Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation ?

When you are one of the world’s leading male brands, you have a responsibility to inspire the next generation of men to question gender biases. So while the Barbershop Girls broke stereotypes and changed their destiny, their story had a far-reaching and profound impact. For they have emerged as an inspiration for the next generation of men to question gender biases they grow up with. And who better than Gillette to be the advocate of this encouraging message. This campaign brought together other role models to amplify the cause and create a national conversation about gender stereotypes.

Background

As the leading men’s brand, Gillette felt the responsibility to step up and take an active part in breaking gender stereotypes and creating a positive influence on culture. After all, it is important that there are positive role models for our next generation to look up to while they’re growing up. Because we believe that children learn from what they see. The brief thus was to inspire young boys in India to learn a new definition of masculinity: acceptance, acknowledgement and respect for women who have dared to break the shackles of gender stereotypes. And inspire these boys to create an equal future. Gillette wanted to take the lead in sparking a national conversation around the inherent inequalities still prevailing in Indian society and back this up by launching a programme where positive role models will be supported and their stories, amplified.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Two girls from Banwari Tola, a backward village in India, challenged deep-rooted stereotypes by taking over their father’s barbershop, a profession solely reserved for men. Can their story inspire the next generation to rethink the gender biases they’re growing up with? Gillette saw this as the perfect story to drive the change in mindsets that they wish to see. They told this inspiring story through the eyes of an 8-year-old boy, who witnesses gender biases around him and is conditioned to think it’s normal. That’s until he meets these two girls running a barbershop, which compels him to question everything he’s been growing up with. This was the first time in India that a men’s brand featured women as protagonists of their film and showed the importance of having positive role models for the next generation of men.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

India, the world’s 5th largest economy ranks 108th on the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index. These startling stats point to the much-needed change for a gender-equal India. To inspire a new way of thinking, especially where gender biases have been cemented for centuries, it was imperative to show the next generation a new set of role models. So Gillette decided to tell the story of 2 brave sisters from a conservative Indian village, who broke taboos by ‘manning’ a barber shop, traditionally run only by men. We believed, it was imperative to present these two brave Barbershop Girls as role models for a new way of thinking. To inspire the next generation of men to break free from hand-me-down-notions. Because children learn from what they see, Gillette decided to show that it is perfectly normal and acceptable for even women to handle razors for a living.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

Instead of documenting the events in the lives of these real Barbershop Girls, Gillette chose to demonstrate the impact of their actions on the mind of a young boy through a film. The focus was then to carry the message behind the film as much as the film itself. We thus brought together top influencers from novelists to musicians to actors and sportsmen who themselves believed in the idea of a gender-neutral world and created an unprecedented national conversation in a matter of days. Gillette even announced a scholarship to further the careers of the girls. They underwent training under India’s top hairstylist and took centre stage at events where they gave Bollywood celebrities a shave. This sparked even more conversations while the campaign directed attention to the track used in the film – a twist on a traditional folk song sung only to celebrate the birth of a boy.

List the results (30% of vote)

Gillette launched their ‘Success in your hands’ programme in India with this campaign to further empower positive role models to continue inspiring change. Under this programme, the Barbershop Girls were offered a free course at India’s best styling academy, life-time employment offer at Aalim Hakim’s chain of salons as well as complete refurbishment of their existing salon in their village. Garnering over 50 Mn views and close to 42 Mn conversations across social media in just 2 WEEKS #ShavingStereotypes caused a conversation unparalleled in India. With over 99% of the comments being positive, there was an outpour of support for the Barbershop Girls, within and outside digital media. Brand conversations went up by over 700%. The campaign earned 2.8 Bn PR impressions worth INR 113 Mn.