Philips' & Dan Carter "Express Yourself Every Day" launches

It was announced last month that Dan Carter would be the new brand ambassador for Philips shavers. I saw the first of these ads in the Sunday Star Times "Sunday" magazine today (above right). 

With several other endorsements already connected to the All Black star (deodorant, heat pumps, underwear), a different approach was chosen. Lead by a global direction, Carter will front the "Express Yourself Every Day" campaign. Online, magazine and outdoor advertising will focus on the things, aside from rugby, he enjoys.  

"We're very excited to be working with Dan Carter. He's an inspirational New Zealander but also incredibly down to earth, and including him in our new campaign as we launch a number of exciting shaving products is going to be a great opportunity for us to engage with people through our Express Yourself Every Day campaign" 

~ Nick Perry, Marketing Manager, Philips Consumer Lifestyle

Interesting that Perry says that it's a great opportunity to "engage" with their audience... While the campaign is still very new and I don't want to judge too quickly, I don't see engagement as the top priority. The campaign seems isolated to a few media channels and there's no way for consumers to connect beyond the ads. The print ad is more brand focused. There's a small website tag, but no connection to the campaign on the Philips' site. It seems to cry out for a social media extension from the ads to allow people to find out more about Carter's DJ-ing and share how they express themselves. The behind the scenes video isn't even linked to their website, hopefully there's more to to come.   


Timed to maximise on the hype of the Rugby World Cup, the move away from rugby is at least novel. The cup hasn't started and already consumers may be feeling a bit of rugby overload.  I can see the appeal of knowing more about a public figure but the DJ-ing spin (excuse the pun!) seemed a bit contrived. I like the idea of Carter sitting in his hotel room spinning his decks but I'm not sure I believe it... The clip focuses on how Carter is happy to be partnered with Philips and how he found the photoshoot. It would have been nice to hear more about his musical tastes, and some of his DJ-ing.   


Behind the scenes
I found a certain irony in Carter's excitement to represent Philips, his tone didn't really convey excitement!