Mumbai: This festive season, grooming brand Bombay Shaving Company (BSC) has renewed its focus on the Kolkata market with its new campaign – ‘Ebar Pujoy Kartiker Joy’ (Glorify Kartik this Pujo).
The insightful and cultural campaign is designed to encourage Bengali men to embrace the confidence of grooming, in an authentic flavour, laced with cheer and wit. Historically, the festive season has always been all about the archetype of the strong woman, represented by Durga. However, Bombay Shaving Company took inspiration from Kartik (son of Goddess Durga) considered a symbol of the male ideal –to create awareness and build appeal for male grooming products, said the brand in a statement.
‘Kartik er moto dekhte’ (Looks like Karthik) is also an expression used to refer to the ideal man in Bengali.
The brand has deployed a combination of radio, ambient media, digital geo-fencing around catchments, along with other strategic interventions, like busses and interesting POS to guide customers down the funnel to stores, both offline and online through this campaign. With this, BSC has announced its intent to break out of the internet and meet consumers where they are like established FMCG giants.
Giving an insight into the campaign, Bombay Shaving Company COO Deepak Gupta said, “There is a rich story existed in the folklore narrating Kartik (son of Goddess Durga) and we decided to bring this symbol alive and encourage all men to look and be their best. We are driving a marketing-led growth agenda at BSC. It’s critical for our category, and there is no better sandbox to test this than Kolkata, during Durga Puja & the ongoing Kartik month. The region is known to be a cultural hub filled with opinion makers and thought leaders, who carry their preferences across the country. We are overjoyed with the initial response and keen to replicate this model in other geographies.”
The campaign is conceptualised and developed entirely in-house and taken into the heart of Kolkata.
New Delhi: Personal care brand Bombay Shaving Company has announced its association with Indian cricketer R Ashwin as its ambassador. The brand has launched an omnichannel campaign called ‘Shave to Shine’ featuring the cricketer in a completely new avatar.
With the festive season coming up in a few months, starting with Rakhi, the brand intends to capture the gifting market with innovative shaving and gifting solutions, it said in a statement.
The campaign is co-developed with The Collective Artist Network and produced by Cutting Crew Films.
Bombay Shaving Company’s VP-marketing, Samriddh Dasgupta said, “Our research indicates that men feel better prepared to take on the day after a great shave. We are all amazing in our own lives, and a good brings out that confidence in us. We have attempted to capture the intelligence, wit, and panache of Ashwin in this very high-style high-impact film. We wanted the viewer to see Ashwin in a completely new avatar – not just as a cricketer, but as the suave R Ashwin off-the-field. As a challenger brand, we invest in disruptive, visually delightful, social media-friendly, and relevant storytelling. The campaign will be taken across products, digital media, retail branding, and influencers.”
Speaking on the association, R Ashwin shared, “I am delighted to support and co-create solutions with Bombay Shaving Company. Shantanu and the team have built an iconic brand that delivers an exemplary experience of grooming through the superior quality of their products. I have used all their hair removal solutions and find them to be thoughtful, consciously created, and specially crafted for Indian men’s skin. I spend a lot of my time on the field and need products that are gentle, effective, and high-quality. I have found that in Bombay Shaving Company. I am superbly excited with what the future holds for the brand, and wish them the best.”
The brand has also launched its flagship silver metal razor in two exciting new colors and material changes. Both the razors are signed by R Ashwin and available on the brand website, as well as on Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, Cred, and across many retail outlets.
Mumbai: Dad-A son’s first hero, a daughter’s first love. They are the warm, enduring presence in one’s life who always have one’s back- even if he may not say so, in so many words. The guiding influencer, who many-a-times put our needs before their own. That’s the indefinable role fathers play in their children’s lives.
Needless to say, the intangible, most often unspoken bond that one shares with one’s father needs to be celebrated every day. But internationally, the third Sunday in June is what’s especially celebrated as Father’s Day every year-an occasion for the renewal of the love and gratitude we bear to our fathers.
This year, it falls on June 20. And as with every special day, we have brands celebrating fatherhood and raising a toast to the paternal bond with heart-tugging campaigns. So here goes for all the wonderful dads out there!
Mankind Pharma
‘This Father’s Day, the Pharma company’s Health OK strikes a chord with an emotional campaign, that shows how as we grow older, our relationship with our parents, especially with our father changes, in which so many things are left unexpressed. The film urges viewers to stop, think and help rebuild the lost bond with their fathers by communicating and expressing the unspoken words of shared love.#ExpressTheToughlove
VAIO
The laptop brand has come up with a beautiful video that depicts a father’s journey as the child grows – right from teaching a child the first school lessons to crucial business lessons. Dads are the invaluable force that pushes us to do better, live better, be better in whatever we aspire to be.
Mamypoko pants
The Diaper brand unveiled a new campaign ahead of Father’s Day titled #PapasWhoKnow, highlighting the fact that in today’s modern times, dads are trying to be equally involved in raising a child. Just as mothers are handling both work and households, fathers too contribute to the child’s overall growth and development. The short ad film, executed and conceptualised by Grapes Digital reinforces this fact by saying ‘Happy fathers day to all the papas who know as much as the mummas! ‘
CARS24
The e-commerce platform for pre-owned vehicles rolled out its latest campaign- Kyuki Papa Sab Jaante Hain- through a poetic video to show some love to the big man on Father’s Day. The video conceptualised by writer Amandeep Singh, directed by Namit Nath, and starring actor Varun Sharma talks about the underrated, unsaid bond sons share with their fathers.
In a world overwhelmed with myriad product options across categories, it has become easy to find a quick gift for someone. But a gift must symbolize how one feels about the recipient, knows and cares about them. This is what the creative by Bombay Shaving Company aims to capture. The personalised gifting shows how well you know someone, and reflects the thought you have invested in to ensure the gift is something they will love and treasure and how thoughtful gifts strengthen the relationship between a father & child.
Prega News
During these trying times, it has become more important to stay connected with each other and celebrate such special occasions- more so for Dads who are always there for us. Prega news teamed up with actor Anushka Sharma, who talks about the unique role dads play in our lives in this short video and encourages each one of us to do something special for their fathers and make the day unforgettable for them.
And if you have your father next to you this Father’s Day, Streaming service Lionsgate Play has handpicked a few movies you can binge-watch with your old man, giving you all the more reason to spend quality time with him. Get some popcorn and cocktail ready to embark on a journey of laughter and emotions with the best of cinema curated by the platform.
New Delhi: Visage Lines, owner of grooming brand Bombay Shaving Company on Thursday appointed Siddha Jain to lead the company’s women’s beauty and personal care business.
Jain is an IITB and IIMB alumni, and joins the rapidly growing premium grooming company from Bain & Co., where she served technology and consumer goods businesses for over five years.
The company also elevated chief business officer Deepak Gupta to chief operating officer. Gupta joined Visage Lines in January 2019 to lead the brick and mortar business and has risen the ranks rapidly. In his new role, he will lead expansion of the group into multiple strategic businesses across categories.
Visage Lines’ founder and CEO, Shantanu Deshpande said, “We are thrilled to have Siddha join our leadership team. She brings outstanding business acumen, growth intrinsic, limitless energy and a first-hand understanding of the Indian woman consumer. Siddha has a stellar track record of supporting large businesses across growth strategy, sustainable scaling, transformation and people centricity. As we build a robust leadership to scale a new Bombay Shaving Company, a senior executive of Siddha’s calibre is a massive asset for us. Very excited to have her on this journey”
Bombay Shaving Company started as a men-centric shaving, beard and skincare brand. However, over the last few quarters, it has become a preferred choice for women’s grooming needs too. “The Indian women’s hair removal market stands at Rs 15000 Cr (both products and services) and is projected to grow at 21 per cent year-on-year in the next five years. There is a growing demand for hair-removal solutions in the emerging GenZ and millennial customer base, and this has been fuelling the immense post-pandemic growth of the sector,” said the company.
At Bombay Shaving Company, Siddha will be driving business critical mandates to scale the women’s hair removal business, with a special focus on building equity across digital commerce, modern trade and allied services.
“I strongly believe that the brands of today are not just a machinery for serving products, but forcing tough conversations, bringing confidence in the everyday and equipping women to own their beauty. I am deeply passionate about bringing meaning and purpose to the personal care space for the young, ambitious and bold women of today. I am very excited to work with Shantanu and the entire leadership team to own the women’s hair removal space. I am looking forward to this transformative journey not just for me and our brand, but for the communities we serve who identify as women”, says Siddha Jain on her new role.
MUMBAI: Every year, 22 April is celebrated as Earth Day all over the world. The practice dates back to 1970, when scores of people took to the streets on this day in protest of the negative impacts of 150 years of industrial development. With the world reeling under a global health crisis, this day is a reminder that everyone can contribute to a better, safer, and consequently healthier planet.
Ahead of World Earth Day, several brands launched campaigns and even new products to demonstrate their support for the environment:
The Google Doodle Search engine Google on Thursday marked the annual Earth Day through a video doodle on its home page highlighting how everyone can plant the seed to a brighter future—one sapling at a time. The film shows how just one sapling planted by each of us can turn into a forest of trees, even outliving the humans who planted them. The underlying message is: ‘This Earth Day—and everyday—we encourage everyone to find one small act they can do to restore our Earth. It’s bound to take root and blossom into something beautiful.’
MTV says ‘Using Plastic is a Crime’
MTV India launched a new satirical film ahead of World Earth Day 2021 giving out a powerful message that “Using Plastic is a Crime” and people who continue to use plastic carelessly, without any thought, should be treated on par with criminals. The film opens to a setting of a potential crime scene, where a masked killer is all set to choke a man with a plastic sheet. Much to the victim and the killer’s surprise, the police arrive at the scene, leading on to an unexpected discourse by the cop on the evils of using plastic, rather than focusing on the crime itself. It concludes with the masked man pledging never to use plastic so carelessly again.
Godrej #TwoDegreesCooler on global warming
The Godrej Group, through a digital film, urges individuals and industry owners to help slow down climate change, by turning to smart usage of resources. The film titled #TwoDegreesCooler showcases the brand’s commitment to limit global warming to well-below two degrees Celsius by 2050 and help India keep her part of the Paris agreement. Whether we can succeed in this mission or not, depends on each one of us, the film says. It ends by reminding us that ‘it’s all we need to restore our Earth’.
Animal Planet bats for all animals
On Earth Day, Animal Planet lived up to its name and reached out to all pet lovers on behalf of the wild animals inhabiting our planet, through a series of telling posts on its Instagram handle. The message it strove to spread via this digital campaign, featuring different species of wild birds and animals in their natural habitats, being : Just like our pets, they too deserve our unconditional love. And we can do so by protecting their home. They may not be our pets, but they’re just as precious. And if we don’t take care of the Earth, then we’re not taking care of them. Let’s act towards saving the planet and all its wonders, together.
Discovery India too shared a poignant digital campaign to mark Earth day, with some moving posts revolving around the trees and marine life of our planet. It posts said:
“When trees are cut, it affects all species. Deforestation contributes to climate change and threatens life on earth. This #EarthDay let’s support more sustainably produced products and pledge to protect our friends, the trees.” And “If the disposal of plastic materials & packaging into our oceans continues, it is estimated that by the year 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than there are fish (by weight). This #EarthDay let’s rethink plastic disposal & support effective methods of recycling plastic.”
L’Oréal for the Future, because our Planet is Worth it
Global cosmetics giant L’Oréal Paris has unveiled a new sustainability program, ‘L’Oréal for the Future, because our Planet is Worth it’, on the occasion of World Earth Day. The beauty brand pledged to reduce its carbon footprint by 50 per cent by year 2030. Among the key goals set by the brand include its aim to use 100 per cent recycled plastic, 100 per cent sustainable cardboard and operate 100 per cent carbon neutral factories by 2030. The beauty brand has also announced its decision to contribute €10 million to environmental projects around the world.
Reebok launches sustainable eco-friendly shoe:
Sports brand Reebok’s Floatride Energy GROW is a plant-based running shoe for high-performance. It combines the award-winning Forever Floatride Energy model with the commitment and responsibility to protect the environment and strives to create a fitter planet.
In a bid to up its sustainability efforts, Reebok is focusing on creating products using recycled or repurposed materials. The global sportswear brand is committed to reducing virgin polyester from its material mix and eliminating it altogether by 2024.
Wildermart, an online grocery store that aims to be a truly sustainable model, opened its doors in India on Earth Day with a hard-hitting digital launch campaign to raise awareness about the current state of our planet, the impact of clean consumption and what we can do to be a part of the solution with the click of a button. Calling itself ‘your clean grocery store’ it claims to offer a conscious solution to help everyday consumption be clean, green and earth-friendly. Launched in Bangalore, with an offering of over 1,000+ products across 30+ categories the brand aims to take this sustainable model to conscious consumers across the country within the next 3 years. In a show of support, animal rights activist and environmentalist Maneka Sanjay Gandhi made the first purchase on the portal today.
Bombay Shaving Company on the environmental cost of disposable razors
Personal care brand for men & women Bombay Shaving Co released a short, factual video on its social media platforms to encourage “shaving responsibly”.
The video talks about some hard hitting facts regarding disposable plastic razors prevalent in the personal care industry like: “Did you know, that over 2 billion disposable razors are produced in the world and almost 200 million razors are bought and disposed of every year. A normal disposable razor is made completely out of plastic.” It wraps up with the message: “It poses a health hazard for animals, marine life, and even safety workers.”
The solution? Switch to metal. The brand declares that their precision safety razor is recycle-ready, reduces plastic waste, and gives you a much better shaving experience, without hurting the environment.
MUMBAI: The Bombay Shaving Company has launched a first of its kind video campaign that is wowing social media with the use of visual effects.
The ad for the brand’s Defender for Her razor is about a frequent dilemma faced by women this year during the lockdown. During a video call, Four More Shots Please! star Bani J explains her need for a quick fix grooming solution to her co-star Manvi Gagroo. With salons closed and an impending shoot the next day, Bani’s at a loss what to do, when Manvi offers her the solution – the Defender for her razor. With some visual effects wizardry, she passes on the razor through the screen to her distraught friend and Bani thanks her for “Shaving my day.”
EiPi Media founder and CEO Rohit Reddy said the VFX aspect of the razor coming out the screen took hours of trial and error. "This being our first attempt meant putting in long hours to bridge the gap between concept and execution. Until now the VFX was limited to the movie screens and requires chroma key technology. In this video we did not use any green screen or chroma set up."
National: While COVID-19 has created an unprecedented challenge for brands to connect with their target audience, Shoppers Stop has been consistently engaging consumers with meaningful and entertaining initiatives. The leading retail brand has taken a unique and well-thought-out approach to stay connected while showing empathy with their audience.
As Eid has been approaching, Shoppers Stop first launched the Eid shopping campaign on their website, app as well as on their Facebook and Instagram pages. This campaign hinges on the #selfieidi campaign which encourages consumers to indulge themselves with an ‘eidi’ while also gifting their near and dear ones through online shopping channels.
The Eid shopping campaign has the participation of multiple brands across men’s wear, women’s wear, ethnic wear, kids’ merchandise, beauty, and home amongst others.
During this time, Shoppers Stop has also managed to add new brands to its portfolio while their team works from home including Gap USA (men and kids), FKNS, Swisse, Sandy & Sky, Michael Kors (Jewelry), WOW, Bombay Shaving Company, Miniklub, Marc Anthony, Guerlain, Untaro and Just Herbs.
The brand has roped in Being Human one of its partner brands, and one can see actor Salman Khan, the most relevant icon for Eid from Bollywood, wishing Eid Mubarak prominently on it channels.
Shoppers Stop has once again innovated with its brand identity for Eid and creatively wished their customers. You can take a look at the video here.
This follows its earlier innovations and campaigns for the healthcare workers and the 9pm candlelight event by the prime minister.
Log onto www.shoppersstop.com or download the App to know the latest offers, participate in the on-going #Selfieidi contest on social media and win prizes.
MUMBAI: Men’s skincare brand Bombay Shaving Company has further taken a leap to strengthen its brand presence across offline by on-boarding Deepak Gupta as its chief business officer (offline) and head of operations. Bombay Shaving Company has a presence in 8 cities across the country with over 3,000 stores. Deepak Gupta will lead the entire offline P&L comprising retail and institutional sales. Additionally, he will also lead supply chain and operations. Deepak’s understanding of the dynamic market environment and consumer behaviour will further support Bombay Shaving Company, an internet first brand on path to achieve Rs 100 crore revenue mark.
Prior to this, Gupta was leading the regional business for Colgate-Palmolive where he gathered experience of working with the world’s most penetrated brand with 3.5+ billion daily active users. He also spent more than two years In China and witnessed the tremendous mushrooming of brands by heading sales operations and strategy for entire Mainland China which launched online and quickly scaled offline.
Regarding the development, Deepak Gupta said, “Bombay Shaving Company is an inspiring brand which is both under-penetrated and under-served. There is a huge potential to innovate and build a new-age brand like ours in offline stores which are digitally targeted and leading to a tectonic shift from mass distribution /mass-media lead business models. I’m extremely excited to be part of this grooming revolution.”
Bombay Shaving Company CEO & founder Shantanu Deshpande said, "We're thrilled to have someone of Deepak's calibre join Bombay Shaving Company to forefront the entire off-screen P&L. Being an internet first brand, its essential for us to rapidly develop an omnichannel approach to retail. With more than a decade experience, Deepak brings in distribution aspiration and a process ethos. We look forward to working with a leader like him to build and grow our brand together.”
Bombay Shaving Company is bullish and will focus on offline expansion with its current footprint of 3,000 stores to 10,000 stores in the coming months. Bombay Shaving Company currently has more than 2.5 lakh customers and aims to become an Rs 100 crore brand in the next 12-15 months. The company has also designated Kartik Aaryan as their brand ambassador to endorse shave and facial grooming range.
In December 2019, Bombay Shaving Company had raised Rs 45 crore in Series B led by Sixth Sense Venture Partners. Existing investor Colgate Palmolive Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of CPG giant Colgate-Palmolive had also participated in the round.
MUMBAI: Valentine’s season is a great occasion for brands to make connections with the masses. For people, this day is about celebrating love, togetherness and experiencing butterflies in the stomach. But for Bombay Shaving Company, it was about experiencing a rush of orders and spike in sales. The company registered a growth of 120 per cent overall growth in number of orders in 2020 as compared to last Valentine’s Day.
Bombay Shaving Company, which is in the men’s grooming industry, offers men’s skincare, shaving, beard-care and bath-care products. While V-Day gifting did quite take off and ended on a high! What’s interesting was the kind of gift personalization requests the brand received from across the world.
*This trend report is based upon the anonymized and aggregated insights collected on Bombay Shaving Company platforms during Valentine's week. This information is made available by the company for educational purposes as well as to give out general information on the trends observed during Valentine’s week*
Bombay Shaving Company also mentioned aalsi, potato, chut*ya, shaktimaan and momo as the five most common words used as a nickname for a partner.
Pride rules
This Valentine’s season was all about expressing love regardless of any gender. 14 per cent of the gifts were ordered by men for men.
Celebrate being single
One out of six gifts were gifted from men to themselves #SelfLove
Getting into a committed relationship
1483 proposals through sending out personalized gifts.
Other interesting insights:
· 7 per cent of the customers sent gifts to multiple partners. Valentines can be heavy on pockets for them!
· Enticing, Tantalizing and Sensualizing summed up 5 per cent of the gift hamper cover visuals.
· 40 percent of the gifters seemed hardcore Bollywood fans – Tan Tana Tan Tan Tan tara, Tu Cheez badi hia mast mast , were some of the songs that got their space on the gift hamper cover.
MUMBAI: Bombay Shaving Company a men’s grooming brand has roped in Kartik Aaryan as its new brand ambassador to further, strengthen the brand’s appeal and induce trials from soft customers. Kartik will be endorsing Bombay Shaving Company’s shave and facial grooming range. With this association Bombay Shaving Company- a digital-first FMCG brand aims to connect with the millennial audience who loves to experiment with their look while keeping up with the trend.
Kartik made his acting debut in 2011 with Pyaar Ka Punchnama. He subsequently appeared in two more romantic comedies, Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, both of which were blockbusters. In 2019 he followed the success graph with Luka Chuppi and the recently released superhit Pati Patni Aur Woh. Kartik has now bagged several big-budget projects including Imtiaz Ali's intense romantic drama Love Aaj Kal, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Dostana 2.
Kartik's boyish good looks have made him a heartthrob of India and have overshadowed many peers of his generation.
Kartik Aaryan on his association with Bombay Shaving Company commented, “Bombay Shaving Company is a millennial brand driven by innovation and technology. I love to experiment with my looks and I look forward to working with the team in building a brand that helps men look their best.”
On the partnership, Bombay Shaving Company CEO and founder Shantanu Deshpande said, “Ever since we launched, Bombay Shaving Company has grown to be one of the most successful men’s skincare and grooming innovations in the country and has played a lead role in the premium segment, offering the consumers a unique and indulgent experience. We wanted a celebrity who not only endorses but believes in the product too. Kartik exudes those vibes quite strongly and brings a relatability quotient to the table. Kartik embodies the spirit of a young, feisty startup – he is self-made in an industry where it is rare, has garnered fanfare based on his talent alone. His appeal among the younger audience is exceptional and we believe he will play a big role in Bombay Shaving Companybecoming a salient brand for men.”
Launched in 2016, Bombay Shaving Company started as a direct to consumer premium experiential shaving regimen but has quickly expanded into skin, beard and bath categories. Bombay Shaving Company is bullish and will focus on offline expansion with its current footprint of 3,000 stores to 10,000 stores in the coming months. Bombay Shaving Company currently has more than 2.5 lakh customers and aims to become an INR 100 crore brand in the next 12-15 months.
