- Elaine Wong, Brandweek

NEW YORK Beiersdorf has launched a sampling effort at New York City's Times Square in hopes of getting smooching consumers to ring in the New Year wearing its Nivea Lip Care.

The maker of personal care products is looking to create an emotional attachment to Nivea by associating the act of kissing with the lip care brand, said Nicolas Maurer, svp, marketing for Nivea and Eucerin at Beiersdorf, Hamburg, Germany.

The challenge Beiersdorf faces is to change consumer perception that Nivea (like rivals Blistex and Chapstick) is more than just a functional product. The entire lip care category traditionally has been viewed as more of a rational, rather than an emotionally driven purchase, said Robert Passikoff, founder of Brand Keys, a strategy firm in New York.

"We've been trying to overcome this challenge by bringing a lot of desire and buzz around the brand," Maurer said. That's why on New Year's Eve, Nivea will give away 25,000 samples from its new Lip Care line to couples waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square. (The line was introduced in the fall.)

The effort includes a "Kiss and Be Kissed" component where kissing couples will be captured on camera. Nivea pamphlets will be handed out to the crowd in Times Square, offering tips on how to turn first-time kisses into "sizzling smooches." Additionally, consumers who visit Niveaxoxo.com will be able send a free digital kiss that will arrive to recipients at midnight.

A TV spot, called "Hideaway," will air during NBC's New Year's Eve Special With Carson Daly, showing a couple stealing a kiss in the coatroom of a restaurant. The spot, via TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, first debuted as part of Beiersdorf's $30 million "Kiss and Be Kissed" campaign for Nivea Lip Care.

Beiersdorf -- which spent $80 million advertising Nivea through September of this year, per TNS Media Intelligence -- claims this is the first effort of its kind for the brand, in terms of scale and public exposure. "You are going to see, moving forward, a lot more of these kinds of [promotions]," Maurer said of future initiatives for Nivea Lip Care. "We like to do things in a way that is not pretentious, but is still surprising to the consumer."