Title	GILLETTE - BABY FACE
Brand	P&G
Product/Service	GILLETTE
Category	F01. Excellence in Media Insights & Strategy
Entrant	ACW GREY TEL AVIV, ISRAEL
Idea Creation	ACW GREY TEL AVIV, ISRAEL

Name	Company	Position
Tal Riven	ACW GREY TEL AVIV	Chief creative manager
Shai Almagor	ACW GREY TEL AVIV	SVP Account Director
Moti Rubinstein	ACW GREY TEL AVIV	Creative Director
Shay Chikotay	ACW GREY TEL AVIV	Copywriter
Etai Haivri	ACW GREY TEL AVIV	Art Director
Oren Alster	ACW GREY TEL AVIV	UX/UI
Yaron Farizon	Mediacom Connections	Ideation
Yaron Farizon	Mediacom Connections	Ideation
Shimi Hamias	Mediacom Connections	Ideation and strategy
Dana Wolfsfeld	Mediacom Connections	Communication Planning and Ideation
Roey Barkan	Mediacom Connections	Digital strategy and activation
Yulia Shavelzon	Mediacom Connections	Negotiations and trade
Gilad Kat	Mediacom Connections	Ideation and activation
Gal Yaakov	ACW GREY TEL AVIV	Agency Production Manager
Israel Revach	ACW GREY TEL AVIV	Agency Producer
Gal Vash	ACW GREY TEL AVIV	Account executive
Rami Rushkevitz	Grey Content	Media strategy
Ilan Tsinman	Grey Content	Branded Content
Mondher Cherif	Tanvas	Tech Lead
Greg Topel	Tanvas	Tech Lead
Jamaal Hollins	Tanvas	Software design
Ariel Van Straten	Ariel Van Straten	Photography
Galit Saar	Stern Ariely Saar	PR

Why is this work relevant for Media?

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.

Background

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.

Describe the creative idea/insights

We realized that the last opportunity to change behavior 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 Hormone 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 behavior 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

Describe the 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

Describe the 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.

List the results

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 favor 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%.