Brylcreem uses picture messaging and viral campaign

The 'Bad Barnet Challenge' promotion taps into MTV's target audience of hard-to-reach 16 to 24-year-old males.

Online media is used to alert recipients of the promotion by encouraging them to send pictures of their mates' worst hairstyles to a Brylcreem microsite.

The promotion will be reinforced with an SMS push that sends a message out to subscribers of the MTV mobile database, asking them to send their pictures via MMS to brylcreem@mtv.co.uk.

Entrants to the 'Bad Barnet Challenge' will be sent a free sample of Brylcreem Next Generation Ultra Gel and could win from a range of prizes, including an all-expenses-paid trip to Ibiza's closing parties for four people, VIP treatment to one of the Reading or Leeds festivals and VIP tickets to Creamfields 2003.

Online, the best and worst MMS images will be displayed in a Bad Barnet Rogues Gallery on mtv.co.uk. People get to decide who wins the prizes by voting for the worst barnet and are rewarded with free samples for their efforts.

Julie Baker, marketing director at Brylcreem, said: "There's a perfect fit between MTV and the Brylcreem brand. We want to get young guys talking about hair and taking the mickey out of their mates is a perfect way of doing it. The Bad Barnet Challenge utilises new technology in a way that will appeal to our target audience and get them talking about Brylcreem."

The Bad Barnet promotion is supported online by banner ads, eyeblasters and editorial links across the MTV network.

All creative was handled in-house by Viacom. If the campaign proves successful, MMS promotions will be rolled out across other Viacom channels, such as VH1.

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This article was first published on brandrepublic.com