Fan or not of Bravo TV’s reality show hit “Vanderpump Rules,” when news broke of a cheating scandal involving three of the show’s castmates in the most recent season, the web’s uproar was tough to disregard. Looking to market around the excitement, BIC saw a chance to partner with Ariana Madix, the victim of the infidelity, to generate a quick-witted social media play addressing one other of life’s “irritants” — a clogged razor.
While seemingly an unlikely match, the spontaneous tie-up between Madix and BIC is supposed to advertise the brand’s latest EasyRinse line of razors and pairs with its larger campaign, “All Shave. No Clog.” The move, which yielded a comical spot spanning Madix and BIC’s social channels, linear TV and YouTube TV, has to date paid dividends, boosting sales of the ladies’s EasyRinse razor by 35% within the two weeks following the initial post and unlocking the best social media engagement for BIC’s razor division inside the past two years.
For Katie Potocki, marketing director of blade excellence for BIC, the collaboration was a no brainer because the brand angles to form an authentic connection with consumers.
“This was really unusual within the sense that I believe quite a lot of people can relate to what has happened with the connection with Ariana,” said Potocki. “We felt that it matched her personality and particularly matched BIC’s personality.”
The falling out of Madix and reality star Tom Sandoval — which has been dubbed the “Scandoval” — is a transparent reference point in BIC’s 30-second spot. Throughout the video, Madix is seen cleansing her surroundings, noting that she’s able to speak about something that’s been keeping her from living her best life, with the “something” later revealed as a razor filled with hair. With BIC EasyRinse, the star claims she is capable of kickstart a latest “unclogged” chapter of her life.
Since its launch, the video has gained 1 million views on TikTok, 20.5 million views on Instagram Reels and nearly 450,000 views on YouTube. The effort moreover marks the best social media engagement rate to this point for the EasyRinse line specifically since its March unveiling. Moving quickly for the trouble was key, Potocki said, noting that the time between ideation and production was around three weeks.
Aside from social media, additional marketing muscle got here from airing the spot during all three “Vanderpump Rules” reunion episodes over the past few weeks on linear TV and YouTube TV, with the last episode airing on Wednesday (June 7). For each week, the brand added a distinct end-card to the spot inclusive of an on-theme one-liner, the most recent reading “because karma is a vibe,” underneath the “All Shave. No Clog.” tagline.
The linear TV media buy marks a departure from typical tactics deployed by the brand, but was essential to establishing a deeper connection with the viewers of the show, which have proven worthwhile, Potocki said.
“While that’s not typically where we start, as we have a look at the patron journey and where our goal consumer is, it made sense to succeed in those Bravo enthusiasts,” the exec said.
Over the past five years, Potocki and the BIC team have observed that the razor division’s goal consumer has gravitated toward social and digital platforms and away from traditional channels, the exec continued. Accordingly, the larger “All Shave. No Clog.” campaign for the EasyRinse line focuses on such platforms. The campaign kicked off on the primary day of spring, a time labeled by BIC as “The Great Spring Unclog,” featuring comedian Eric Andre and actor Annie Murphy, who starred in a 30-second streaming and digital spot of their very own.
Along with streaming, social media, PR activations and retail displays, amongst other activations, a concentrate on influencer marketing, resembling the collaboration with Madix, is a primary focus for the campaign, which is able to last through 2024. While influencer activations for a lot of brands have been dominated by social media creators in recent times, celebrity buzz has continued to be desired by marketers, as seen following the “Vanderpump Rules” uproar. Along with BIC, Madix has recently formed partnerships with other brands, like finance app SoFi, fast-food chain Raising Canes and Frito-Lay. For Potocki, such partnerships are critical to driving relevancy.
“We’re in a really crowded market,” the exec said. “The razor category is incredibly competitive and ensuring that we relate not only in our feature message but in addition what’s current, what’s cultural, what matters, is absolutely essential.”
Creative for BIC’s Madix tie-up was handled by agency M Booth, while paid buys through the “Vanderpump Rules” reunion episodes were handled by Merkley.
BIC has often tapped into popular culture to market its products, with the most recent effort no different. Another flashy move by the corporate got here earlier this 12 months through a partnership with Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson and Martha Stewart around 4/20, a preferred holiday celebrating weed culture, to advertise its EZ Reach Lighter. Last 12 months, BIC-owned reusable notebook brand Rocketbook teamed with forged members of popular series “The Office” to make a play on the fictional paper company’s switch to reusable products.
For the duration of the “All Shave. No Clog.” campaign, BIC plans to look for extra opportunities to tap into cultural moments to share “unclogged” wisdom, in accordance with the exec.
“We proceed to search for moments to amplify, like we did with Ariana, once we discover a moment where we will unclog a situation, unclog a life, we are going to tap into it,” Potocki said.
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