The technology industry is made up of approximately 75% men. 100% of these men are at risk for serious men’s health issues. LiveTiles, a software startup, was looking for a way to reach men with critical information on how they could actively manage and discuss their health. The challenge was clear—cut through the clutter and deliver the message in a fun, memorable way. Men with mustaches became a campaign mandatory to encourage participation and support from the Movember Foundation. As this campaign was developed for awareness and education, we were working with a budget of $0. We relied primarily on donations of both time and money to complete the project. We were able to activate and photograph 12 models that served as spokesmen for men’s health issues. The project scale became quite large in terms production, participation and ultimately, awareness and fundraising.

We turned to humor to reach men working in the technology industry. Using a pin-up style calendar, we were able make men laugh while delivering important health tips, facts and information. We recruited real, mustachioed men, not typically considered as “sexy” to serve as models and spokesmen for the campaign. Each month took on a theme, mirroring the causes supported by the Movember Foundation. To tease the calendar, videos were developed and pushed through social media. A launch event was held at the beginning of November 2015, with all proceeds from calendar sales going to the Movember Foundation. Throughout the remainder of 2015, a strong social media presence posted tips and facts from the calendar and drove followers to sexymenoftechnology.com and the Movember website to purchase the calendar and donate to the foundation.

Through the Sexy Men of Technology campaign, we were able to generate over 92 million unique impressions. The calendar was mentioned in well-known media such as CNET.com, The Seattle Times, and the national Elvis Duran Morning Show. To drive awareness and calendar sales, we put together a large social media push containing text, video and photo content. Through social media, we were able to reach over 50,000 with our message. Once Movember saw the finished product and attended the launch event, they adopted the calendar as official “Mo Gear,” which meant it would be sold in the Movember Web store. Though our main objective was education and awareness, our models were able to raise over $30,000 for the Movember Foundation and we were able to activate the entire US technology industry to raise over $380,000.