Has Movember outgrown itself?
* Featured, Charity, Digital Marketing — By Leah Kayles on November 10, 2011 2:17 pmHave you noticed an increase in the amount of hairy upper lips in your office/on public transport/behind the counter of your local latte-serving establishment recently? Well, unless you live in Shoreditch or Chorlton, it’s probably down to Movember.
As a female of the speices, all this increase in upper-lip activity got me thinking about the difference between charities targeted at men and charities targeted at women. With Tickled Pink campaigns, the breast cancer message remains clear and at the forefront of people’s minds. But how many people know what Movember really all about? A quick straw poll I did in the office showed that, while most of us know it’s for a ‘male type cancer’, others thought it was just a fun yearly activity and weren’t aware of the reasons behind it. Some did know that Movember is in fact all about prostate cancer – raising awareness and money.
Looking at some of the brands that have jumped on the Movember bandwagon, there’s not always a great deal of information to tell us what the campaign’s all about. Have a gander at HP Sauce on Facebook for example. They’re offering to top up the funds of those who are growing ‘taches and raising money for the cause, certainly a noble gesture, but in terms of raising awareness for what it’s all about, well I struggled to find any mention of prostates at all. (Not a sentence I often have to type.)
Maybe it doesn’t matter. As long as those who are growing the ‘taches are spreading awareness through word-of-mouth and raising funds, perhaps that’s enough. And there’s a genius behind the way in which this campaign is designed to appeal to men specifically.
For a start, it’s an easy way to get involved. Women are traditionally seen as being more open to fundraising and donating (although in the interests of fairness I have to say I know just as many charitable blokes as I do women) but growing a bit of facial hair is, unless you’re Justin Bieber, a pretty easy way to do something chartiable. Much easier than, say, walking a up a mountain or running a marathon – is it this ease with which any bloke can get involved that makes Movember so popular?
Then there’s the look-at-me element. Sporting an ever-expanding bit of fluff on the face is such a visible act of charity that for a whole month your friends, family and co-workers can’t fail to see that you’re a generous and giving type.
Appealing to the ego and making it super-easy to get involved are clearly the elements that give this campaign its huge mass appeal, but is it this mass appeal that has diluted the messaging behind the campaign?
Are brands and individuals jumping on the bandwagon for the right reasons? Does it even matter if at the end of it one more person gets checked out and one more tenner gets donated? I’m not sure, but I do feel that the message is getting lost among the hair and the excitement a little bit and that clearer messaging could be helpful.
What do you think?
image credit: urgensia.com
Tags: digital marketing, facebook, Movember, Social Media
10 Comments
i’ve seen a huge increase in the amount of people actually setting up donations this year over previous years, getting asked by everyone through facebook with pics everywhere. so from what i’m seeing its still doing its job as far as helping to raise money to fund research etc. unless its just more friends can actually grow them this year! the womens pink campaigns ‘run a mile’ etc get national tv coverage which definitely helps srepad awareness of those campaigns. i’ve yet to see any adverts for male health campaigns
I think very simply; it’s fun and raises money for a great cause..
Can’t get much better then that!
People certainly find it fun, but the question is, does that fun translate into money and awareness. For the latter part, I would say not necessarily. So therefore, has the campaign become a victim of its own success, i.e. is it so popular that loads of people grow the tache but the success isn’t reflected by an increase in awareness (i.e. men getting checked out)?
It’s not being bah humbug about the cause, it’s asking how effective the campaign is for the cause.
Part of the fun is that EVERY man when shaving off any ‘facial growth’ will experiment with moustaches, beards, chin straps etc but will inevitably get rid of it as his friends will take the piss/other half forbids it etc…
But now Movember lets a number of chaps grow their face fuzz with reckless abandon knowing that their mates won’t laugh as they’ll probably doing it too and the missus would have to publically announce herself as a cold hearted hag for halting any fundraising for prostate cancer.
And there in lies the craft and guile of the male – by saying ‘ooooh it’s for chairty’, we have made it acceptable, even encouraged to do something for 1/12th of the year that otherwise we’d never be able to do apart from in front of the bathroom mirror.
Now, what cause should be behind next month’s new and sparkly Glee-vember?!
At a time when everyone is sporting a beard is not really a big ask to grow a moustache. See half the occupants of Shoreditch for reference
@Sam – so far I’ve had lots of laughs, and lots of funny looks, and even been told “it quite suits me” (this is the worst insult). If I wasn’t doing this for charity then I’d have shaved lip many times already.
Being told you look like Steve Wright is far beyond anything I expected.
@Leah – I kind of agree that Brands getting involved should be obliged to spread the message, else all they’re getting is tax-deductible, and probably cheap, promotion.
Now, if HP put information about prostate cancer on their bottles…
Could put you off your hot dog a tad though.
You’ve not seen my ‘tache, that’s enough to put anyone off
It’s my first year as a Movember participant and, with a team of 14 onboard with me, the overall objective is to raise as much money as possible while (potentially) looking as silly as possible.
Unsure about brand involvement BUT, as long as money is being raised for this fantastic charity, then who gives a monkeys.
Men and women are very different. The “bit of fun” element is designed to appeal to the male ego & possibly the best route to actually have men doing something about cancer.
Before Movember, there was almost nothing, but a poorly run celebrity campaign to “check your balls”.