Gillette - the best an ad can get
Raz Chorev ???????????
CEO, Global Business Builder, Connecting Israelis with Global work opportunities for over 10 years!
*standing up - clapping*
Wow Gillette - you've done it! Your ad has cracked through the shield of obscurity, and you made people talk. People are talking about you, your products, their expectations (from you, as a brand), and their feelings.
What Gillette did is fantastic and worth noting. They've created an advert which evoked enough emotion in people, to make them go online and either defend the brand and their stance on the social issue, or go absolutely nuts, calling for people to Boycott Gillette (Google the hashtag #boycottgillette and see for yourself).
When I say people, I mean the loud minority. Most people don't voice their opinion publicly, neither for or against. Most people who shave on a regular basis, are likely to continue using their favourite shaving razor, and shaving cream. Some may try something else. and the world goes on like it always has.
Sitting on the sidelines and watching this game is my favourite pastime. A marketer's first priority is fighting obscurity. To be noticed first, and stand out. If people don't know about you, how can they buy your products, right? The second priority is to be known for something. To stand out for something. Be Unique.
Procter & Gamble made Gillette as a brand for men. Not for everyone. For men. Their slogan for the last 3-4 decades was - and still is
"The best a man can get"
What this slogan meant when it was first created, was different to what it means now. Society has changed dramatically over the past few decades, and Gillette, true to their core, have changed with it. That's a good thing! In fact - this is quite remarkable! Not many companies manage to do that. Now we can go into a philosophical debate about "who is a man" or "what is a man", but I won't be dragged into that... not now, anyway...
Over the past couple of decades, large companies are expected to be more socially conscious. They are expected to be ethical, and stand for social issues. Some do it more authentically than others. Gillette is not trying to re-define masculinity. They are trying to sell their products, and in order to do that, they need to stand out. They need to be known, and if a controversial ad creates a discussion around a social issue, that's a good thing. When there's a brand associated with it - even better.
Is Gillette likely to lose sales over this? Unlikely. Have they managed to be noticed - absolutely! It's the best an ad can get!
Creative / Brand Lead
5 年Why?
Executive Leader. Communicator. Connector. Inspiring People to Realise Value and Opportunity.
5 年Interesting initiative by Gillette. My perspective is that Gillette needs to back-up their social positioning with their brand image - consistently and regularly. The attached image - although a few years old - doesn't help support their "best a man can get" messaging.??
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5 年To David Morgan point, it certainly points to loftier (inter generational) ambitions that are beyond the scope of this execution alone, otherwise I didn’t feel to bad about it. To me it attempts to appeal to two audiences: 1- men who feel they are / or want to be on the high moral ground of this issue 2- fathers. As to whether these are the appropriate audiences for the brand I guess Mark Ritson sheds some light in his recent post. But compared to their long standing execution on the theme, it does feel like they needed to attempt a reposition.
In time we'll learn whether it's primarily a self serving awareness stunt (manipulating a legitimate social issue), or whether they have loftier objectives for the brand.... ?
As a stunt to raise brand awareness - fame and infamy are comfortable bedfellows... so good stunt, but it's a stunt. For me, as a brand development initiative, it compares poorly relative to the Always work from the same P&G stable, which in its turn compares poorly to the Dove work that Always tried to emulate....?