England and Manchester City FC forward Raheem Sterling is the face of a new Gillette Labs campaign in the UK which blends shaving and soccer skills to launch the brand’s new flagship men’s razor.
Sterling stars in the integrated campaign with multiple creative executions all graphically set against a design backdrop which reflects the razor’s black and neon green visual identity.
The work is led by a hero commercial promoting the new ‘Gillette Labs Exfoliating Razor’ which dropped on 23 February. The spearhead spot, titled ‘Gillette Labs x Raheem Sterling – New Exfoliating Razor’, sees the attacker use the product between shots of him dribbling and executing football skills and promoting the fact that the new product is available now online at https://www.gillette.co.uk/gillettela…
The film was preceded by teasers and supported by social content and OOH work placed at well-known UK landmarks (including turning London’s famous Piccadilly Circus advertising space neon green to match the new razor’s signature brand colour).
A further strand of the launch campaign sees the first Gillette Labs takeover of the brand’s ‘Gillette Soccer Saturday’ partnership with leading UK sports broadcaster Sky Sports.
The campaign aims to drive home the message that the morning shaving routine can be effortless when you have the right tools for the job and to distinguish the product from its rivals through the addition of a built-in exfoliation bar.
According to the brand’s luanhc campaign PR, former Arsenal and England striker turned TV pundit Ian Wright is also reported to have a role to play as the campaign evolves, alongside other sports-related initiatives and activations from other sports stars and content creators including McClaren F1 driver Lando Norris and his ‘Quadrant’ gaming collective.
“We will paint the UK and Ireland black and neon green across the next few months to ensure this launch is truly unmissable, continuing our history of working with game-changing ambassadors including Raheem, Ian and Lando,” trumpeted P&G Senior Director for Grooming Matt Thomas.
“We know some guys think shaving is a hassle. Not any more. This new razor from Gillette Labs combines shaving and exfoliation in one effortless stroke. You get the world-class technology you’d expect from Gillette, together with beautiful design for the perfect combination of form and function. We’re changing the face of shaving and making it effortless.”
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Reported to be Gillette’s largest-ever UK men’s product launch, the campaign sets out to cut through a particularly crowded marketplace.
Sport sits at the heart of Gillette’s male product division’s marketing mix and football is one of its key strategic European engagement pillars with recent partnerships stretching from rights holders such as UEFA and MLS to club deals with the likes of FC Barcelona and athlete ambassador tie-ups with stars such as Sterling and former player Ian Wright.
This campaign follows on from February 2020’s Sterling fronted ‘Made Of What Matters’ campaign and November 2021’s ‘Movember / Powerleague’ initiative.
The England footballer and anti-racism campaigner was also recently unveiled as a brand ambassador for the mindfulness and meditation app Headspace.
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