Schick Hydro: Best Practice

Schick Hydro – Refresh Your Face!  

The shaving category in Israel is estimated to total about 120 million NIS, and is divided into several segments: razors and razor blades for men, disposable razors for men, razors and razor blades for women, disposable razors for women. In addition, there is a shaving cream and gel market that is estimated to total 35 million NIS.

In 2007, Schick entered the Israeli market as a competitor of the leading and sole brand at that time, and launched a variety of disposable shaving products for men and women, and refillable razor blades for men – Schick Quattro.

The Challenge: Competitive Response With High Quality Blades

In 2012 we launched a new razor for men, Schick Hydro, which offered a competitive response to the prices of the existing brand, and offered the consumer with a quality razor, for a smooth and comfortable shave, leaving your skin feeling fresh.

Schick Hydro offers 5 revolutionary technologies that made its reputation in the global razors market:

Advanced Hydrating technology – a gel like hydrating reservoir that lasts up to 2 times as long as ordinary lubrication strips. The water-activated gel hydrates the skin (proven in research), and contains aloe and vitamin E.
Blades with Skin Guards – the blades enable smooth and light razor movement for maximal skin protection and reduction of skin friction and irritation.
Flip Trimmer – a multi-purpose trimming and styling device (in the Hydro 5) for shaping sideburns, and for shaving those hard to get areas such as mustaches and sideburns.
Thorough blade cleaning – Schick Hydro blades are easy to clean, and the blade never clogs with hair, thanks to the integration of new human engineering into the blades (tested in 15,000 households, without a single complaint!).
Razor replacement indicator – it is clear when the time has come to replace the razor – when the gel in the hydrating reservoir runs out and fills with holes – the customer knows that it’s time to switch blades.
Ergonomic handle – to make the razor’s shaving movement on the skin easier, smoother and thorough. It took three years to complete the handle’s design!
 

Marketing Campaign

The launch of the campaign included extensive marketing activities in all the contact points with the consumer – at the points of sale, nationwide advertising activities and PR activities aimed at the target audience. The slogan that accompanied the launch of the Schick Hydro series was: “Refreshing your face!”, introducing something new and refreshing into the shaving world.

The launch was accompanied by unprecedented sales promotion activities – over 200,000 promotional packs were distributed free of charge to men through leading men’s magazines and financial papers, in sports event, promotional events and through coupons via retail chains and drug store chains. The goal was to enable every man to try the Schick Hydro, without any obligation, based on our belief that the product and its quality speak for themselves.

After only one month from the launch of the revolutionary razor Schick Hydro, we attained the highest penetration rate of any country in the world in which the razor was launched!

The Result: A Strong Number 2!

One year after the launch, we had captured 17% of the market share in the category. Currently, every third razor sold in Israel is a Schick Hydro!

In February 2014 Schick launched the Schick Hydro Power Select, a battery powered razor with 3 speed settings, with all the benefits of the Schick Hydro with the finest shaving for your skin, a hydrating gel reservoir, ultra-glide blades with skin guards for a close shave, and the flip back technology for precise trimming. The new razor increased sales of the brands and sales in the razor and blades for the men’s segment.

Even now, two years after the launch of the Schick Hydro, Schick retains its standing as a strong number two in the market, and continues to secure its standing in other segments, with growing market shares in the category.