Dive Brief:

• Edgewell Personal Care's shaving brand Schick Hydro debuted a new campaign, "The Man I Am,” produced with MullenLowe, which will run across digital and social media channels, according to a news release sent to Marketing Dive. The video ads star Willie Spence, Kevin Carroll and ZU-nA, men who are not actors and have expressed themselves in a variety of ways in user-generated content. 
• The campaign also includes a web video series with Kevin Love, an NBA star and mental health advocate, that is set to debut in late October. The series, titled "Locker Room Talk," will include conversations with guests about the changing definition of masculinity and empowering men to start their own dialogues. The campaign will help raise money for the Kevin Love Fund, which provides tools to achieve emotional and physical well-being. 
• The company is also partnering with the Movember Foundation, a global charity focused on men's health. Schick Hydro will be the official razor brand of the foundation and will help raise money and awareness about its mission.

Dive Insight:

By focusing on modern portrayals of gender and self-care, Schick Hydro is making a push for younger consumers, as it faces competition from newer brands like Harry's and Dollar Shave Club. Harry's also embraced the themes of redefined masculinity and celebrating men's individuality in an August campaign that starred hip-hop artist and actor Ludacris.

With its new campaign Schick Hydro expands its messaging with a video series featuring Kevin Love, an NBA star known for being open about his personal struggles with mental health. Marketers have been using video series more frequently lately to offer consumers authentic, educational and entertaining content. Viewership of original digital video is on the rise, attracting a younger, more diverse and tech-savvy segment. 

The company's partnership with the Movember Foundation also shows its commitment to raising awareness for men's health issues beyond this campaign, a tactic that will appeal to millennials and Gen Zers. These generations prefer brands to embrace a social cause and are more concerned than older generations with mental health and lifestyle issues. They also have an especially low tolerance for outdated gender portrayals, and are more likely to purchase from brands that go against these stereotypes. 

In addition to Schick and Harry's, men’s clothing brand Bonobos released #EvolveTheDefinition this summer as a movement to question the definition of masculinity. The campaign included a 90-second "micro-documentary" starring a diverse group of men reading definitions of "masculine" and offering their own takes on what it means to be a man.