Gillette with HD Cutz
Gillette sensitive skin guard and HD Cutz male grooming
Case Study // Gillette sensitive skin guard and HD Cutz.
Origin/background
Procter & Gamble acquired Walker & Company, the creators and founders of Bevel grooming range. Bevel CEO (Tristan Walker), created Bevel on the premise of his own personal struggles, dealing with the harsh realities of the grooming experience as a black man in America. The moment he was out of an area or state that didn’t cater to the needs of people of colour, he would find the experience of grooming particularly difficult. The products available were not design to cope with sensitives people of colour have to face especially black men with curly hair.
HD Cutz is a leading international barber to professional athletes across the globe, including Man City & England international soccer players Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and track & field legend Usain Bolt to name a few. HD Cutz grew to prominence due to his laser-precise grooming technique, with a high definition outcome.
Pseudofolliculitis barbae (razor bumps) is a condition of the bearded and neck area. This condition affects up to 70% of men of African descent (Black Males).
The cause:
Curly hairs are unable to sprout outwardly from the hair follicles causing hair to grow back internally under a person skin causing inflammation and a foreign body reaction. Untreated it can result in keloidal scarring. This is an unpleasant dark pigment hard scaring that is left on the bearded area and neck.
Results:
500 %
Increase uptake of Gillette sensitive products across vital geographic areas![Image]()
Solution:
Bevel aims and goals were to provide a shaving experience with less irritation. As a result, single-blade razors were designed to cut thick curly hair leaving the root intact leaving the follicle exposed to the skin surface. This is opposed to Gillette’s shaving technology is designed with an emphasis on the closest shave, (March three and five). The emphasis of the shaving experience is to tug facial hair up above the surface of the skin prior to cutting it. This is a no-no for black men with thick hair, as the hair retracts into the skin, instead of growing out.
Gillette now has access to the IP and as a result, Gillette sensitive guard is a new addition to the Gillette product portfolio. This product now plugs the gap and its position to target men of colour. With an epic R&D ($1.9 billion), and advertising ($7 billion) budgets, and a behemoth global supply chain.
Gillette were able to offer the black African and Caribbean communities across the globe an actual product that works at scale. Adding peace of mind for these groups with the reassurance access to a great shaving experience is now accessible anywhere.
HD Cutz is a leading authority for male grooming, and a strategic alliance with Gillette was a seamless and native partnership. By HD Cutz proactively using these products on his famous clientele and applying on himself, draws automatic buying from thousands of men of colour.
