Dollar Shave Club hits 40,000 stores with a song in its heart and a six-bladed razor

Dollar Shave Club is heralding a big move into brick-and-mortar retail with its biggest ad campaign in years and a unique proposition—the first six-bladed razor and a pack that lets people try the six- or four-bladed version to see which they like best. A 30-second “We Got You” spot and a second 15-second spot highlighting the six- and four-blade choice mark DSC’s first appearance on TV since the middle of last year and biggest campaign in years, says Chief Marketing Officer Kristin Harrer. It’s also the first spot since the change of leadership that saw Co-Founder and former ad front man Michael Dubin step down as CEO into an advisory role and Jason Goldberger step in as CEO of the Unilever brand. And the message is largely continuity, even with a big change from a pure-play direct-to-consumer subscription brand to one rolling into 40,000 U.S. stores after a brief trial run in a limited number of Walmart stores in October. The ads, as has been the style of DSC’s in-house agency in recent years, are musical and kitschy odes to how its products solve problems ranging from heavy back hair to maintaining nether regions—the latter portrayed with deft use of tennis balls. DSC became the No. 2 U.S. men’s shaving brand as a direct-to-consumer pure play, but rival Harry’s has made major inroads since its launch into brick-and-mortar three years ago. “As we launch into retail, we know we have to invite exponentially more people into the DSC family, and push the limit on the entertainment factor,” Harrer says. “So, we’ve leaned into music and have fun with a diverse cast of people and an equally wide range of real guys’ grooming problems.” The razor industry’s seemingly endless march toward more blades ground to a halt 15 years ago with five-blade offerings from Procter & Gamble Co.’s Gillette and Edgewell’s Schick. DSC is the first major brand to push the frontier to six, though South Korea’s Dorco, which makes DSC blades, also has a six-bladed version on the market under its own label. That extra blade may not help everyone, and certainly many guys have their doubts. So, DSC is offering a pack that lets them try a four- or six-blades cartridge side by side on the same handle. “When we asked guys what grooming problems could we solve,” Harrer says, “one of biggest one is guys not knowing which blade to use for their hair type.”

Dollar Shave Club hits 40,000 stores with a song in its heart and a six-bladed razor

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