MTV.ca has music, movies, contests and Jersey Shore. But the digital team felt the one missing ingredient was a beauty vertical, says Dave Caporicci, director of program marketing and brand partnerships for the Much MTV group. On April 5, the channel will launch its first digital beauty and trends magazine, Fora, in which popular hosts and MTV makeup artists and stylists offer fashion and beauty tips to teen girls.
‘If we’re supposed to be engaging youth and young adults in Canada, from a pop culture and lifestyle perspective, beauty seemed to be an area that we really haven’t focused on,’ Caporicci tells MiC.
Coincidentally, the Clean & Clear brand was looking to align itself as a beauty brand, and expose the variety of its beauty line in its messaging, explains Trevor Bozyk, activation designer for Toronto-based J3, dedicated media agency for Johnson & Johnson.
‘Clean & Clear can be considered an acne brand, and that’s the core, the essence of their business. But there’s a lot more, and plan was to expose the breadth and depth of their offering,’ he tells MiC. ‘We reached out to MTV because they are a teen powerhouse; they have a highly engaged audience, especially online.’
The meeting of the minds resulted in Fora, in which Clean & Clear will have a 100% share voice. MTV poduced a video promoting the show, also launching next week.
‘We want people to know that we are doing this together, and we don’t want to be lost in the clutter,’ Bozyk says, about the monopoly.
Fora‘s editorial contributors include MTV’s After Show duo Dan and Jessi, who bring their distinct, quirky banter to the promotional videos for the online mag, created by MTV and launching next week. Other contributors include MTV stylists and makeup artists, who will share the methods they use on celebrities. Clean & Clear has signed on for three ‘issues’ – spring, summer and fall 2010, although the site will be updated on a weekly basis.
Clean & Clear messaging will strategically parallel the content. For instance, if a contributor is talking about great makeup looks, Clean & Clear would push its makeup remover, or some of its acne products could be incorporated into a column on counting down to clear skin, explains Bozyk. Advertising creative for the brand was developed by Toronto-based Grip.
‘So not only are we doing ad placement within the unit, within the entire magazine, but we’re also surrounding the product with really relevant information, in tandem with the content,’ he says.
