On May 28, Gillette launched a new marketing campaign as a tie-in with the new Superman movie, Man of Steel. The objective of the campaign was to create conversations between people around the question “How does Superman shave?”
So far, there have been positive effects from the campaign, which counts 51 million impressions on twitter and the campaign videos being viewed 1.8 million times. As a marketing strategy for Gillette, this is not just an attempt to entertain its consumers regarding the details of Superman’s facial upkeep, rather it is an attempt by Proctor & Gamble to play catch up with the latest trends of social marketing. By working with Warner Bros., Gillette is hoping to enter a different social crowd and make itself more noticed.
Last year, the Dollar Shave Club made a cheap campaign for its mail-order razors which has really poked holes in the marketing strategies of Gillette as well as other major razor brands who have been leaders for many years. By using a unique sense of humour and fun, the Dollar Shave Club created an ad campaign that went viral and helped them get noticed. In July alone, The Dollar Shave Club shipped approximately 1 million cartridges to its 300,000 members. Check out their video campaign by clicking the link below:
https://ca.dollarshaveclub.com/
To add to the problem, the shaving business is plummeting, as more men adopt to a stubble or full grown beard as the new go-to look. This is causing concern for razor sellers that depend on men keeping their faces nice and smooth in order to increase sales. Sales of razors, like Schick’s Hydro and Gillette’s Fusion and their disposable blades, dropped 6 percent last quarter, while unit sales volume plummeted 10 percent.
Will this be a major concern for Gillette and other razor giants?
