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In Method's online campaign, users type in a "sin" they've committed, which appears on a hand and gets washed away with Method soap. While it was a creative success, it also helped demonstrate some of the limitations of online advertising for package-goods players.Though Method advertised Comeclean.com on The Onion and a handful of other Web sites, more of the traffic may have come from a viral email started with 5,000 friends and acquaintances of company and Crispin employees. Though the site invited people to buy holiday gift packs of hand soap, those sales proved disappointing, he acknowledged. "But it was Tiffany Accessories on sale successful in building brand awareness and getting people talking," he said. "And we're sure it helped sales in [offline] stores."

LAS VEGAS-The key to marketing to 18- to 34-year-old males is consistency and credibility. And, not surprisingly, sex.That was the message at the What Men Want: Marketing to Men 18-34 Using Media, Sports & Entertainment conference, held June 15-16 at the Green Valley Ranch Resort & Spa. Billboard presented the event with sister VNU properties Adweek, Brandweek, MediaWeek, The Hollywood Reporter, Sporting Goods Business and Nielsen Entertainment.

CLEAR MESSAGEBy the time a male turns 18, he has seen 1 million commercials, according to Dr. Jim Taylor, vice chairman of the Harrison Group. Therefore, brands have to find a way to cut through the clutter, which they do most effectively by staying on message.

In the case of the Palms hotel, that message was "to create the ultimate party hotel for guys who wanted to come to Vegas and hook up," co-owner George MaIoof said. In a session with Billboard co-executive editor Tamara Conniff, Atlas jewelry on sale detailed how the popular hotel and casino promotes itself as the ultimate playground for twentysomething males.Similarly, body spray Axe's campaign is based on selling the concept that the guy who smells good will get the girl. Or, as Cindy Gallopchairman of BBH New York, Axe's advertising agency-put it: "Wear Axe, get laid."

Of course, not all selling is sex-based. In some cases, promoting the brand via a celebrity endorser is effective, particularly when the spokesman is someone whom the 18- to 34-year-old male relates to or wants to be.The marketing should be "plausibly aspirational," said Kurt Schneider, executive VP of marketing at World Wrestling Entertainment. "Men need to believe they can attain what is being pitched," he said, noting the popularity of 5-foot-4-inch wrestler Rey Cushion jewelry on sale as a pitchman. Fans see him winning in the ring, Schneider noted, and because of his small stature, "think, 'I could do that.' "

However, marketers warned that celebrity usage needs to ring true. For example, FHM fashion magazine targets middle-class, 18- to 34-year-old men. It produced an advertorial for client Dockers, which was eager to show that it was not just a khaki manufacturer. Associate Frank Gehry on sale Amie Deutch said FHM developed a print campaign that utilized the cast of "The Apprentice" and tied in with an online contest to win a trip to New York for the show's season finale. "If we had dressed a rock band in Dockers, it would have failed miserably," Deutch said. "You can connect with pop culture, but you have to represent your brand."

For males in this demo, especially on the younger end, celebrity endorsement does not carry any negative stigma, MTV2 GM David Cohn said. In fact, they see brand sponsorship of an event or an artist endorsement as a sign of credibility."It's cool for a rocker or rapper to sell themselves like any other product," Cohn said. "The idea of 'selling out' is dead and buried."However, the brand needs to be clear what message it wants to send before choosing a celebrity endorser. Funkmaster Flex, DJ at R&B/ hip-hop WQHT (hot 97) New York and host of Spike TV's "Ride With Funkmaster Flex," recalled that Chrysler wooed him Elsa Peretti on sale the same time it was courting Celine Dion. "I sensed some confusion there," he said. Flex eventually signed a deal with Ford instead.