FINAL CASE STUDY #thebestamancanbe

Abstract My final case study will be reviewing the Gillette campaign launched in January of 2019, challenging the issues men in our society face today related to toxic masculinity and .

Grace Renner [email protected] The case I am examining is the Gillette Razor: The Best a Man Can Be Campaign. This case examines the movement in America that is taking on toxic masculinity and the #MeToo movement that has swept our nation in recent years. On January 13th, 2019 Gillette released a short film related to the campaign featuring men engaging in catcalls, sexism and with narration in the background asking, “is this the best a man can get?”. The video goes on to show male actors calling out other men for bad behavior, sticking up for others who are being bullied and being good role models for the youth of our nation, because “the boys watching today will be the men of tomorrow.” The video also has a snippet of Terry Crews stating during congress testimony that men “need to hold other men accountable.”

The campaign includes a website and a pledge made by Gillette to donate $1 million per- year over the next three years to non-profit organizations executing the most interesting and impactful programs designed to help men of all ages achieve their personal best. According to the Gillette.com website, “30 years ago we launched our tagline “The Best A Man Can Get. As a brand that encourages men to be their best, we are committed to driving change that matters and promoting #TheBestMenCanBe. We’re proud to celebrate men who represent

#TheBestMenCanBe. Men who are advocates, mentors, and leaders in their communities, actively demonstrating what it means to be a great man, every day.” Gillette explains the campaign by stating that “as a company that encourages men to be their best, we have a responsibility to make sure we are promoting positive, attainable, inclusive and healthy versions of what it means to be a man.”

Reception of the campaign came quick after the release of the short film. Everyone had something to say about it. Though there was many positive comments and reception by the public, many viewers found it distasteful and offensive. Gillette faced criticism that they were labeling all men as sexists. The publics and stakeholders of this company, being everyone that purchases Gillette razors. Men, obviously, feeling the most targeted in this campaign. Critics stated it emasculated men. Many critics went on to Twitter and other social media platforms boycotting Gillette and vowing to never buy Gillette razors again. P&G CEO David S. Taylor stated that “the world would be a better place if my board of directors was represented by 50% of women.” Gillette’s North American Brand Director, Panjak Bhalla acknowledges that the company would not have made this ad a decade ago. Bhalla and his team knew the ad would not please everyone. An ad addressing such overtly controversial ideas is inherently risky. With thousands of people talking about this when it happened, it produced mass media attention which is overall good marketing. In all reality it probably stood to gain more customers than it lost. The goal of the ad was to create awareness about the current issues facing men today. Their tactics and strategies were well thought out. Knowing they were going to receive backlash they needed to “back up their words” rather than just making an ad that preaches to men. They set up a 3-year campaign to donate a million dollars a year to organizations that contributed to the development of youth. The majority of the evaluation tools used in measuring the effects of the campaign were related to social media. Since much of the criticism started on YouTube, where the original short video was released. There were 10’s of thousands of negative comments and dislikes to the video.

What was most important in this situation to me, is the message they were conveying.

Gillette took an approach to be more relevant in today’s society and certainly took a gamble deciding to portray this story line and hot topic issue.

The secondary research I would have conducted would have included regional data about who is purchasing Gillette’s product. This would have provided me with information regarding the market mix of strategies needed to attain new customers and build upon the ones already purchasing Gillette products.

The primary research I would have conducted would have had more to do with survey’s.

Asking specific questions about what products consumers are buying and why they chose those products. Is it because of price? Convenience of having things delivered? What is it about the brand that appeals to them? I would gather this information and evaluate the best approach in building a campaign that would produce the most interest in the product.

I would focus on solving the problems of why people are not purchasing Gillette products and why sales have decreased with the introduction of things like Harry’s and Dollar Shave

Club. These company’s provide quality razors at a fraction of the cost of Gillette. I would focus on the opportunities as to why Gillette costs more, and then portray that to the public in a positive light. Is it because the blades are truly better? More durable? Closer shave? Longer lasting? Less likely to have to replace as frequently?

My key messages would focus on the product rather than the current movement happening in society. I think that Gillette’s campaign is a very risky campaign and in the light of the other competition, not something they can truly afford to gamble with currently. I would create a dialogue with the target audience that provided substance and created meaning in regard to the Gillette razors. This would allow Gillette to control communications rather than the communications being controlled by social media. The message could have been different.

I would define my key publics as the people that I am trying to attain as customers for the long term. I would define them as young men and women in todays society. I would attract them to the company by building a campaign that is relatable to their generation. I would reach the demographics that are more likely to purchase products over the internet. I would establish a campaign to get Gillette razors in the mail because much of their market has been lost to these kinds of features.

My goals would be to attain the loyal and long-term customer base that I currently hold as well as attract as many new customers as possible. This is important in attaining a strong future for the company and developing relationships with the target market.

My public relations objectives would consist of building product awareness, creating interest, providing information about the product, stimulating demand for the product, and reinforcing the brand and what it represents. I would have done this by conducting research that challenged the negative feedback and opened a conversation about the reasons why people reacted negatively to the campaign. In my readings it is my understanding that Gillette deleted some of the comments made on their YouTube account related to people who reacted negatively.

I would have had a policy in place that kept hate speech and derogatory comments out of the conversation in order to protect the image of the brand and uphold proper ethics related to the issue.

These connect with the marketing objectives by being relevant and relatable to the target market that I am trying to reach. By maintaining a firm stance on the topic, I would create a conversation with the public about challenging the current issues men are facing. Challenging them to break down the stereotypes and encourage behavior that will have everlasting impact on future generations.

I would implement a conversation to be had on social media platforms asking people to tag behavior that is uplifting and inspiring. I would encourage people to nominate men that are good role models in their community and have a follow up story on each of these men and why and how they are making a difference. I noticed on the website of Gillette that they have recognized a few men throughout the country, but I would put into play a program where a new story is being showcased every week. Demonstrating the true acts of what it means to be the best a man can be.

I know that with all campaigns there would be backlash, negative commentary, judgement on the approach taken to define the best that a man can be. It would be important to maintain a strong stance and listen to feedback, acknowledge comments that might have negative things to say, with kindness and an open mind.

I would evaluate the success of my objectives by the sales of the product. This is a campaign that would take awhile to see positive impact, therefore being consistent with the campaign would be of high importance. Keeping the conversation going and encouraging weekly submissions as well as weekly stories featured on the website, twitter, , Facebook, and

YouTube. I would also try to generate more publicity regarding the campaign by contacting the

Ellen show. I am sure this is a campaign that she would show interest in.

I would evaluate the success of my tactics by watching a generation of young men and women being inspired by acts of goodness and kindness. I would also be interested in knowing more ways that we can connect with the future generations of Gillette buyers and develop campaigns that would speak to them. Examples would be like having a Gillette TikTok page featuring men and women shaving or promoting the product in some way. In order to generate more revenue, I would have to connect to the younger generations and keep them invested in my company. The only way to do that is to be relevant to them in today’s society and be interested in what matters to them. Bibliography

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