wash and a shave gel.

But men increasingly are being wooed from bar soap, too. Among the newest offerings is Nivea for Men Active 3, which is being advertised in a print campaign — by Draft FCB, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies — in magazines like GQ, Esquire and Men’s Health. Like some other brands, it can be used as both a shampoo and body wash, but also functions as a shave gel for both above and below the neck.
Nicolas Maurer, a brand manager with Nivea’s parent company, Beiersdorf, which is based in Germany, speaking from the company’s American headquarters in Wilton, Conn., said that Nivea had developed the formula because many men shave in the shower. While women prefer specific shampoos and soaps to match hair and skin types, men like the convenience of multifunction formulas, Mr. Maurer said.
The liquid body soap market grew to $733 million in 2008 from $480 million in 2003, an increase of 53 percent, according to Mintel, which projects revenue will top $1 billion in 2013. Men’s formulas are growing more rapidly than women’s and unisex products, from a 17 percent share of overall category revenue in 2005 to 28 percent today, according to Nielsen data.
•
Axe, which introduced a shower gel in 2005 — with a risqué campaign, “How dirty boys get clean” — is the most popular men’s brand, with a 7 percent share of the total body wash market, according to Information Resources, a market research firm.
Todd Tillemans, general manager of the skin care division for Unilever, which owns the brand, says Axe shower gels — like its body sprays and deodorants — are marketed as “an ally for guys to give them an edge in the mating game.”
One challenge of persuading men to use body wash is their reluctance to use nylon webbing sponges called “poufs,” which raise a lather but whose dainty name and appearance hardly telegraph virility.
Axe polled customers and learned that only one-third were pouf users, with the rest split between washcloths or nothing, so in 2008 it introduced the Axe Detailer — basically a black pouf encased in a tire-shaped rubber grip, with, on the side opposite the pouf, a rougher option for exfoliating feet and elbows. Mr. Tillemans says Detailer users go through twice as much product as when barehanded because they cease being what he called “dual users” who still use bar soap for malodorous areas like armpits.
“The Detailer helps to build the clean credentials, and we have strong data that it helps drive the conversion from bar soap to body wash,” Mr. Tillemans said.
Rose Cameron, chief strategy officer at Euro RSCG in Chicago and an expert on marketing to men, says that while toiletries marketed to women usually are “about pampering, with men it’s about performance. How you need to talk to men about hygiene is how you would talk to them about taking their car to the garage, about how they’ve got to keep this vehicle in its best shape for its best performance.”
Ms. Cameron attributes Axe’s success to its being youth-oriented, because while older men might consider shower gels to be feminine, teenagers are more impressionable — and self-conscious.
For men using body wash “to go mainstream like this it really has to be taught when boys are pubescent,” she said. “One thing you can be sure of with pubescent boys, because of their hormones, is that they stink.”
•
Old Spice, which introduced body wash in 2003 and is a close second to Axe among men’s brands, with 6 percent of the total market, also emphasizes manliness: it is the official body wash of the N.F.L. and Nascar. This year it introduced its own shower tool, the Deck Scrubber.
“An experienced seaman knows the gentler sex is unlikely to board a vessel whose deck has not been scrubbed as clean as the shiny inside part of an oyster shell,” states the package for the Deck Scrubber, which like Axe’s Detailer is a pouf ensconced in a rubber grip.
In this case, the handle is shaped like a bar of soap, which was done deliberately, said Nick Patterson, brand manager for Old Spice body wash.
“It’s almost in the shape of a bar of soap, so it’s something guys were used to holding and fits well in a guy’s hand,” Mr. Patterson said. “Male consumers are very loyal and like their regimens, and moving guys into the body wash category and away from bar soap is done by continuing to make them aware that there are products out there for them.”
Nivea for Men Active 3 ads, meanwhile, stress the functionality of their shower gel rather than sex appeal.
“The target we have is slightly older than Axe or Old Spice,” said Mr. Maurer, of Beiersdorf. “We’re talking to a more confident guy that knows who he is and what he stands for, and who is past the trying-to-get-the-girl stage.”

The article above talks about men's body wash and how it has evolved over time, from a bar of soap to a gel substance that is fragranced and has more than one function. More and more brands are developing a section just for men, including men's grooming facilities. The article states that 'men like the convenience of multifunction formulas', this is something we have provided in our product. We know that men want convenience and taking that into account we produced an all-in-one body wash and shampoo that's includes the fragrance of Hugo Boss Bottled. This article provides information that there is a market for more male body washes. Many brands are focusing on the fact that men want to appear masculine and want to use products that are targeted towards them.

Magazine

Above is a magazine advert for the brand Gillette. The advert focuses on a body wash. The advert uses visual aids and text to inform its audience about the product. The advert includes a masculine colour scheme that's makes the advert eye-catching and professional. It also signifies that the product is for men and men only. The brand name is repeated on the page a number of times to make the audience familiar of the brand. The important information is either in bold or in a different colour, this is so that the audience can get a gist as to what the product is about. There a images/diagrams to prove that the product does fulfil its purpose.

Books

This is an extract from the AS/A2 Media Studies revision book. I wanted to look at what techniques i needed to use when producing my advert. We used some of these techniques when creating our product and advert. We used 'flattering words', such as 'popular', 'all-in-one' and 'formula', this is so that our audience will know how good and how much of an impact our product will make. We used 'statistical proof' in order to show our audience that it will fulfil its purpose. For example, we have said that our product includes 'hydro-zinc that will leave you hair flake free', this proves that it will work. It also proves that it is the best product around for that purpose. We focus on 'lifestyle fantasy', our product will make an impact on the lives of our audience.

Websites

Our competitors

Dove Website

The Dove website is very plain and keeps the same colour scheme for both male ad female products. The website allows you to find a product that is right for you. Whatever you need is for example you have dry skin, you can choose the product that has the purpose of reducing dry skin.

Radox website

Radox have a very colourful website, very tropical. However, one negative point is that the men's page is very feminine and may not attract the male audience. On the other hand, the website provides information as to what each products purpose is and what is included. If they want to find our further information they are able to view more.

Lynx website

Lynx have a very unique and intriguing website. The colour scheme is very masculine and would be appealing to the male audience. It shows the product image in a big size so that the audience can see exactly how it looks. The website provides information for each of their products and what its purpose is. On the left side, it includes all the body washes they have and once you click on them you can find out about the product. It also shows clearly that you can buy online, so a quick purchase can be made. My production group and I really liked the look of the product and took some inspiration from it.

Social Networking Sites

 
This is the official Facebook page for Lynx. It advertises its products and provides information on them. You are able to view photos and videos of the products. People are able to 'like' or 'subscribe' on the page. The page has 1.2 million likes so far and is a great way of advertising to a diverse audience.

Skim reading

Skim reading is when you read a piece of text really fast. You read in between the lines. When skim reading you only pick out the important information and often miss out a lot of sentences or paragraphs. when reading the text you look for the overall point and idea and miss out the irrelevant information. It is always good to read the first few paragraphs as it gives you an outline as to what the extract is going to be about. When reading you should let your eyes jump a couple of words just so the reading process is quicker. The purpose of skim reading is to get a gasp of what the extract is about and its main points. Advantages of skim reading are that you are able to take in information but at a fast pace. You can take in all the information that is relevant to you. Disadvantages of skim reading is that you may miss out important information because you are missing out lines and paragraphs.

Scanning

Scanning is when you look at an extract of text for a particular purpose. You do not read all the words of the text but instead you look for a single text or a specific bit of information. Scanning can include looking at images, titles and subheadings. Once you have found the section that has the information you need you can begin scanning. Many people scan when they are looking for a number in a telephone directory, you would look for the last name. An advantage of scanning is that it is quick information retrieval, you only look for the information you need. A disadvantage is that you may not pick up the most accurate information and may miss out on vital information.

 

Article analysis

The Battle of the Men's Body Washes

By MELANIE WELLS

Isaiah Mustafa, the buff-bodied Old Spice pitchman in two attention-getting TV commercials, is easy on the eyes. He's easy on the nose, too—or so he tells us: "I'm the man your man could smell like," he says in one ad, standing in a bathroom as a shower runs behind him. Mr. Mustafa also appears as a gift-bearing Prince Charming on a white horse. "Anything is possible when your man smells like a man, not a lady," crows the 36-year-old former pro football player.

The commercials, from ad agency Wieden + Kennedy, broke in early February as part of a six-spot "Smell Like a Man, Man" ad campaign for Old Spice. They take direct aim at the men who may smell like something else—"butterflies and salt taffy," Mr. Mustafa suggests on Old Spice's Web site—because they are using someone else's bath products. In fact, the real target of the ads is the people who buy those products: women.

The account managers for Procter & Gamble's Old Spice, a brand that dates back to 1938, are on to something. There are a lot of men who, as Mr. Mustafa suggests, use their galpals' bath products. Go ahead; ask around. Sure, many men say they use "whatever is in the shower" as a cleanser. Yet often that is the fragrant body wash their wives or girlfriends purchase. Richard Kass, a financial adviser in New York, says he wouldn't seek out body wash in a store, but he admits to reaching for his wife's shower gel, and to enjoying the freebie body wash he gets in posh hotels.

Not everyone is a convert. Only two of seven well-groomed male advertising executives at a dinner party I attended recently in San Francisco confessed to using and enjoying body wash. One guy is a Frenchman whose wife is a beauty editor. The other is a metrosexual sort who surprised his tablemates by admitting to using a loofah sponge in the shower—an image I'm having a hard time getting out of my head. Even the body-wash guys don't actually buy these products. They say their wives bring them home. The other fellows at the table? A couple of them were "whatever is in the shower" types. The rest, like my husband, use nothing but bar soap—Coast, Irish Spring, Dial.

Procter & Gamble

Isaiah Mustafa disses women's cleansers

I happen to think a bar-soap guy is one who really smells like a man, man. But P&G and Unilever, eager to get guys to trade up from low-margin offerings, want to put a stop to low-maintenance personal-hygiene practices.

Since mass-market body wash was introduced to women in a big way in the mid-1990s, sales have soared. For the year ending Jan. 24, U.S. sales of body wash hit $757 million in food, drug and other mass outlets, slipping past deodorant and nondeodorant bar-soap sales of $751 million, according to Information Resources, a Chicago-based market research firm. The battle for men is just beginning.

In the pitch for Gillette's Odor Shield Body Wash, P&G borrows one of the oldest tricks in the advertising playbook: It wants men to think they have a socially unacceptable condition that only its product can remedy. One spot shows a guy in a shower where a dirty football and other sweat-inducing guy gear fall away from him as he uses body wash. "It's trying to fix a problem I don't have," harrumphs my bar-soap-using spouse.

Indeed, men who aren't 20-something singletons looking for girls may be tough for body-wash makers to score. Unilever has had great success selling its Axe body wash, sprays and fragrances to teens and college kids. For the middle-aged married types, they are instead promoting Dove Men + Care body wash, advertised during the Super Bowl. Yet if these guys are going to use Dove, my guess is they are the "whatever is in the shower" types who pinch their wives' cleanser.

So I give Old Spice an edge in the war, because it is pitching to women. Men may not care about shower-time routines. But women, who do the majority of household purchasing, will buy a "male" body wash for their main squeezes as a recession-era treat. Or perhaps each shopper will pick up a bottle for her guy so, come shower time, he'll keep his wet mitts off her products.

Ms. Wells is an executive editor of Forbes Media and the editor of the CMO Network on Forbes.com (www.forbes.com/cmo-network/).

The article focuses on the battle of body washes. The writer investigates into whether men actually use products specifically targeted for them or do they use whatever is available to them. Many men use whatever is available and that may be their partners body wash. Many of these male products are actually targeted at women as they are more likely to buy the product for their partner or son. 

The writer believes that men are not that fussed about how masculine they come across and use women's products as they see no difference. However, the media believe that there is a market for male grooming products. They manipulate men into thinking that in order to come across masculine and impress women you should use male products that include all the male essential needs like fragrance, shampoo and body wash combined in one. 

The writer points out that men who are above the 20's range and are either married or in a relationship, are a tough audience to persuade. They may be used to using products that are available to them and have no need in investing money into products that highlight the attraction of women. Brands will continue to produce male products as their is a market out there and this market is young adults and children.