DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB: A BILLION $ COMPANY THAT RE-SELLS RAZORS

Monthly Subscribers: 3.9 million

Est. Annual Revenue: $263 million

Est. Valuation: $1 Billion +

Product: Re-sold razors

Company: DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB

No, seriously. It’s a billion-dollar company that re-sell razors.

What is the Dollar Shave Club?

Dollar Shave Club is an American company, that operates a subscription model service. They deliver razors and other personal grooming products directly to subscribers doorsteps every month.

Dollar Shave Club works on a trading model. It procures goods in bulk from other companies (eg. razor from Dorco USA) and sells them at a profit.

Don’t get me wrong, the subscription model is one of the hottest business models around nowadays. Not to mention, the fact that DSC was the first to market the subscription model in this niche.

Let me be honest with you though, DSC’s business model wasn’t the limiting factor of their success. It was a combination of identifying a gap in the market, executing the perfect solution, oh and don’t forget the most important aspect… their unique and quirky approach to marketing.

Breaking Down The Strategy

It’s not often a business’ marketing strategy is bang on the money from the start. However, with DSC, it was exactly that.

In 2012, Mark Levine and Michael Dubin (founders of DSC) were all set to launch their brand new business. But they weren’t going to fall into the trap of marketing their product in the same boring and generic way that the rest of the bathroom products industry was doing at the time. Instead, Michael knew they had to tap into the emotions of potential club members. Given his passion for improv comedy and experience producing marketing videos, Michael decided to create a launch video that broke all the rules and boy did it work.

The launch video casually titled “Our Blades Are F**king Great” (shown above), went mega-viral and amassed an incredible 27 million views on YouTube alone. More than some of the biggest creators on the platform get.

DSC made its marketing approach clear from the off. They would be revolutionizing the personal care industry. No more boring razor ad’s showing a guy with a smooth face after shaving. Instead, they would be comedic, and actually entertaining for their audience.

By approaching their audience in such an informal way - comedic videos on social media platforms - they created a huge contrast between them and the other personal care brands. This is as DSC wasn’t trying to push their revolutionary new razor, because… well they were just re-selling basic Dorca razors. Whilst Gillette was trying to sell a product; DSC was selling a brand. This allows DSC to form much deeper and informal connections with customers who relate to the brand’s humour.

DSC didn’t just put out a funny video or two though, oh no. DSC made comedy the forefront of their marketing and even their brand. Everything from its marketing to its onboarding, from its packaging to its social engagement is lighthearted, silly and tongue-in-cheek. As you can imagine, their customers absolutely love them for it.

To this day, DSC continue to share cheeky content, with recent videos titled: “Is it bad to pluck nose hairs with my fingers?” and “Do I really need to wash my hands after I pee?” These guys really do let loose with their marketing and boy, does it get some attention.

This comedic and informal marketing style isn’t just great at going viral and raking in views. Oh no, let me tell you, it CONVERTS!

As a matter of fact, the inflow of customers from their launch video actually crashed their website. With reports that within 48 hours of the video going live, they had amassed a whopping 12,000 subscribers to the club! By summer that year, their customer base had risen to 330,000. Then just a short 4 years after the infamous launch video, Dollar Shave Club had been acquired by Unilever for a reported $1 billion in cash.

We’ll take a break here for you to pick your jaw up from the floor.

Yes, it took merely 4 years for a company re-selling razor's to hit a billion-dollar valuation.

Let me tell you again, that billion dollars wasn’t handed over for their unbelievable products. It was to buy the brand. Yes, the subscription model plays a part. But nothing played more of a part here than DSC’s unique, modern and comedic approach to marketing.

It would be a sin to not quickly mention one of the huge benefits that DSC’s comedic approach to marketing brings; customer retention.

Many companies have attempted the subscription model and horribly failed. But DSC nailed it. A huge factor here is that customers who decide to “join the club” are because they love and relate to the brand.

As cliche as it sounds, DSC changed the game. They took the epitome of a boring routine - shaving - and somehow managed to make so much fun and comedic content around the topic.

If you can’t see the numbers on the graph, here are the two big takeaways from it:

1. DSC retains 50% of subscribers for 12 months or more.

2. They retain 23% of subscribers for 48 months or more.

These are absolutely crazy numbers for a subscription service and really show just how effective their marketing and branding is.

The lesson

The main takeaway from all of this is that your marketing can be whatever you want it to be. In this modern world, you won’t get anyone’s attention without a unique strategy.

In DSC’s case, they made their marketing full of comedy and kept it lighthearted - and it was a huge hit. Not only because of the huge amount of extra exposure from people talking about the adverts but because they also developed a deeper bond with their customer base through having that silly humour embedded throughout their marketing.

Being human, being relatable to the audience is one of the best strategies you can implement within your business in 2021 and Dollar Shave Club is the perfect example of a company that absolutely nailed this concept.

How you can implement it

The first step in the process is to simply pause. Take a look at your marketing and branding over the last few months.

Has it been too serious? Is it relatable to your target market?

If not it’s probably time you changed it up a little bit.

When you’re planning out your next few months marketing strategy, begin to add jokes and humour into your marketing. Poke fun at the industry just like DSC did. Don’t be all uptight, be you and express who you are through your brand.

Remember:

• It’s okay to not be serious with your marketing.

• Be human and be relatable and be you.

• A little bit of comedy never did anyone any harm.

This has been a breakdown of Dollar Shave Club’s comedic marketing strategy. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy into your business.

Don’t forget to subscribe to get next week’s breakdown straight to your inbox!

I’ll see you next Sunday!