As we bemoan the economy and head into year-end, I sense an undercurrent of a new gender trend in marketing: Men are getting comfortable with the opportunities to walk a less linear path toward their purchase decisions, and more men's brands are leveraging two strategies that have been so successful with women - engagement and community.


As covered by a recent MediaPost brief, Unilever's Vaseline for Men brand (in cooperation with ESPN) is the latest to give it a go with its Stronger Skin campaign. I see several marketing to women angles to this:
* Skincare has long been mainly a "women's issue" in the U.S. Men who have been aware of skincare before now have been fewer in number, and usually more urban. It is only within, say, the last two years that the average American guy (dare I call him Joe Sixpack?) has seemed to become a bit more comfortable with even the idea of this more feminine pursuit.
* Where men's products akin to "skincare," like aftershave, have long been marketed mainly in terms of sex appeal, the wink-wink has faded into the background for Vaseline for Men (as well as other skincare brands). We now see a wider range of products marketed to guys who are motivated to keep their skin as fit as their bodies - and for their own reasons (the sexy woman has left the building...).
* The marketing of these products isn't just a picture of a man holding a bottle in a print ad or formulaic television campaign. Instead, the short videos of sports stars being the men they are in real life, for the most part, are telling stories to which a lot of other men can relate. Attempting to engage a guy like this for a few minutes is a new twist for male-focused consumer brands (except for sports-specific media outlets, I realize).
* The micro-site approach is more entertaining and engaging than it is factual or linear - even for this seemingly straightforward product. Emotion, storytelling and community-building, all very common elements of effective marketing to women, are now being used to reach men as well.
In the big picture of gender and marketing, women are known to buy along a more complex, non-linear, path. Yet, this Vaseline for Men effort seems to be one of a few campaigns currently reaching out to men in that same beyond-linear manner. Changing times and new cultural pressures are influencing men to respond in kind. How else would they go from "what is skin cream" to "which brand of skin cream is right for me" in less than 60 seconds (OK - so I exaggerate)?
Most likely because they have started to take on more household tasks, men are generally shopping more. They are also using their more feminine brain traits in seeking engagement and community with the brands they buy. As I see it, they are joining women in expecting more from both product and experience.
Will men visit StrongerSkin.com to hang out, sign up for the sweepstakes and possibly return for more? I'm not sure. But Unilever's researchers must have noticed that men today are taking a few cues from the way women buy. Are you?