The evolution of male grooming

John Wanamaker is famously credited with the phrase ‘half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half’.?

And that is the trouble with mass marketing products to half of the population. Long before the 1990’s, grooming & beauty product advertising has sought to appeal to either sex and within that 50%, carve out a specific segment of which to achieve growth while potentially offending the other half.??

Nowadays honing in on a specific bullseye audience creatively speaking to capture the lion’s share of that 50% is a tall feat. While comedy or shock would have united segments through talkability in the past, they can sometimes divide or alienate causing brands to take a more tactful approach in recent times.?

My first memory of being targeted with a male grooming ad was in 1995. It was by Lynx with one of their many talkable campaigns that featured Jennifer Aniston positioned not as the beauty the everyman (read: skinny nerd) was pining after but she was the doting girlfriend.?

For its time, Lynx was at the forefront of male grooming for the teen and pre-teens in Ireland. Lynx Africa has inserted itself into Irish pop culture as a stalwart of a Christmas stocking for boys aged 10-35 which is a testament to the brand’s positioning and influence on boys or to the wider target of parents / grandparents. Gift Sets would fly out the door showing up under the three as part of a 3-set with aftershave that would knock out a wildebeest based on the levels of which I’d apply it with a no money, less sense approach to my formative years.

Skipping forward to 2006, Lynx were keeping in-line with their outlandish creative comm’s and values with this ad that garnished a considerable amount of fame with their key target audience while raising eyebrows of a section outside of it.?

In recent years however, most brands have taken a more tactful approach to men’s grooming ad campaigns while others have injected corporate & social responsibility into theirs.?

Old Spice rejuvenated the brand with the zany off the wall humour of the man on a horse, echoing back to previous decades but appealing to many generations simultaneously, including my grandfather in decades gone-by.

Gillette have a proven track recorded of ‘man shaving in front of the mirror’ campaigns which historically ended with a model and a hugging embrace but has now moved onto sports stars sans female associate e.g Raheem Sterling to appeal to younger males and ultimately future proofing their sales amid stiffer and cheaper competition.?

Gone are the days of risqué mass-marketing as sense and sensibilities have evolved. Water-cooler campaigns that you would discuss in the playground / yard or now the group chat tend to be more for brands missing the mark rather than hitting it.?

While established brands have long dominated TV as a medium, smaller brands have surfaced on Social promoting products that will whiten teeth (HiSmile), eliminate dark eye circles (Lumen), prevent hair loss(Sons). This allows them to cut up the aforementioned ‘50%’ based on interests and intent, stretching their budget without ever having to pick up the phone to Jennifer Anniston’s agent.