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From Minority Report to the comedy club:Reinventing King of Shaves

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Getting to the root of the problem Shaving is a category with rock-solid conventions. The men are smooth in every sense of the word,

blessed with all of the traditional external trappings of success: corporate jobs, large and expensive

houses, and beautiful women. From Gillette paying a fortune for sports star endorsement, to King of Shave’s own Sexy Shave campaign, it’s as if the 1980’s never ended. The daily shave is portrayed as a macho ritual requiring NASA-level technology, to an extent that

inspires parody. The focus has been on traditional TV spots, outdoor and sports sponsorship, with

some fairly unsuccessful forays into social media, while in-store is a sea of brightly coloured razors

and price promotions. Not only is this an uninspiring orthodoxy, but one that Gillette has all sewn up; so there is absolutely

no point in trying to compete on these terms. None at all.

So what else is going on? It can be hard to be a man these days. 50 years ago, to care about your appearance (beyond being

suited and booted) marked you as unusual: a pansy, a dandy, or just a bit girly. Now, it’s increasingly

expected. There’s more pressure than ever to look good, whether it’s the beefcakes self -consciously

doing press-ups on Bondi or hipsters with artfully tailored hair in Shoreditch.

We can also see this trend in the huge increase in the number of men embracing plastic surgery,

while expenditure has risen dramatically on male grooming products. One commentator even

believes “the appalling burden of sartorial and cosmetic effort is being shifted from women on to

men”. Beauty products are sneaking into mens’ lives, but without the clear signposts that women havealways had from their mums, friends and the media.

On the other hand, there has been a clear move away from the traditional chiseled role model in

mass media. The rise of the geeks has seen Mark Zuckerberg anointed Time person of the year,

Jesse Eisenberg named the latest heart throb and Judd Apatow films ruling Hollywood. The latter

have turned the concept of the suave film star on its head, with tales of drop-outs and the less than

physically perfect succeeding in life and then getting the girl. There seems to be a tension here: ‘real world’ pressure on male body image, set against Hollywood

escapism which reassures that looks and ‘traditional’ achievements aren’t the most important thing.

How does this affect our audience? This tension resonates most with our target audience, Anxious Achievers. Educated and professional,

they display a confident front to the world, but sometimes feel a bit confused about their place in it.

Almost certainly University-educated, they feel the pressure to climb a traditional corporate ladder

and probably wear a suit to work.

In a lot of ways, they are fairly conservative, and hold traditional values of wanting to be a

breadwinner and a ‘success’, yet feel that everything seems a bit harder these days. The recession

may have damaged their career prospects, while they certainly feel that gym visits are necessary to

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keep in shape, especially before their annual holiday away. They’ve started seeing wrinkles, and,

unlike their fathers, this worries them and makes them feel old.

The ritual of shaving, by forcing them to look in the mirror, makes them more aware of the condition

of their skin. They’re reluctantly starting to use grooming products but feel overwhelmed by the

selection in Boots, and – unlike with women – it’s not the kind of thing you discuss with your mates.

Age is less important, but broadly our Anxious Achievers will be older than the 15-24 bracket who

are shaving less, but younger than older men who generally prefer a dry shave; mostly, but not

exclusively, 25 to 40.

The King is dead. Long live the King: A new ideology

Anxious Achievers could do with some help in feeling good about themselves. Not for getting the

girl, climbing the corporate ladder, or being an accomplished sportsman, like the shaving ads tell

them – but actually just for being them, doing normal stuff.

There’s no doubt that the daily shaving ritual is part of being a man. After all, it’s something thatonly men can do. But shaving marketing has layered this simple idea with outdated expectations

about what ‘being a man’ means.

In a world of increasing pressure for men, these old ideas of masculinity don’t help. It’s time for a

new attitude, where individualism is celebrated over conformity.

King of Shaves can champion men feeling good about the way they look. We believe that being a

man comes from the inside, and it’s about being true to yourself.

Our heroes will be the funny men, the unconventional and the clever. The ones finding their own

path.

We are going to make Anxious Achievers feel like Shaving Kings.

Source material: The rise of stand-up Michael McIntyre’s success epitomises something interesting happening in stand-up comedy at the

moment. It’s a shift away from sharp, vicious commentary to material that is funny, but

unthreatening. He’s not cruel and definitely not cool – yet so popular that he’s the first comedian to

be a judge in a major talent show franchise. Going to one of his gigs, you’re never going to feel as if 

you could be picked on. Russell Howard is another while across the pond, Steve Carell does much

the same job. It’s old-fashioned fun at its best; what could be more apt when we’re trying to make

our audience feel good about themselves? Even better, comedy like this, whether it’s a two hour gig or a two minute YouTube video, represent

moments of no worries. It’s not about what the comedian looks like, or the big stuff, but everyday

ephemera. Every-one can identify with it. King of Shaves can tap into this, providing our Anxious Achievers with moments of uncomplicated

happiness and escape from daily pressures. Cultural tactics For starters, the packaging has to change. There’s no point being in the same bottles as everyone

else if we want to put clear blue water between King of Shaves and its competitors. To mark a move

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away from an obsession with technology, the new packaging will have absolutely no science claims -

farewell, ‘thinner endurium nano coating’.

Secondly, promotion. Comedy will be the main driver: King of Shaves will launch the Close Shave

comedy festival, beginning with the hunt for a new comic ‘face’ for the brand. As a publicity stunt to

launch, we’ll find high-profile comedians to do some ‘guerilla stand-up’. They’ll be undercover asbuskers in places like Covent Garden, with secret cameras trained on passers by to see how long it is

before they’re clocked.

The comedian we are looking for will be funny, but not threatening, nasty or insulting: think a male

Natalie Tran. Finalists will go on a King of Shaves sponsored comedy tour, with a potential on-pack

tie-in to get tickets. The clips from entrants and finalists will also be important. Blokes can sign up for

a daily joke video clip, which will be sent to them every morning at 9am, just after they’ve arrived at

work and are starting to feel the pressure.

The best, as voted for by fans, can potentially be used as TV spots (budget permitting). Our new

‘face’ will also star in a high-profile TV ad which explicitly references Gillette, taking a satirical look attraditional shaving ads in a funny and light-hearted way.

Our manifesto 

It can feel hard to be a man these days.

But it doesn’t have to be. Especially if we discard shaving brands which treat men like macho idiots

who define themselves with a six-pack and yuppie job.

Frankly, we think life is too short. We’ve seen how damaging media-contrived images of perfection

can be to women’s self -esteem, and we refuse for the same thing to happen to us.

We’re for the funny men, the unconventional and the clever.

So we’re calling on men to fight back. To reject unobtainable perfection. To aspire to so much more:

individuality, independence and character. Our Shaving Kings like to make their mates laugh, not

make them jealous.

We want to help them escape the daily pressures of their lives by giving them moments of 

uncomplicated pleasure.

Because there’s more to life than caressing your face in the mirror after shaving with a razor that

could have been nicked off the set of Minority Report.