8x4 SPRAY AND PLAY Challenge Starts on Musical.ly

They have imaginative names like “dance like a flamingo,” “sing like a toucan” and “dream like a unicorn.” Like their names, the five scents of the new limited edition deodorants from 8x4 are summery and playful. Hauke Voß, our Director of Pearl Brands, talks about the innovative and interactive path the brand is taking with the campaign accompanying the product line in German social media. 

No, and it promises to be really exciting! Because with the 8x4 SPRAY AND PLAY Challenge we are taking a completely new approach that’s brave and creative. For the first time we are combining influencer marketing with a digitally-oriented challenge – and doing so in the purely digital environment of social networks. The social app Musical.ly, especially popular with young girls, offers us the perfect platform for this. With Musical.ly we are not only using the reach provided by the popularity of the influencers, but also appealing to our target group authentically and motivating them to interact in a playful way – in this case by dancing together. In this way we are combining influencer marketing with target group engagement and entertaining the 14-18-year-old target group where they spend the majority of their time – namely, online, on their smartphones. 

On August 2nd, our challenge will be announced with short clips on Musical.ly, YouTube and Instagram, and the actual challenge will begin on Musical.ly simultaneously. Until August 6th, participants can dance, sing and shoot. We are very excited about the creativity and contributions of so-called Musers, Musical.ly users. 

Challenges remain a trend on all social media channels. For 8x4 it will work like this: there are five limited deodorant scents with five colorfully designed (imaginary) creatures on the deodorant sticks, represented by five famous young women, who are supporting our Pearl Brand as influencers. Each of them stands for one of the new scents and for a team: “Cat,” “Toucan,” “Flamingo,” “Unicorn” or “Mermaid.” As team leaders they’ll each motivate their respective followers to participate in the challenge. The names of the five 8x4 deodorants themselves provide the creative challenges. This is really practical! Participants can post their homemade music videos with the corresponding dance move that match the (imaginary) creature using the hashtag #SprayAndPlayChallenge or their team’s hashtag. With a little luck, participants can win a fan package with a signed team shirt and a variety of products.  

Yes! Thanks to the maximum engagement and passion of all participating functions we were able to bring five new products to the market within six months and implement digital activation. This shows how agilely and passionately different functions work together when the idea is really exciting. The quickness and dynamism, but especially the team’s bright eyes during this project deeply impressed me.  

The fact is that influencers today reach an audience of millions. They are role models for thousands of teenagers, who follow their selfies, vlogs and tutorials. The important thing for us is relating to our target group in an authentic way. We not only want our advertising to have a wide reach, but we want to go a step further and motivate the young girls to be engaged and to interact – very much in keeping with the fun limited edition products. 

We chose the time for the start of our campaign after careful consideration. Summer is vacation season. And that means young people are almost always on their smartphones. We’re using that for 8x4 and our new scents. With the SPRAY AND PLAY Challenge we are providing action for the slow season and adding a little more fun to the vacation months. 

Linda is Global Country Brands Consultant and has been working in Corporate Communications for Beiersdorf since 2008. She has started as a Corporate Communications Manager with a focus on economic and financial communications. She is currently responsible for the global NIVEA brands PR & CSR communication – she develops global communication packages and actively manages the press work on all relevant NIVEA brand topics.