Case study · Gillette India · Social media

Gillette India The razor as the hero

Social for India's most successful razor launch, and the everyday reasons to shave.

ibs Fulcro ran Gillette India's social feed through the Flexball launch of August 2015 and the campaigns around it, for Flexball, Fusion and Mach3 Turbo. Every creative on this page is a post as it ran. The results are drawn from the campaign's Kyoorius Creative Awards 2016 entry.

Client Gillette India, P&G Launch Flexball, August 2015 Services Social Media Marketing, Content Products Flexball, Fusion, Mach3 Turbo

TL;DR

ibs Fulcro ran social media for Gillette India through the Flexball launch of August 2015 and the campaigns around it. The rule across all of it was that the razor stayed in the frame.

The work follows five chapters. Launch Flexball on its one mechanism, a handle that pivots. Prove the blade with the engineering shown before the claim is made. Give a reason to shave every day with #WillYouShave. Own the moment, from an India versus Pakistan match to Christmas. Then hand the feed to sons and fathers with #TheBestAManCanGet.

The Flexball launch was entered at the Kyoorius Creative Awards 2016 as the most successful razor launch in India. That entry recorded 350 million plus impressions, demand running at five times supply, a tenfold rise in monthly e-commerce shave care sales and e-commerce revenue up 367 percent year on year.

Launch Flexball

The biggest move forward is sideways. The razor writes the benefit in the lather.

Flexball post, the words 24 degrees of awesome written in shaving foam with the razor resting on it

Prove the blade

Show the engineering, then say the claim.

Mach3 Turbo post comparing the razor head with a traditional two-bladed razor

Give a reason to shave

#WillYouShave. Every day has a reason to look your best.

#WillYouShave post, a man shaving, Clean shave, confident start, smooth finish

Own the moment

Cricket with the razor in India colours. Christmas with the most famous beard of the season.

India versus Pakistan post, a green beard half shaved by a razor in India colours, Go wipe em clean Team India

#TheBestAManCanGet

Father's Day, handed to the audience. A foamie with Dad and the stories behind it.

Father's Day post, a father and son both in shaving foam, click a foamie with Dad and thank him for everything

Chapter 1 of 5 · August 2015

Launch Flexball on one mechanism

The biggest move forward is sidewaysExceptional grip at every single turnThe razor writes the benefit in the latherThe razor shaves the negative

The handle pivots. Every launch post showed that one mechanism and nothing else. Then the razor itself did the writing, one claim per post in the foam, the 24-degree pivot, the closeness, the movement, so the product was never out of frame. In the third series the razor shaves a word out of a sentence and changes its meaning.

Flexball launch post, the biggest move forward is sideways, launching the new Flexball — Launch

Flexball launch post, exceptional grip at every single turn, the handle shown pivoting — Launch

24 degrees of awesome, written in shaving foam with the razor — In foam

No hair left behind, written in shaving foam with the razor — In foam

Moves like no other, written in shaving foam with the razor — In foam

We were not meant to be, with the word not shaved away by the razor — Shaves the negative

We can not see each other, with the word not shaved away by the razor — Shaves the negative

I don't think this will work out, with the word don't shaved away by the razor — Shaves the negative

Chapter 2 of 5

Prove the blade

Show the engineering, then say the claim

The Mach3 Turbo post puts the razor head next to a traditional two-bladed razor and lets the comparison make the argument before the copy does. The claim is P&G's own and is reproduced as approved.

"Mach3 blades give a closer, better shave than a new 2-bladed razor, even after 5 weeks"P&G product claim, as published in the post

Mach3 Turbo post, the razor head beside a traditional two-bladed razor, with the claim that Mach3 blades give a closer better shave even after five weeks — Mach3 Turbo

Chapter 3 of 5

#WillYouShave: give a reason to shave

Every day has a reason to look your bestClean shave. Confident start. Smooth finish.Shave it your way

A razor is bought once and used daily, so the feed needed daily reasons rather than launch moments. Each #WillYouShave post sets the ordinary against the unexpected. You might go for your regular evening jog, or get called to an urgent audition. The shave is the thing that makes you ready for either.

#WillYouShave post, today you might go for your regular evening jog, today you might get called to an urgent audition — #WillYouShave

#WillYouShave post, today your boss might ask you for the usual weekly report, today your boss might ask you to meet an important client — #WillYouShave

#WillYouShave post, a couple on a red scooter on an open road, clean shave, confident start, smooth finish — #WillYouShave

#WillYouShave post, a man outside a tent in the snow, shave it your way — Shave it your way

What the Flexball launch delivered

India's most successful razor launch

350M+

Impressions

Across the Flexball launch

5 : 1

Demand to supply

Flexball demand ran at five times supply

10x

Monthly e-commerce shave care sales

Against the pre-launch run rate

+367%

E-commerce revenue

Year on year

Flexball became number one in manual razors and a top-five best-seller in Health and Personal Care on e-commerce. Source: Kyoorius Creative Awards 2016, Integrated Campaign, Large Business, "How Gillette used digital to script its most successful razor launch in India", entered by ibs Fulcro. The entry page does not state the result, and no award is claimed here.

Chapter 4 of 5

Own the moment

Go wipe 'em clean, Team IndiaStorm or stubble, clean sweep guaranteedNot today Santa, not today

When the country was watching something else, the razor turned up inside it. A green beard half shaved in India colours on the day of an India versus Pakistan match. A rain-threatened fixture answered with storm or stubble. At Christmas, the Fusion razor walks into the most famous beard of the season.

Post for a rain-threatened match, a razor against a stormy stadium sky, storm or stubble, clean sweep guaranteed — Cricket

Christmas post, Santa looking alarmed at a Fusion razor held up to his beard, not today Santa, not today — Christmas

Chapter 5 of 5 · Father's Day

#TheBestAManCanGet, handed to the audience

Click a foamie with DadShare the momentShort stories about what fathers did

Sons uploaded a selfie with their father, both in shaving foam, which kept the product in the picture without a pack shot. Alongside it ran a series of short stories about what fathers did, told in a few lines over one photograph each.

Father's Day post, father and son in shaving foam, this Father's Day click a selfie with foam and upload here — Foamie

Father's Day post, father and son in shaving foam, click a foamie with Dad and thank him for everything — Foamie

#TheBestAManCanGet post, a father and son high-five on bicycles at sunset, share an instance that shows your dad is the best a man can get — Share the moment

#TheBestAManCanGet story post, a father running behind a child on a bicycle, push the pedal and look straight, I will be right behind you — Stories

#TheBestAManCanGet story post, a pile of postcards, he has been in the Merchant Navy all his life and sent a postcard from a faraway port that said I miss you — Stories

#TheBestAManCanGet story post, a man walking to a motorcycle at sunset, I want a bike, no, ok but also get a helmet and gloves and never go over 60 — Stories

#TheBestAManCanGet story post, an electric guitar, he got you your first guitar and was the first to shout once more — Stories

#TheBestAManCanGet story post, dice and counters on a board, even after a hard day's work he still had the energy to play Snakes and Ladders with you — Stories

What the work shows

Keep the razor in the frame, and let it do the talking

A razor launch usually shows a face. This one showed a handle pivoting, a word written in foam, a word shaved out of a sentence, a green beard half gone. The product is the device in every post, which is why a feed built across a launch, a cricket season, Christmas and Father's Day still reads as one idea.

The launch numbers came from the same discipline. Demand ran at five times supply because every post was about the one thing the new razor did that the old one did not.

Frequently asked questions

What did ibs Fulcro do for Gillette India?

ibs Fulcro ran Gillette India's social media through the Flexball launch of August 2015 and the campaigns around it, covering Flexball, Fusion and Mach3 Turbo, with the razor kept in the frame of every post.

What results did the Flexball launch deliver?

According to the campaign's Kyoorius Creative Awards 2016 entry, the launch delivered 350 million plus impressions, demand at five times supply, a tenfold rise in monthly e-commerce shave care sales and e-commerce revenue up 367 percent year on year. Flexball became number one in manual razors and a top-five best-seller in Health and Personal Care on e-commerce. The entry does not state whether it won, and no award is claimed.

How was Flexball launched on social media?

On its one mechanism. The handle pivots, and every launch post showed that and nothing else, under the line the biggest move forward is sideways. A second series had the razor write one benefit per post in shaving foam, the 24-degree pivot, the closeness, the movement, and a third had the razor shave a word out of a sentence to change its meaning.

What was #WillYouShave?

A series giving a reason to shave every day rather than only at launch. Each post set the ordinary against the unexpected, a regular evening jog against an urgent audition, the usual weekly report against an important client, with the line clean shave, confident start, smooth finish.

What was #TheBestAManCanGet on Father's Day?

A user-generated campaign. Sons uploaded a selfie with their father, both in shaving foam, so the product stayed in the picture without a pack shot. A series of short stories about what fathers did ran alongside it, a few lines over one photograph each.

Which agency ran Gillette India's Flexball launch on social media?

ibs Fulcro, a digital agency in Mumbai operating as Fulcro Consulting Pvt. Ltd., ran the social media for Gillette India's Flexball launch and entered it at the Kyoorius Creative Awards 2016.