• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, March 14, 2011

In its ongoing attempts to smooth the rough spots off American men, Unilever says its Dove Men+Care is unveiling the latest in its "Journey to Comfort" videos, including one of basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson. And in the first-ever iAd for iPad, fans can also play a trivia game that will give them a shot at meeting Johnson in person, as well as win tickets to the 2012 NCAA Men's Final Four in New Orleans.

In addition, "Johnson will appear in a series of :30 TV commercials in support of the "Journey to Comfort" program that will air throughout the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament," Rob Candelino, marketing director, Personal Wash U.S., Unilever, emails Marketing Daily.

The video premieres coincide with the launch of Dove Men+Care Antiperspirants/Deodorants and Sensitive Clean Personal Wash, and are intended to shore up the brand's promise of helping men become more comfortable in their own skin. Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III and famed Duke point guard Bobby Hurley also appear in their own films, which will be featured throughout March Madness programming, thanks to Unilever's new corporate sponsorship with the NCAA. (Previous videos have starred baseball greats Albert Pujols, Joe Girardi and Andy Pettitte.)

"The entire men's portfolio of personal care products including Dove Men+Care, Axe, Vaseline MEN, Suave Men and Degree for Men will be sponsoring the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament," he says.

Unilever's multi-year commitment includes men's and women's personal care brands, with exclusive category marketing and promotional rights related to all 88 NCAA championship events across 23 Men's and Women's sports, in addition to integrated marketing opportunities, retail and print, promotions, online and television advertising.

Linking men's grooming so strongly to sports programming is a bit of a slam-dunk, Oru Mohiuddin, senior home and personal-care product analyst for Euromonitor International, a London-based market research company, tells Marketing Daily. "The belief is that something like 51% of men are already using women's skincare products," she says. "Using a sports tie-in not only conveys a masculine image, but it also automatically connects brands with younger men. These are new adult consumers, and haven't yet formed all their personal-care habits -- they're just a more fertile audience."

Candelino says Dove Men+Care was one of the first brands to share content through iAd in 2010, including downloadable playlists, interactive tours of players' "comfort zones" in their homes, and customizable voicemail messages from Andy Pettitte. "We saw an overwhelmingly positive response from consumers, with over 24,000 video views and logging in over one minute per visit in time spent."

This go-around, he says, "in addition to being able to play Trivia Timeout, fans will be able to watch extended stories from the basketball greats," as well as 3D graphics and a "Game Day Fan Zone" that allows fans to access daily game schedules, and purchase school fight songs for purchase through iTunes.