Gentlemen, Now You Can Pay with Your Balls!!

By Mina Borhani

Guys, I am not kidding! There is a new technology now that allows gentlemen to make a payment using their testicles! Ok, I’m partially joking. This November only, guys can pay with their balls to trim their ‘Staches! You are probably familiar with the Movember movement that encourages gents to grow moustaches for charity to raise awareness about men’s health issues – particularly testicular cancer. Every November brands join the cause and create incredibly creative campaigns to educate the male population. This year, a small campaign has raised a few eyebrows.

Allow me to introduce you to Barba, a high-end men’s grooming boutique in Chelsea, New York.  This year, Barba has joined the Movember movement and – with the help of Terri and Sandy Advertising Agency- created a remarkable campaign. #PayWithYourBalls campaign from this neighborhood boutique has even got the attention from marketing influencers such as Creativity-Online.com.

‘Our Ballsy Mission’ as Barba calls it clearly conveys why they are doing it: “At Barba, we believe men have a responsibility to take care of themselves. We promote the power of well-groomed physical appearance, but we also value the physical health of our clients.” In an easy-to-grasp illustration, Barba shows its customers how the campaign works, simply follow Step 1, 2 and 3!

But what stands out for me is the way they have positioned this promotion. Instead of saying ‘get a free testicular cancer screening’ and boring the audience to death, Barba says “Pay with your balls!” and gives away a free premium shave and a health screening. The message is incredibly eye catching, memorable and well put together.

In a simple announcement -a digital media release as we call it – Barba announced this campaign on Facebook followed by consistently promoting it on social media pages of the boutique. To also promote this campaign in the neighborhood, they have placed a few “Pay With Your Balls” posters throughout New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, where the salon is located.

#PayWithYourBalls campaign is promoted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. On each platform, Barba takes a different approach – as they should –  to communicate its message. For example, on Facebook, Barba showcases hilariously funny but simple statements bundled with awesome – somewhat educational – visuals. The masculine and minimalistic designs also help to grab the attention of their male target.

On twitter, their approach is different. It seems that they are using Twitter as a trailer for their Instagram. Almost none of the tweets have a visible photo, but a link to an Instagram photo, which is a risky approach because tweets with photos grab much higher attention than a wordy one. Again, they have done a great job by keeping it simple, funny and conversational.

Even though Barba is a rather small neighborhood salon, they have done a great job creating this campaign. At the time of writing this post, the campaign is still ongoing and I have no idea what the results will be for Barba. Nevertheless, I applaud them for their creative work.