Jockey Launches New Website To Win Battle Against Tighty-Whities

A recent article in BRANDWEEK discussed the launch by Jockey of two new websites designed for viral appeal. Although I'm not the target market Jockey had in mind, the sites offer a rather innovative approach in the battle to sell better-fitting underwear.

The first site, Stopsquirming.com, features interactive options where visitors can help "Tame That Booty" by identifying the most common and potentially embarassing squirms. Visitors are also invited to join in a community of "Citizens Against Squirming", and are encouraged to recruit friends to the cause. Visitors who "Have A Beef With Someone's Bottoms" can file "Grundy Grievances" and choose amongst one of three counsellors who will file a grievance to perpetrators on their behalf.

Jockey's second site, JockeyUnderwars.com, is set to be launched next month. Visitors will be able to challenge each other with videos of each other dancing in their underwear in a tournament style format.

While older people might feel uncomfortable with this approach (no pun intended), Jockey has realized that younger people are spending a lot of time online, and they are trying to determine if their new tactics will make a stronger impression on consumers.

In an effort to reach this target group, Jockey has increased their online marketing budget from 6% in 2006 to 20% in 2007.

Perhaps what's most interesting about this campaign is its use of humour to discuss a potentially awkward area of discussion. The "problems" addressed on the site are universal, yet through humour and interactivity they are brought out into the open where everyone can share their concerns and have a laugh while doing it. This gives Jockey the chance to highlight their wares in an effort to win the battle against "tighty-whities."

For now, the potential effect on ROI is unknown, so it should be interesting to see what happens. In the meantime, go check out the site if you need to file a "Grundy Grievance."