August 03, 2006 · 05:09 PM

Unilever strikes Ad Deal with MySpace

Via Economist: MySpace seems to offer a chance for companies to take their marketing into new territory, by becoming members of their customers' network of "friends". Earlier this year, consumer-goods company Unilever hooked up with Christine Dolce alias ForBiddeN to promote deodorant Axe to mainly 18- to-24-year-old males. "Bleached, buxom and with impressive marketing savvy, she is arguably the most successful brand to emerge from MySpace", as Economist writes. Already more than 900,000 friends link to her MySpace page.

As part of her deal with Unilever, Dolce is hosting an interactive game called "Gamekillers" which is based around dating tips - and subtly promotes Axe. With success: 75,000 MySpace users signed up for it. It seems Unilever's deal could represent the future of marketing on the News Corp. site - yet the biggest challenge for both MySpace and the firms is not to alienate people by being too "commercial".

 

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