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June 2007 - Strategy Magazine
Deconstructed

Restylane's real women

by Annette Bourdeau
page 25

Aging is a touchy subject, especially for women. So Toronto-based Medicis Aesthetics Canada has launched a hands-off social networking community, www.defineyourself.ca, for women 35-55 to discuss their attitudes about aging, without overt branding.

"It's not a product-focused site at all," explains Catharine Fennell, partner at Toronto-based agency SwingThink. "It's about market research and sponsoring a dialogue.... We wanted to capture the mind-set of women approaching these milestone ages."

The site includes webisodes featuring real women (not actors) expressing their feelings about aging, a blog to generate discussion about the webisodes, a contest inviting women to submit their own videos discussing aging, and an opportunity to sign up for a newsletter with updates about the webisodes. There's a small link to Medicis Aesthetics' Restylane cosmetic injection brand at the bottom of the site, but other than that there's no branding.

Within the first two weeks of its launch, 30,000 Canadian women had visited DefineYourself.ca.

We asked Monica Buck, MD at Tribal DDB Vancouver; Brendan Kenalty, director, interactive strategy at Toronto-based OgilvyOne Canada; and Eli Singer, MD at Toronto-based Social POV, Cundari, to weigh in on whether this social site will stick.

Concept

MB: I really like the concept of creating a space where you can connect with your peers on a subject that is sensitive or typically perceived in a negative way. Peer-to-peer communication can be very compelling, particularly if you find [a topic] we all know (or worry about) but never discuss.

BK: While it has all the latest tools, the site comes up very flat vs. ones like Dove which offer a clear value proposition. DefineYourself.ca offers no insightful, interesting or engaging reason to visit the first time, join the community or participate.

ES: Full concept marks. Convening stories through video, blogging, photos, subtly linking in the brand and CRM plus a twist of market research - this is what the web is all about.

Execution

MB: I like the use of real people (rather than actors), but feel the site needs a more positive and empowering message about aging. Most of the comments reflect the negative aspects, but do not reveal the solutions.

BK: While the design is clean and simple with no heavy company branding (a common flaw), providing clear navigation to a robust assortment of community-building tools and opt-ins (blogs/videos/polls...), it feels like a "build it and they will come" type of exercise with only modest content seeding. I'm not sure what the insight or value proposition is.

ES: It raises the right questions in a frank and personal way, but it seems to stop there. Two missed opportunities: creating more avenues for conversation with visitors, and a strong link back to the Restylane site. Brands should not be too shy about linking themselves with quality content.

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