If you were to ask me, “do you own the man in the bathroom?” I’d probably say, “no, but I’ve asked him to leave repeatedly.”
But seriously, the successful USA-based membership service for delivering men’s razors right to your mailbox, Dollar Shave Club, has just announced that it is launching operations throughout Australia.
Time to trim those whiskers, gents – for cheap. And, the social-media-savvy startup is bringing its low-cost razors Down Under with the slogan “Own the man in the bathroom.” That is, of course, a little bit tamer than their American slogan, “Our blades are f@&%ing Great!”
They may be obscene, but they are clean shaven
Since launching in the US early last year, Dollar Shave Club has sliced off its own chunk of the multi-billion dollar men’s grooming global market. The company now has over 330,000 subscribers and recently closed a US$12m funding round (US$22.8m raised in total). The latest investment was led by Venrock, Comcast Ventures, New World Investors, and Battery Ventures.
Originally established to address over-priced razor blades and the poor shopping experience that comes with buying men’s grooming products, Dollar Shave Club has now launched Dr Carver’s Shave Butter and One Wipe Charlies in the US. These products will also soon be available here in Australia. The latest round of funding is helping Dollar Shave Club raise enough dollars to expand its operations.
Sam McDonagh, Dollar Shave Club’s General Manager – Australia, says, “Dollar Shave Club understands the huge opportunity in the multi-billion dollar men’s grooming market, to provide high-quality products that are affordable and appealing to members. Through our new products we continue to broaden our focus as a men’s lifestyle brand. We want to own the man in the bathroom – and this is a step towards that.”
“Since expanding into Australia, we’ve seen Australian men embrace the product and the brand, choosing a more competitively priced and convenient way to get their razors and blades. We’re excited to be able to extend that offering to their other grooming needs with the same cost and time savings.”
The new products will be available for purchase in Australia in the coming months through the Dollar Shave Club website.
See what going viral can do for you?
Dollar Shave Club originally launched in the United States in March 2012 via a YouTube video featuring CEO and Co-founder, Michael Dubin. The video went viral, now receiving almost 12 million viewers to date and bringing 12,000 customer registrations in the first 48 hours. The company has since made a long anticipated second video for its new One Wipe Charlies product.
Dollar Shave Club will also be using an edited version of its launch video for TV advertising in Australia this spring/summer and continues to explore new ways to promote its products such as ‘beardvertising’ and most recently, the clean snap.
Okay, so the people at Dollar Shave Club get an extra cookie for embracing social media marketing in a totally irreverent, and for a bunch of Yanks, dare I say, a very Anthillian sort of way.
Now, while you wait for the razors to arrive, watch the US version of the video. It’s worth it.
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