In July 2014, Gillette was launching its new product, Gillette Body, the first blade created especially for the male body.

That was the smooth part. The tricky part was getting men to talk about shaving their bodies. Some didn’t understand why. Some didn’t know how. And some didn’t get the memo that male body shaving was a hot new trend.

Tasked with launching Gillette Body in Brazil, the agency needed a novel way to approach the handful of men’s magazines that could target and educate our audience. So we threw them a curve. A life-like boxing dummy called a Bob, featuring every necessary curve of a man’s body, was delivered to the editorial offices of Brazil’s four leading men’s magazines: VIP, Men’s Health, GQ and Playboy, along with Gillette’s new curve-hugging product, shaving instructions and a torso full of data on male body shaving, including how women are embracing the new trend.

We knew something was up when the calls started coming in. Magazine staffs loved the gift. The Bob was an office-wide sensation. We were happy to know they were dressing it up, punching it in the face, and posing with it on their Instagram accounts. But the real payoff came when the most influential men’s magazines in Brazil responded with feature articles that provided the inspiration, education, and Gillette-branded solution that we needed to convey. More 465 million impressions, $375 million in ad value, 20% in overall awareness, and 83% of value total share, just from sending The Bob in to do a man’s job.

The agency commissioned four specially designed Bobs, featuring strategic information placed on strategic body parts, all designed to engage with the curve-hugging Gillette Body razor.

Each Bob was delivered to the offices of the four major male magazines in Brazil: VIP, Men´s Health, GQ and Playboy, along with a press kit and supporting materials. There was no pre-notification. The Bob just showed up at their door.

In Brazil, there’s limited media to reach predominantly men – so for brands, like Gillette, introducing a new men’s personal body grooming razor, a handful of men’s magazines held the key to driving mainstream awareness and fashion trends – especially with a very limited publicity budget. To break through to editorial staff and earn media coverage, we created a life-size inflatable boxing dummy, a “bob,” that we named “Bob,” for short. It featured elaborate grooming instructions on every plastic curve.

For a $6,000 USD OOP (R$17000), Bob was a hit with editors, leading to three major earned media features on male body grooming and brand mentions. Earned editorial reached 465,000 readers and had an equivalent ad value of $120,000 USD. The PR approach led to 20% national awareness and an 80% category share in the first year on the Brazil market.