Gillette: Case study

Credits & Description:

Brand PROCTOR & GAMBLE
Entrant MEDIACOM CONNECTIONS TEL AVIV
MEDIACOM CONNECTIONS Tel Aviv, Israel Entrant Company
MEDIACOM CONNECTIONS Tel Aviv, Israel Idea Creation
ACW GREY TEL AVIV Tel Aviv, Israel Idea Creation
TANVAS Chicago, USA Production
STERN ARIELY Tel Aviv, Israel PR
MEDIACOM CONNECTIONS Tel Aviv, Israel Media Placement
GREY CONTENT Tel Aviv, Israel Media Placement
Tal Riven ACW Grey Tel-Aviv Ideation
Moti Rubinstein ACW Grey Tel-Aviv Ideation and design
Shay Chikotay ACW Grey Tel-Aviv Ideation and copywriting
Etai Haivri ACW Grey Tel-Aviv Art
Oren Alster ACW Grey Tel-Aviv UX/UI
Maayan Galili P&G Israel Insight and strategy
Liron Schifter P&G Israel Activation
Michal Heller Dor P&G Israel Activation
Ophir Guttman P&G Israel Ideation and strategy
Yaron Farizon Mediacom Connections Tel-Aviv Strategy
Shimi Hamias Mediacom Connections Tel-Aviv Communication Planning and Activation
Dana Wofsfeld Mediacom Connections Tel-Aviv Communication Planning
Roey Barkan Mediacom Connections Tel-Aviv Digital planning and activation
Yulia Shavelzon Mediacom Connections Tel-Aviv Media Negotiations and Trade
Gilad Kat Mediacom Connections Tel-Aviv Communication Planning
Shai Almagor ACW Grey Tel-Aviv Account Management
Gal Vash ACW Grey Tel-Aviv Account Management
Gal Yaacov ACW Grey Tel-Aviv Production
Israel Revach ACW Grey Tel-Aviv Production
Rami Rushkevitz Grey Content Activation
Ilan Tsinman Grey Content Activation
Grey Topel Tanvas Tech Lead
Mondher Cherif Tanvas Tech Production and Activation
Jamaal Hollins Tanvas Tech Lead
Galit Saar Stern Ariely Saar PR
Ariel Van Straten AVS Photographer
Guy Michael Guy Michael TVC director

Synopsis
When your job is to sell razors, beards are bad news. And in recent years beards have been everywhere. Among certain groups of younger men, almost everyone has a beard. In Israel, the figure is around 40% for all ages.
Beards means that less people shave and those who do shave, shave less often. As market leader Gillette takes the biggest hit.
When beards first became cool we were pretty relaxed. They’ll change when they get their first job we thought. But, in-fact, the opposite happened. Even the boss now has stubble…
Our objective was to find a way to reverse the rising tide of facial hair before it was too late.
Strategy
.Central to our message was touch and our strategy would look to be based on four key principles:
Firstly, we would highlight new/expecting parents to raise awareness to the importance of "Skin To Skin" communication.
Second, we would put that skin sensation in their hands and be much more experiential. A unique digital experience would allow men to feel what it’s like to touch a beard or stubble and contrast that with a smooth-shaven face.
Third, we would focus our message on moments when new mums and dads were thinking about their newborn or about to be born.
Finally, we would involve the mums too by presenting many of our message at times when they would be watching, ensuring they added additional pressure for their man to “do one little thing” for the baby.
After all, mums make huge sacrifices to give birth.
Relevancy
Beards were big. And bushy. And that was bad news for Gillette, a brand that had promised the closest, cleanest, most precise shave for years.
To make Gillette relevant again we identified the last possible opportunity to persuade Millennials to consider shaving, the moment they became dads.
We identified a powerful insight around the power of touch and its importance for new born babies as they seek to bond with dad and mum and used media to transform Gillette into a brand that understands today’s multiple forms of manhood.
Outcome
The media immediately picked up on our skin to skin story and discussions around the research and insights it is based on earned media value in excess of US$200,000.
We generated 40,000 contacts in just three days at baby fairs, spreading our message of smooth-faced dads and gained a further 30,000 contacts at parents-to-be classes.
Post campaign research found a 15% boost in consideration to shave amongst bearded dads. What’s even more interesting, non-fathers in favour of clean shaving grew 30%.
And despite the fact that bearded new dads are just a fraction of the category’s user base and Gillette as a market leader already had nearly 80% of the market we still saw a 9% increase in sales.
More importantly we also changed the way men feel about Gillette and independent equity scores for Gillette is “a brand that understands me” rose by 17%.
Execution
Our campaign worked in four stages:
First, we built awareness of the emotional power of touch. TV spots celebrated dad’s willingness to make sacrifices for their newborn.
Second, we showed dads what stubble felt like to babies. Print ads in leading male magazines used sandpaper to bring the experience to life, while a unique, first of its kind haptics technology app, allowed men to run their finger over the screen to feel actual beard stubble.
Thirdly, we went to meet new dads, promoting the app at baby-fairs, and at preparation-for-birth courses as well as having a Gillette branded shaving-booth in Israel’s biggest maternity ward, where 10% of all the country’s babies are delivered.
And finally, we also created an online daddy's club, customizing sister brand Pampers’ vast information bank to provide guidance on key moments such as how to make a first bath.
Campaign Description
We realised that the last opportunity to change behaviour was when men become dads. It’s a moment when they are prepared to make radical changes… for their baby.
We identified a critical insight: Newborn babies’ only means of communication is via touch. Research by Harvard University and The Boston Children's Hospital has proven that "Love Hormones" released right after birth and "skin to skin"/ Touch communication help babies' development as they learn to trust their parents.
It was a powerful message but not one that gelled with traditional Gillette communication. To change behaviour we would also have to create a new strategy for Gillette.
We needed to demonstrate that the brand understood there were multiple ways to be a man. We would use “fatherhood” as a means to portray a richer, more updated and relevant depiction of men. We would celebrate the emotional, caring side of manhood.