Billie Case Study

Felt 1 Project Body Hair by Billie Case Study "Project Body Hair" Celebrates Hairy, Prickly, and Smooth Womanhood Billie, an online based razor company, released a multimedia campaign dedicated to disrupting the narrative of female shaving habits. Georgina Gooley and Jason Bravman co-founded the female-centric company in November of 2017 and launched "Project Body Hair" in June 2018. The campaign mission is to disrupt the gender-biased razor industry through a campaign video, social responsibility efforts, and digital marketing. Billie uses communications strategies and digital tactics to influence consumer behavior and celebrate female body hair traditionally shameful in westernized cultures. The visual nature of the campaign features a diverse group of women with visible and varying amounts of hair. The key messages are: women have body hair, the internet does not show female body hair, and Billie offers products catering to any, or all, female shaving habits (Project Body Hair by Billie). Overall, "Project Body Hair" is a call to action campaign reshaping how consumers engage with the products and userexperiences.

Billie holds a unique segment of the woman’s body care market because it had not been done before. The "Project Body Hair" video was a hard-hitting production sending clear messages and tone online. Before the launch, Billie was less than a year old, and its YouTube videos had around 3K views, and the @billie Instagram posts occasionally hit 1K. The video was produced by a strong female production team based out of Billie’s New York City community. The video was filmed to look like a music video featuring the song “Tomboy” by Princess Nokia, and directed by Ashley Armitage, known for her work capturing images of womanhood overlooked in mainstream media.

To date, the video has 1M views on YouTube and 701k views on Instagram. The text in

Felt 2 the video reads, “Hair. Everyone has it. Even women,” and “The world pretends it doesn’t exist, but it does. We checked” (mybillie.com). Billie’s messaging welcomes a community of women who feel misguided in mainstream razor adverts while educating consumers on the existing price gaps between male-female products enforced by the “pink tax.” The campaign also addresses the lack of visual representation in stock photos and social media. Billie partnered a crowdsourcing initiative alongside the campaign hashtag #ProjectBodyHair to create an online gallery where it would donate images to the stock photo websites, such as Upsplash, to create a more inclusive representation of the female body (Intner). The campaign clearly had the insight to align existing product lines with community experience.

Historical Goddess Billie follows a long line of shaving products dating back to the first women's razor released in 1915. Gillette issued the Milady Décolleté in response to shorter hemlines and sleeveless garments suited for swing dancing and casual fashion (Bernazzani). The transition from conservative hemlines and layered fabrics liberated women to show more skin, but female body hair was an unregulated qualm. Showing more skin meant women were newly displaying armpits and legs outside of the home and exposed in public. The article "Gender And Body Hair: Constructing The Feminine Woman" published in Women's Studies International Forum says ancient Egyptian both women and men practiced depilation because, according to the times, body hair was dirty. The article continued, in contemporary Western culture, women's body hair is cause for disgust, much like other body products (such as blood, feces, sweat or odors) that are thought to be unclean" (Toerien, 338). The shift towards extensive hair removal

Felt 3 practiced by American women appears to have accompanied a transitioning standard of feminine beauty (Toeiren, 333). The 1960s started the "idealized roles" versus "reality situations", as introduced by Juliann Sivulka in her book "Soap, Sex, and Cigarettes: A Cultural History of American Advertising." Sivulka accredited feminist literature, such as The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan and Sex and the Single Girl by Helen Gurley Brown, for urging women to reconsider life as a housewife and sexual identity (273). It is curious to consider how cultural influences, such as literature then and digital media today, can influence consumer products and behaviors. Fast forward into the 1990s, advertising agencies generated the “Year of the Women� as a selling point in 1992 offering big brands, including Nike, dedicated efforts to engage the female audience (345). During this time women were expected to balance work and home life instead of depending on someone else to cook and clean. It is important to note the literature on the history of razors and hair removal predominately address white women. The early 2000s continued to blur gender roles and attitudes while strategies turned from genderbased toward dual marketing, gender-free advertising— except for some categories such as feminine hygiene products and cosmetics (376). It also marked the primetime for Gillette's line of female razors, titled "Venus" referencing, most likely, the female goddess of love, sex, beauty, and fertility.

The "Project Body Hair" campaign targets female consumers between the ages of 20-35 who are active on social media and make purchasing decisions online. Billie captures the female segment, born in the late 1980s and 1990s because the brand aesthetic appeals to childhood nostalgia. For example, scrolling through the Instagram page users can find images of Lip Smacker Chapstick, butterfly clips, Carrie Bradshaw

Felt 4 and compact combs. All symbols of a teenage girl’s childhood growing up in the 90s (@billie). This target audience is also influenced by gender politics often turning to social media for information on the current climate.

SWOT Analysis As is stands, the two major successes of "Project Body Hair" includes tapping into e-commerce and the subscription economy. Billie is a direct-to-consumer brand with a memorable brand image via colorful social media platforms. It is among a community of companies active on Instagram, such as Quip toothbrushes and Everlane clothing, who have broken traditional brick-and-mortar shopping experiences with the convenience of digital browsing. The campaign used strategic timing to launch femalecentric initiatives, specifically pink-tax, which was not being actively discussed. "Project Body Hair" was able to develop into the new segment because it was creating its own space. With this being said, Big brand competitors threaten Billie with larger marketing budgets and name recognition. Billie also missed an opportunity to expand its target audience in light of current conversations surrounding gender diversity.

The digital-based campaign excelled through the thriving membership economy, offering consumers a thought-free cycle of new products and replenishable services at user convenience. According to a study published by McKinsey & Company earlier this year, the subscription e-commerce market has grown upwards of 100 percent per year for the past five years. The study surveyed 5,000 U.S. consumers, and the results showed a positive correlation between buyers between the ages of 25-44 years old with online streaming and subscription services living in a northeastern metropolitan area (Chen). The research suggests a new wave of consumers are rising out of the Netflix

Felt 5 generation and spending money based on a model of convenience and digital marketing. Robbie Kellman Baxter, the author of "The Membership Economy Redefining the Promise of Quality," takes a deeper dive into subscription services and refining the "forever transaction" as a method to reduce competition. Baxter compared buying subscription products to joining a gym, he wrote "...when you'd decide to join a gym, you often visit multiple facilities before signing up, but once you join, it's not likely that you will continue to expose yourself to other options" (19). Billie and fellow subscription services, such as BarkBox, Dollar Shave Club, and StitchFix, are capitalizing community and creating meaningful relationships from the comforts of online shopping. Subscription companies cater to faced paced life of digital consumers who do not necessarily have time, or the attention span, to make routine purchases. As supported in the McKinsey & Company research, subscription boxes are a convenient option and alternative for consumers who want to regulate shopping habits with an automatic transaction.

Billie is one of many fresh-faced e-companies selling products through a robust multimedia presence. Fellow beauty brand and predecessor to the Manhattan startup industry, Glossier shares a similar market and following as Billie offering a line of photogenic beauty products. Glossier Founder and CEO Emily Weiss praises social media for driving Glossier’s new age efforts and said “72% of Millennials make purchasing decisions for beauty and fashion products through Instagram” to then later defend small companies against large conglomerates such as Amazon, because small digital companies have found a niche community on social media (Perez). Glossier’s 2017 “Body Hero” campaign launched two new products expanding the product portfolio

Felt 6 into body care. The multimedia production included full-page advertisements in the New York Times, billboards across Manhattan and social media. The “Body Hero” campaign hooked into Glossier’s expansive ambassador community and photogenic product branding with its strong visual elements. The results were $33,439.49 earned media value across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter between the launch date September 13 to September 22 (Duran). Glossier had successfully capitalized on the social media consumer defying big brand nepotism disregarding a growing opportunity-- the digital consumer. Billie is riding the wave of Glossier’s success as an e-commerce brand, and the two brands have a public relationship featuring products together in social media posts.

Billie has received two consumer media awards since "Project Body Hair" launched in July 2018. Allure awarded the Billie Starter Kit one of 28 Best Beauty Steals of 2018 and NYLON included Billie on its Digital Beauty Hit List. "Project Body Hair" also earned the attention of Grand Slam Athlete Serena Williams and she released a statement in August 2018 saying, "I'm proud to become an investor in Billie, an inclusive female body brand that's raising awareness and tackling this inequity head on. The shaving industry is dominated by male brands which have traditionally overcharged and underserved women"(Demopoulos). Williams boosts the campaign because of her reputation for combating sexist agendas, such as reported during the recent US Open.

Usually, a highly criticized athlete would be a risk for a startup, but Williams aligns with Billie's values in breaking a male-biased system and voicing a call to action.

Billie target a niche community based on digital insights and visual content.

There is room for improvement in Billie’s subscription package branding because it

Felt 7 could be more undeniably Billie. The company would benefit from redesigning the package with the expectation users would post it on social media. For example, all Glossier orders come with a medium sized logo sticker and a sheet of small stickers with trademark graphics. The tactic is supported in our visual storytelling case study in saying “the human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, according to 3M Corporation; and 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visually based� (Pick, 134). The data supports branding the entire purchase experience, rather than solely the products. The #BodyHero campaign hashtag links upwards of 5000 posts many featuring branded stickers, packaging, and testimonials plastering the Glossier name and trademark graphics across the visual platform. The #ProjectBodyHair hashtag has around 500 posts to date, nearly five months after the launch. A recommendation for Billie is to leverage its brand identity inspired by Glossier’s digital storytelling tactics. An additional missed opportunity includes teaming up with gender non-conforming activists to could engage with the developing conversation around body hair amongst the LGBTQ+ community. For example, Gender Nonconforming Activist Jacob Tobia, currently the face of Fluide makeup brand, would have helped campaign because they represent a community questioning gender-based marketing campaigns.

Content Analysis The bulk of research on "Project Body Hair" is found in popular sources because of the newness and timeline necessary for academic documentation (see APPENDIX 1). The consumer publications that covered the campaign wrote positively of the unique positioning and effort to redirect how women appear in consumer media. It was curious to see headlines on the campaign use the word "hair" more than "razor," because it

Felt 8 distances Billie from larger razor companies. Co-founder Georgina Gooley appears as the spokesperson for the campaign, and her message highlights the storytelling nature of the products and why it is essential for women to engage with the initiative. Gooley was the best fit spokesperson because Jason Bravman, co-founder, could have disrupted the female power-driven campaign. Additionally, almost all of the coverage linked the campaign video and social media presence. The most robust content came from Martin Belam's review in The Guardian because it showed international recognition, social media content directly from Billie's platforms and outlined corporate social responsibility. The Marketing Week article highlights "Project Body Hair" as a top campaign of 2018. The article aligns "Project Body Hair" with fellow initiatives such as Nike's Colin Kaepernick campaign and McDonald's "Follow the Arches" (Hammett). The coverage shows Project Boy Hair left an impression and can hold an audience against larger marketing budgets and smaller risk. The company was not responsive to an email requesting coverage data and overall impressions, but the social media activity and continuous media coverage suggest the campaign was a success.

In comparison to Billie's anti-pink tax and female empowerment messaging, Gillette's Venus Embrace campaign centered around the word "goddess." Venus campaign associate Gro Frivoll said, in the New York Times article following the product launch in 2008 saying, "Now we've given women the permission to reveal her own goddess...every woman can be the goddess of something because this allows you to be your most feminine self" (Newman). Most recently, Gillette Venus launched "My Skin, My Way" this past October aiming to "represent more women and stories, shining a light especially on those who defy conventions. The campaign will roll out over the next

Felt 9 several months with new advertising, social content, influencer storytelling, and brand partnerships" (Bednarski). A former strength of the Venus campaign was the catchy slogan "reveal the goddess in you" because it was enticing to a female consumer buying into beauty norms. "My Skin, My Way" redirects Gillette Venus mission towards a more comprehensive consumer profile and politically inclusive messaging. The rebrand shows the company's awareness and willingness to grow according to its evolving consumer. The campaign has upwards of 4,000 views on each Instagram and Youtube to date. It would be hard to place Billie and Gillette on the same scale of success because the two companies operate on different values and size. Gillette can implement more tactics, such as broadcast, at less risk because of financial security and brand recognition. Billie operates as a micro-company reflecting a grassroots initiative to reshape the female shaving narrative. With both brand personalities in mind, it appears Billie may have influenced “My Skin, My Way” because “Project Body Hair” disrupted the industry in an obtrusive way. Size aside, smaller brands like Billie are holding larger brands accountable concerning consumer relations and social responsibility. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, Gillette's share of the market has dropped from 70% in 2010 to 54% in 2016, with direct brands, such as Billie, occupying a larger market share (Sweeney).

On a scale from 1-10, Billie deserves a solid 8 for its success breaking down gender stereotypes and creating a brand that is different. The brand has earned the attention of consumers and social media users through powerful imagery, smart messaging and consistent branding. Billie continues to succeed within the subscription economy and e-commerce industry, but to maintain the momentum, it needs to follow

Felt 10 through with its grassroots efforts to defeat the gender-biased industry. Social media has influenced how startup brands connect with audiences in a personalized way. The direct-to-consumer brand community has caught the attention of digital-users through interpersonal relationships and grassroots efforts tied to the business. The segmented industry has the opportunity to disrupt significant brand overhaul and refocus consumers into buying into more than just a product. ### Works Cited Baxter, Robbie Kellman. “The Membership Economy Redefining The Promise of Quality.”

The Journal for Quality and Participation, vol. 40, no. 4, Jan. 2018.

Bednarski, P.J. "Gillette's Venus Brand Embraces Idea That Nobody's Skin Is 'Perfect'."

Marketing Daily, MediaPost Communications, 16 Oct. 2018, www.mediapost.com/publications/article/326636/gillettes-venus-brand-embraces-ideathat-nobodys.html.

Bernazzani, Sophia. “Women Shave Because of Marketers: How the Industry Created Demand for Women's Razors.” Vela Agency, 22 May 2017, velaagency.com/womenshave-marketers-industry-created-demand-womens-razors/.

Chen, Tony, et al. “Thinking inside the Subscription Box: New Research on e-Commerce Consumers.” McKinsey & Company, McKinsey Insights, Feb. 2018, www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/thinking-inside-the-subscriptionbox-new-research-on-ecommerce-consumers#0.

Demopoulos, Alaina. “Serena Williams Just Invested in a Game-Changing Razor Brand.”

POPSUGAR Tech, 9 Aug. 2018, www.popsugar.com/beauty/Serena-Williams-Invests-Billie-Razor-Brand-45146307.

Duran, H.B. “Glossier Generates $33K Of Earned Media Value In One Week.” AListDaily, 26 Sept. 2017, www.alistdaily.com/social/glossier-over-33k-earned-media-value/ Gooley, Georgina. “How the Founder of Billie Razors Is Disrupting the Shaving Industry.” Time, Time, 12 July 2018, time.com/5336199/billie-founder-disrupt-shavingindustry/.

Hammett, Ellen, et al. “Nike, McDonald's, Smirnoff: The Best Marketing Campaigns of 2018

Felt 11 (Part 1).” Marketing Week, 30 Nov. 2018, www.marketingweek.com/2018/12/03/thebest-campaigns-of-2018-part-1/.

Intner, Katie. “Billie Released A Shave Campaign That Actually Shows Female Body Hair.” NYLON, NYLON Media I, LLChttps://Nylon.com, 9 Nov. 2018, nylon.com/articles/billie-razor-project-body-hair-campaign.

Newman, Andrew Adam. “Embracing Women's Inner Goddess.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Feb. 2008, www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/business/media/21adco.html.

Perez, Sarah. “Glossier CEO Emily Weiss on Why the Company Won't Sell on Amazon.”

TechCrunch, TechCrunch, 7 Sept. 2018, techcrunch.com/2018/09/07/glossier-ceo-emily-weiss-on-why-the-company-wont-sell-onamazon/.

Pick, Marissa. “How Visual Storytelling Through Social Media Helped Humanize a Brand.”

Top Case Studies in PR Guidebook. PR News. 134-136.

“Project Body Hair by Billie.” Billie, mybillie.com/pages/projectbodyhair.

Sivulka, Juliann. Soap, Sex, and Cigarettes: a Cultural History of American Advertising.

Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012.

Sweeney, Erica. “Razor Brand Billie Opens Discussions about Women's Body Hair with Crowd-Sourced Initiative.” Marketing Dive, 26 June 2018, www.marketingdive.com/news/razor-brand-billie-opens-discussions-about-womensbody-hair-with-crowd-sou/526510/.

Toerien, Merran, and Sue Wilkinson. “Gender and Body Hair: Constructing the Feminine Woman.” Women's Studies International Forum, vol. 26, no. 4, 2003, pp. 333–344., doi:10.1016/s0277-5395(03)00078-5.

Felt 12 APPENDIX 1 Date

Publication

Name of Article/Author

Quoted

Messages

Sentiment (Positive, Negative, Neutral)

July 1, 2018

The Guardian

“Hair, Hair: Users Applaud Razor Ad That Shows Women Actually Shaving”

Co-founder Georgina Gooley

"We have always said shaving is a choice."

-Normalize body hair and change how the media portray women -video

Positive

Co-founder Georgina Gooley

“While the brand is still showing women getting rid of body hair, the inclusion of it in the campaign alone is a positive step for the beauty industry.”

-video

Positive

-pink tax -existing “goddess” culture -campaign production team -video

Positive

-brands capitalizing on beauty expectations and shame -honest and realistic messaging -video

Positive

By Martin Belam

June 26, 2018

Nylon

“Billie Released A Shave Campaign That Actually Shows Female Body Hair”

By Katie Intner

June 27, 2018

AdAge

“This Razor Brand Embraces Women With Body Hair”

By Ann-Christine Diaz; Jack Neff

Decembe r 2, 2018

Marketing Week

“The Best Campaigns of 2018: Part 1”

By Marketing Week Reporters

Campaign messaging

Felt 13

June 27, 2018

Today

"Razor brand Billie is making history by showing body hair in its ads."

Co-founder Georgina Gooley

-destigmatize female body hair -video

Positive

Campaign video director, Ashley Armitage

-first shaving company to show female body hair -why is showing body hair taboo?

Positive

By Zoe Weiner July 5, 2018

B&T Weekly: Surry Hills

“Razor Brand Acknowledges Women Grow Hair In Advertising First�

By Daisy Doctor