To promote the new Speed Stick Gear line of antiperspirants for men, Colgate Palmolive erected a 60-foot ice wall in downtown Toronto and invited people to climb it.
The event, which took place March 14 and 15, was hosted by Canadian television personality Tim Deegan and had professional climbers assisting those brave enough to accept the challenge. A street team was also onsite to hand out product samples and encourage people to take part in the climb. More than 200 people scaled the wall over the two-day stunt.
“[The wall] was a way of creating a sampling event that challenges guys to gear up and create an experience beyond what a normal deodorant could,” said Samantha Boulukos, VP of marketing at Colgate Palmolive Canada. “So while other deodorants just hand out samples, we made people sweat for it.”
The new Gear line was designed for “advanced performance” and is targeted at adventurous millennial males. The brand’s Facebook page has photos of men snowboarding off cliffs and parachuting, with messages like “Speed Stick Gear is for the ‘Oh no, I forgot to pack my parachute’ kind of sweat, not for the ‘Oh no, I forgot to PVR my favourite reality show’ kind of sweat. Although we can handle that kind of sweat as well.”
Agency partners for the campaign include Anomaly (creative lead and strategy), Com.motion (PR), Free For All Marketing (experiential), Red Fuse (TV spot in Canada) and MEC Canada (media planning).
