The Score’s Gillette Drafted freshens up for season two

The second season of the sportscaster's branded content partnership with the P&G brand kicks off this week with a live audition tour complete with Gillette Grooming Station integration.

By Katie Bailey
May 7, 2010

Just a few short months after the smiling, youthful face of Gillette Drafted first-season winner Paul Brothers disappeared from Score Media’s massive billboard at King and Peter streets in Toronto, he’s back in the public eye again as the broadcaster kicks off the audition tour for the show’s second season.

With Procter & Gamble brand Gillette on again as exclusive sponsor, the program – which debuted last year in eight-minute on-air segments – will this year be extended to 23 minutes and has been developed into a more competitive format with 10 finalists instead of five and judging-based elimination rounds, Susan Arthur, VP marketing, Score Media, tells MiC.

Set to air in the fall, Gillette Drafted 2‘s five-phase production process is already underway with a cross-country live audition tour (handled by GMR in Toronto) starting this week. Gillette’s media agency, MediaCom, challenged Score Media to develop the brand-promotional aspect of the show even more, Arthur says, and the result is an ‘organic’ integration into the audition called the Gillette Grooming Station, as well as an enhanced social media presence.

The Grooming Station is set up to look like a real ‘makeup’ area on the 20-by-20-foot in-mall audition stage. Each wannabe sportscaster will be freshened up for their live audition with Gillette products, and be given a new Gillette Fusion Pro-Glide razor (in stores June 6). High-value coupons for the new razor will be handed out as well, and people can sign up for a ‘ManSAMPLER’ Gillette product pack at a kiosk. Throughout the tour, Brothers will be on-site, hosting the proceedings and blogging on show microsite Drafted.ca. Audition videos will be uploaded to the site as well.

The show and the audition tour will be promoted via Score Media’s properties, including broadcast and mobile, and via digital media external to Score properties. Additionally, Score personalities will be promoting the show via personal and corporate social media pages.

Gillette Drafted 2 is set to air mid-September 2010 and will run in one original timeslot per week for 10 weeks, with multiple repeats per week. The competition generated 3,000 entries in its first season.