• by Ken Liebeskind , April 27, 2001

It's not just advertising, it's content integration.

That's the key element of Unilever's new campaign on the Microsoft Network (Msn.com). Unilever is contributing content to MSN WomenCentral, an area of the site viewed by 2.2 million women, to support three Helene Curtis hair care products-ThermaSilk, Salon Selectives and Finesse.

The Web content is part of a multimedia campaign that includes other online efforts and TV advertising on a variety of MSN properties.

Digital @ JWT, the interactive division of J. Walter Thompson in Chicago, created the campaign for Unilever. "Content integration is new to consumer brands," says Doug Rozen, a director at the agency. "The relationship that a user has with content is a lot more rich and engaging than a standard advertising message."

Five different content segments have been created that can be seen on the beauty and fashion page of WomenCentral. The content is informative and interactive, ranging from hair tips of the day to a "'do finder" in which women enter the shape of their face and length of their hair and receive styling tips. A "hair-o-meter" provides weather tips for the city entered by the user.

The interactive elements are key because they allow Helene Curtis to "interact with consumers in real time to create a two way dialogue," Rozen says. "The effect of this interaction over time is that the brand can build a stronger relationship with the consumer."

There is also an assortment of online advertising to go along with the content on WomenCentral. Most of it, however, is not traditional banners and buttons, although those will be used, Rozen says. The main thrust of the advertising will be sweepstakes and sampling programs, which are interactive like the content. Four different Helene Curtis and MSN cobranded sweepstakes will run, with banners directing visitors to a sweeps page that will be adorned with Helene Curtis promotion. Rozen says the sweeps will be promoted in other areas of Msn.com because of their general appeal, which will broaden the promotion beyond WomenCentral. Banner ads will also direct visitors to a page where they can sign up for free samples of new Helene Curtis products.

The WomenCentral campaign is one part of a cross media deal for Unilever. It will use a variety of MSN related properties-everything from the Oscar section of Msn.com to Web Tv to NBC's Today show, to promote its products. "The value of partnering with MSN is there's a lot of media channels and it allows you to integrate across all of them," Rozen says.

Jed Savage, director of national sales at MSN says, "MSN and Helene Curtis combined a variety of solutions to reach women including content integration, appealing cross-media sponsorships, and sweepstakes and contests."

When asked if using content as a form of advertising is new, Rudy Grahn, an analyst at Jupiter Media Metrix, quipped that it was begun decades ago when Proctor & Gamble launched television soap operas. "It's a model with a legacy of success," he says.

But he says the success of the Unilever promotion and others like it won't be based on the "concept of content, but on the execution and whether they offer an incentive for consumers to interact." Will a "'do finder" do it, you might ask.

"Package goods brands are beginning to move to content sponsorship models on other sites," Grahn says. "They tried to make their own sites a content destination but it didn't work, so they'll sponsor it in other contexts to make it more meaningful. It's relatively new but it could succeed and we hope it does becuse it would give marketers good reason to be enthused about the Net. They've stumbled with many other online efforts."

- Ken Liebeskind may be reached at kenrunz@aol.com