Razor brand Dollar Shave Club launched an improved version of its razor with a campaign featuring creative inspired by its own customers.
As a 14-year-old brand, Dollar Shave Club’s goal was to get back to its roots: being a razor for the everyday, normal guy, said Nikki Frisz, Senior Director of Marketing. The brand hosted 23 male customers on a three-day retreat where they tried the new razor and brainstormed marketing ideas.
“We went into this and we had no idea what they would say, what they would do,” she said. “We knew we wanted to get back to that core, no-B.S.-essence.”
When Dollar Shave Club launched in 2011 its marketing humor was edgy, Frisz said. But this was lost when large corporation Unilever acquired the brand in 2016 for $1 billion. In 2023, Unilever sold its majority share in the brand to private equity firm Nexus Capital Management, and this new ownership allows Dollar Shave Club to return to its founding marketing practices, according to Frisz.
“One of the things that we realized is under that leadership we got a little bit watered down,” she said. “We lost some of that edge and that spark and the humor irreverence that made Dollar Shave Club what it was and what made it so great prior to that. We’re really on that mission to refine that level of humor, that core essence and bring that back to life.”
Dollar Shave Club Taps its Customers for an ‘Out of House’ Marketing Agency
The consumer packaged goods brand emailed its subscribers and posted a solicitation on social media to go on “one hell of an adventure and foolishness” retreat with Dollar Shave Club, all expenses paid for 72 hours. To apply, the men answered a couple of questions and put together a video about themselves.
The brand’s production company Humanaut screened the applicants, and 23 men were chosen for the retreat in Chattanooga, Tenn., which is Humanaut’s headquarters.
The men, which ranged in ages and occupations, tried the razor and brainstormed marketing taglines for the product. The brand also worked to make it fun, such as having an after-hours party, allowing the men to use T-shirt cannons and stilt walkers, and serving French fries whenever they desired.
On a riff of “in-house agency,” Dollar Shave Club dubbed the group their “out-of-house” agency and named them The Order of the Blade. The brand gave them their own website and social media group, and they might use them again in the future.
The Taglines Get Silly to Capture Attention
For the past few years Dollar Shave Club has developed a new razor that has sharper blades and an improved lubrication strip to replace its two razor blades, the Classic Four Blade and Signature Six Blade razors.
“It’s our biggest innovation probably in the past couple of years, so … who better to help us figure out the best way to launch that than the people that actually use the product every day?” Frisz said.
And like normal, everyday men, they just kept repeating that the razor was “Sharp A.F.” And so that tagline is on Dollar Shave Club’s billboards, acquisition ads and emails.
“There’s a couple of different funny phrases that you’d see out in the wild and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe they’re putting that on a billboard.’ And, ‘I can’t believe that’s what you’re saying.’” Frisz said. “‘Me shave’ was another one that the guys were loving and thought was hilarious. I’m not a copywriter, but I would never come up with ‘Me Shave’ as our campaign. So good ideas come from anywhere.”
Other taglines include:
- Time isn’t real. Like Birds.
- Quit microwaving fish
- I thought it was bullcrap ’till I used it
- Hey hun, this razor lasts longer than me
These are examples of humor that would likely not fly under Unilever ownership.
Beyond humor, these phrases are meant to capture attention and engage consumers in a different way, while still on brand. This is the trend in marketing today, Frisz said, where the consumer journey is not linear and marketing doesn’t always have to be selling-focused.
“Part of the fun thing about marketing nowadays is consumers don’t want to be only forced a product,” she said. “You don’t want to be shoving down their throat, ‘Hey this is a better razor, this is a sharp razor.’ They want something that’s authentic. They want something that makes them laugh, that gets their attention in a different way.”
Goals and Execution for the Campaign
The campaign launched in mid-September with the debut of its new razors, which are at the same price point. It plans to run the campaign through the end of the year with digital ads, out-of-home ads and influencers.
Dollar Shave Club came up with idea of using real men in May and launched the campaign in mid-September, which was an “incredibly fast” execution, Frisz said.
The investment in this type of creative was roughly the same as creating a normal campaign with actors, she said.
The deployment of the campaign, however, is the brand’s largest marketing investment within the past five years.
Dollar Shave Club also has several experiential initiatives planned with the blade launch including an activation in 10 different cities for an “immersive games experience.” The idea is that Dollar Shave Club is showing its best razor and consumers are invited to show their best with a bunch of ridiculous games, Frisz said.
In addition, the brand is hosting a tailgate popup on 10 college campuses during football games to promote its university-branded handles.
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