Dollar Shave Club is a subscription company that initially became famous for shipping razors to its customers every month. The company’s viral launch video, released in March 2012, cost just $4,500 to produce and played a pivotal role in its early success.
With the company stocking products in retail stores and expanding its inventory list to include beard oil, shower gel, and shaving cream, most people would assume that the brand was built through Facebook ads or offline methods. The truth, however, is that Dollar Shave Club is a content marketing success story that began with a single viral video and became hugely successful online. The launch video has since garnered over 27 million views, showcasing its widespread appeal.
Dollar Shave Club’s straightforward value proposition revolves around affordability, convenience, and high-quality products, contrasting sharply with the traditional razor market’s focus on luxury and unnecessary add-ons.
We’ll take a look at that ad while reverse-engineering its success. Then, we’ll discuss how you can apply Dollar Shave Club’s video marketing principles to your business.
Introduction to the Concept
The concept of Dollar Shave Club’s success can be attributed to its unique business model and marketing strategy. The company’s ability to capture a significant share of the razor market is a perfect example of how a well-executed plan can lead to massive growth.
Dollar Shave Club’s road to becoming a billion-dollar company was paved with innovative ideas, creative marketing, and a deep understanding of its target audience. The company’s launch video, which featured Michael Dubin in a bear suit, was a great example of its unique brand voice and ability to tell stories through humorous content. This approach not only set the tone for the brand but also resonated deeply with viewers, making it a memorable and effective marketing tool.
The ad generated 12,000 new subscribers almost immediately after its release, highlighting its effectiveness.
Creating a Viral Video
Creating a viral video like Dollar Shave Club’s “Our Blades Are F***ing Great” requires a deep understanding of what makes content shareable.
The company’s first video, which was shot with a budget of $4,500, was a huge success and racked up over 25 million views. The video’s success can be attributed to its creative process, which included a focus on storytelling, humor, and highlighting the benefits of the product. The video’s script was written by Michael Dubin, who has a background in stand-up comedy and improv, and was designed to appeal to the company’s target audience. The use of a bear suit and other humorous elements made the video more engaging and shareable, ensuring it captured the attention of viewers and encouraged them to share it with others.
Launching the Video
Launching a viral video like Dollar Shave Club’s requires a smart strategy. The company’s decision to launch the video on YouTube was a great example of how to use social media to reach a target audience. The video was promoted through various channels, including other social media platforms, email marketing, and influencer partnerships. The company’s use of paid advertising, including YouTube ads, helped to increase the video’s reach and drive traffic to the company’s website.
The video’s success was also driven by its ability to capture the attention of the target audience, with its unique brand voice and humorous content. This multi-faceted approach ensured that the video not only went viral but also translated into tangible business results.
Dollar Shave Club’s Viral Video Made a Rock-Solid Sales Pitch
When watching the viral video that launched Dollar Shave Club’s success, viewers are immediately struck by the humor on display.
Dollar Shave Club’s innovative approach to providing affordable razor blades directly to consumers through a subscription service disrupted traditional industries.
Even though the video’s more surreal elements include the bear mascot, a dance party, and one-liners about a grandfather with polio, the ad relies on well-established marketing best practices to get its point across.
- The video presented its flagship one-dollar offer and mentioned the company URL twice within the first ten seconds.
- It highlighted the benefits of the razors.
- There was a strong punchline when the founder said, “Our blades are f**king great!”.
As part of Dollar Shave Club’s broader expansion of their men’s grooming product line, they introduced innovative products like shave butter.
Many marketers think that promoting products and entertaining viewers are mutually exclusive goals. However, Dollar Shave Club’s video marketing campaign is a real-world example of how brands can craft content that evokes strong emotions without forgetting to sell the product.
Market Analysis
The razor market is a highly competitive industry, with many brands vying for market share. Dollar Shave Club’s ability to capture a significant share of the market can be seen as a testament to its innovative business model and marketing strategy. The company’s focus on providing high-quality razors at an affordable price, with a low monthly fee, was a key factor in its success. The use of a subscription-based model, which allowed customers to receive razors delivered to their doorstep, was also a major factor in the company’s rapid growth.
The company’s ability to understand its target audience and create content that resonated with them was also crucial in its success. By addressing the pain points of traditional razor buying and offering a convenient, cost-effective solution, Dollar Shave Club was able to disrupt the market and establish itself as a leader in the industry. Within two years, the company captured 10% of the razor market by competing on price and convenience.
Dollar Shave Club’s Video Content Marketing Provided Brand Storytelling
During a program, multiple Stanford students gave short speeches that included three statistics and a story. Roughly 63 percent of listeners remembered the story, while just 5 percent could recall a statistic. When a company can make brand storytelling a part of its overall marketing, it has a better chance of being memorable. This approach significantly boosts brand recognition, as seen with Dollar Shave Club’s impactful video.
Many marketers don’t think of storytelling as video marketing, but when you review Dollar Shave Club’s content, the company is clearly telling a story to its target audience. It explains that conventional companies like Gilette are over-charging for their product and that most of the money is spent on filling the pockets of influencers.
For many people who were used to picking up razors at the store without looking too closely at the price tag, this observation may have singlehandedly turned them into problem-aware prospects.
If the audience is the hero of the story, Dollar Shave Club spends the video positioning itself as the straight-shooting ally who will help the viewer save money and time while getting a smooth shave. This narrative, in turn, helped drive the immediate spike in orders that the company received, making their offer a no brainer.
As a digital marketer, your ability to tell a story with your content can help you convince prospects to give your company a chance.
The Company’s Videos Maximized Engagement While Benefitting from YouTube’s Platform
A significant contributor to Dollar Shave Club’s success was YouTube itself. Until October 2012, the video streaming platform tended to favor view counts over time watched. With its one-liners and fast pace, Dollar Shave Club’s video is designed to get the initial view while keeping people engaged in the content.
The company’s methods to highlight the features of its razors are an excellent example of this emphasis on engagement. Dollar Shave Club’s viral marketing campaign played a crucial role in its success by combining humor and relatability in their branding.
One moment, we have the founder telling the audience about how the blades have stainless steel and an aloe vera lubricating strip, stating, “Are our blades good? No, they’re f*cking great.” The next, we see a toddler sitting behind a man who looks like he’s seated in a barbershop.
These are just a few of the ways that Dollar Shave Club was able to produce the shares and engagement needed to go viral.
In 2020, over 2.3 billion individuals were visiting YouTube per month. At this stage, there’s no question that people will watch videos for entertainment and education. The issue for many marketers is convincing them to watch and engage with your brand’s content.
Dollar Shave Club’s video managed to balance the algorithm’s preferences with the desire of YouTube watchers to be entertained. It starts by making people laugh at the outset, and then it keeps people watching to see what will come next.
Whether you’re making social media posts, writing blog content for SEO, or doing social media video marketing in the present, your content will go farther if you can lean into your platform while holding your audience’s attention.
Dollar Shave Club Eventually Went Omnichannel
After the initial splash made by its viral social media video, Dollar Shave Club was hard at work delivering orders. Many companies would have been content to keep riding that success, but Dollar Shave Club instead chose to expand its online reach while developing an omnichannel international scaling strategy. Eventually, Unilever bought the company for $1 billion, marking its transition into one of the largest D2C brands in the razor market.
In addition to their online success, Dollar Shave Club recognized the importance of brick and mortar stores for retail growth, catering to customers who prefer purchasing products in physical locations. The brand’s products became available at retail locations, including Target and Walmart, to capture new customers.
From search engine algorithms to ad platform changes, the marketing industry is constantly going through changes. To prevent your brand from fizzling out, it’s important to think two steps ahead.
If you’re an e-commerce company that relies on video marketing for sales, the next phase of your marketing efforts could be a text-driven content marketing strategy. Or alternatively, if you sense that you’ve started to saturate your market on one platform, you may want to think about adopting your own omnichannel approach to marketing.
Conclusion
Dollar Shave Club’s rapid success may have looked like it was caused by a funny viral video. However, upon closer examination, the company’s launch video is an example of brand storytelling, video marketing, and marketing fundamentals rolled into one.
Today, content marketing is still helping businesses grow their brands and reach new audiences by telling stories, much like Dollar Shave Club did to establish a unique identity and achieve rapid growth. Contact us to see how we can help you craft your next marketing campaign.
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