We chose an unlikely sponsorship of the 2015 reunion tour of 1990’s superstar boy band, New Kids on the Block. So what does a boy band reunion have in common with our Go Commando message? It has memories of women cutting loose and even throwing their underwear on stage. It resonates with a heavily female target audience that attends pop concerts to rediscover that sense of youthful daring. A prominent sponsorship of NKOTB offered a high profile way to make a cheeky and unexpected connection with Cottonelle.

And if we could get the New Kids on the Block to take the Go Commando challenge themselves, suggesting to millions of fans that they were dancing on stage underwear free, the Cottonelle message could really clean up.

Cottonelle hosted an exclusive, intimate tour launch party at NYC’s Gramercy Theater. Cottonelle’s cheeky spokeswoman, Cherry Healey, dared the band’s biggest fans to “Go Commando!” directing them to changing booths near the ladies room, where they could accept Cherry’s dare, remove their undies and retrieve them later. A branded photo booth captured Commando patrons performing our “waistline dip” for social media bragging rights. We put the New Kids on the media frontlines, promoting their Cottonelle connection and engaging in lively discussions of underwear and toilet paper. It became a template for the 9-market tour.

• Go Commando video airs before band performs

• Branded tour materials, including official NKOTB social media outlets and Fan Club portals

• Exclusive VIP Meet & Greets

• Behind-the-scenes video shared with media throughout tour

• Online sweepstakes to meet the band

• Branded changing rooms, bathroom takeovers (sampling 30,500 rolls), and Go Commando photo booths at every show.

The unlikely marriage of Cottonelle and a boy band proved to be a stunning endorsement of our strategy. In addition to the millions of new and daring media impressions we generated for the brand, we saw a double digit increase in purchase intent, while nearly tripling the client’s goal for improving the “leaves me feeling clean and fresh” product message with consumers.

• Sole NKOTB tour sponsorship reaches 450,000 consumers across nine markets

• 30,500 rolls of Cottonelle CleanRipple sampled on-site

• 82.4MM total earned media impressions -- 90% including Go Commando and Cottonelle messaging (exceeding KPI of 75%)

• Brand Fans drove 346,063 engagements via online likes, shares and comments

• 10,000+ NKOTB sweepstakes entrants driven through Cottonelle website sign-ups

• 4.5MM radio impressions

• Hundreds in every market went “Commando” in our branded changing rooms