Case Study: How Bombay Shaving Company democratized Valentine's Day for non-metro audience

In this case study, we discover how Bombay Shaving Company, rekindled intimacy, in an attempt to take Valentine's Day beyond Metros, making inroads for an Indian audience. The campaign received 80mn impressions.

The Bombay Shaving Company Valentine's Day Case Study shows how the campaign resulted in the brand seeing 30 per cent website traffic from non-metro cities, during the span.

Problem Statement

Valentine's Day celebrations are typically considered to be the exclusive domain of a metro-centric, young audience. Whereas, in reality, 'love' is a universal emotion felt by one and all. How do you get a wider Indian audience segment to participate in the occasion while having an impact on the business?

Challenges

How do you make an occasion (borrowed from the west), like Valentine's Day, culturally and personally relevant to a cross-section of society in India, via a digital marketing campaign?

Execution

Based on D2C insights - Bombay Shaving Company introduced a wider range of grooming kits that resonated with customer preferences across geographies. Regimens and products across beard care, shaving, skincare, and complete grooming, along with an API integration that allowed users to send a customized, personal message with a photo card inside the kit were introduced. But the distinguishing aspect of the campaign was in the positioning of the Valentine's Day message and the choice of faces and influencers used to spread the message.

The campaign 'Made with Love for Your Love’, celebrated relationships and couples who 'nurtured their bond in their own unique style'. Whether it was internet heartthrobs Ravi Dubey and Sargun Mehta celebrating Valentine's Day way before the actual day, or Indian Cricketer taking his wife Prithi to a cricket stadium instead of a dinner date, or even South sensation Malavika Mohanan gifting her brother for Valentine's. The brand celebrated the spirit of Valentine's Day instead (read love) of a particular date - which seemed to strike a chord with audiences.

The brand also leveraged deeply penetrated platforms like Trell to spread through faces popular in smaller cities, in addition to a big burst of social media content.

Execution

• A full omnichannel marketing plan was executed, with a slant towards influencer marketing (D2C, e-commerce, social commerce, social media, offline/retail, and B2B)
• The digital marketing channels included: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and multiple OTT platforms (through PayTM programmatic)
• The brand targeted a pan India audience
• Memorable videos were created with famous couples like Ravi Dubey & Sargun Mehta, R. Ashwin and wife Prithvi, and a very engaging social media 2 part content with south sensation Malavika Mohanan
• The gift kits were customized with products from across categories (shaving, skincare, bathing, and fragrances). With an integrated API on our website which allowed people to send customized photo cards with kits.
• Targeted messaging was deployed across the funnel of awareness, consideration, and purchase to help consumer decision making
• The campaign heavily leveraged penetrated social commerce platforms like Trell with interesting, gifting centric influencer content
• In-store POS and display complimented the digital journey offline.
• The products got featured in leading publications like Elle, Femina, Cosmopolitan, and other key lifestyle features, and the campaign was covered by leading marketing and business publications

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Malavika Mohanan (@malavikamohanan_)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Malavika Mohanan (@malavikamohanan_)

Also Read: Bombay Shaving Company celebrates #SurakshaBandhan

Results

Based on data from bombayshavingcompany.com and owned media channels, overall the campaign garnered over 80 million impressions.

CMO Quote

Deepak Gupta, CMO, Bombay Shaving Company, said: “Gifting on Valentine’s Day has always been a key proposition for the brand and a great way to get closer to consumers through moving campaigns and communication. But as Bombay Shaving Company rapidly transforms from a D2C and online Company to a thriving omnichannel model, with a broader presence and deeper penetration, it made a lot of sense to craft Valentine's Day campaign that resonated across sensibilities in India. We saw several positive indicators that encourage us to stick with this approach going forward.