Brief:
- Schick Hydro, the brand of razors and shaving products marketed by Edgewell Personal Care, rolled out a campaign with the #ShaveFromHome hashtag on Instagram to help men with personal grooming as COVID-19 lockdowns keep them from seeing their barbers, per an announcement shared with Mobile Marketer.
- Schick hired several out-of-work barbers to create virtual grooming tutorials at its @SchickHydro account and their personal accounts on Instagram. Those stylists include Kyle Krieger, who has a big celebrity clientele in Los Angeles, and Anthony Gianotti, a barber educator and owner of the Bottle & Barlow barbershop in Sacramento, California.
- Schick is also raising money for unemployed barbers who face financial hardship because of the pandemic. It's urging Instagram users to donate to the National Association of Barbers, which will distribute money to out-of-work and independent barbers throughout the U.S. The brand will match up $50,000 in donations, per its announcement.
Insight:
Schick Hydro's #ShaveFromHome campaign comes as millions of men are prevented from going to barbershops during the pandemic. The category was among the businesses ordered to close as health officials urged people to stay home and help curb the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus.
Those limitations have helped to inspire social media memes as people share photos of how their appearance has changed while being stuck at home, with thousands of selfies marked with the #quarantinebeard and #lockdownbeard tags. The lockdowns have spawned sites like YouProbablyNeedAHaircut.com that let people book a video chat with a stylist who coaches them on how to cut their own hair, Digital Trends reported. With millions of people turning to social media to stay connected, Schick can participate in conversations about grooming by offering expert tips from barbers while also touting its brand of shaving products.
The #ShaveFromHome campaign reinforces a proactive message that Schick is doing its part to help people get through the pandemic by also helping to raise money for barbers facing financial hardship during lockdowns. That messaging is important as people tend to favor brands that demonstrate a greater social consciousness. Ninety percent of consumers said it's important for brands to take care of employees during this crisis, while 84% want to see brands contribute to society and 80% want brands to show empathy, per a recent Morning Consult survey of 2,200 U.S. adults. Schick's campaign aligns well with those current consumer attitudes and is among those that show support for social causes that resonate with consumers. Brands such as Cottonelle, Honda, Michelob Ultra, Pebbles cereal and Snapchat also have touted their efforts to provide relief to people during the pandemic.
The #ShaveFromHome campaign shows Schick's willingness to maintain or even lift its public profile as many advertisers cancel, delay or revamp their marketing during the pandemic. Schick is somewhat fortunate in that its products are still available in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchants that are considered essential businesses and remain open. While retail sales fell a record 8.7% in March from the prior month, grocery stores reported a 13% jump, and health and personal care stores saw a 3.2% gain as people stockpiled necessities, per the U.S. Commerce Department.
Schick's parent company Edgewell will offer a better picture of how lockdowns have affected sales when it reports Q1 earnings, likely next month. The company this month announced its factories and distribution centers remain operational during the pandemic.
