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 PR led campaign brought together other role models to amplify the cause and create a National conversation about gender stereotypes.

Gender biases are prevalent in rural India. And they get inherited by the next generation in the form of what they see and hear. Therefore, Gillette, as the leading men’s brand took up the responsibility to inspire the next generation of men to question gender biases they’re growing up with.

This philosophy found common ground with the true story of two sisters from rural India. While the girls shaved gender stereotypes, Gillette felt they ended up doing much more. Inspired a whole generation of boys to question notions about gender inequalities that are handed over to them.

The aim was to get the next generation of men to nip the gender stereotypes in the bud. Before they get cemented in their minds. Because they grow up watching the examples, we set for them.

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.

The integrated campaign had two pillars:

-Amplifying the video that brought alive the story of the Barbershop Girls through social media and online portals.

- Bringing together opinionated influencers from different strata to propagate the message further so that it reaches a larger audience, online and on ground.

Key Message:

- Children learn from what they see.

- Gillette is #ShavingStereotypes with #BarbershopGirls to inspire the next generation of men.

Target Audience:

- Indian millennials in the age group of 18-30 years in the middle to upper middle class. This audience is curious about the burning issues around them and would actively like to participate in bringing about change. They are influenced by senior family members and role models in society. They are very active on social media and heavily engage with their chosen influencers online.

The focus was to carry the message behind the film as much as the film itself. We designed a strategy involving India’s biggest obsessions—Cricket and Bollywood.

We brought together top influencers from novelists to musicians to actors and sportsmen who themselves believed in the idea of a gender-neutral world.

While they took social media by storm, our real-life barbershop girls took centre stage and gave Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar and celebrity hairstylist Aalim Hakim a shave in front of 50 journalists at a public event.

This found more traction right where it all started, on social media. The frenzy was uncontrollable when Sachin Tendulkar, India’s greatest cricketer and UNICEF Ambassador also got a shave from them. The scoop was that he has never been shaved by anybody else, making them the first.

• Timeline Two-month campaign: April – May 2019.

• Scale: Pan-India campaign across 25 metro and non-metro cities.

Media Outputs:

Following the launch of the video, the story of the barbershop girls soon went viral. The message of #ShavingStereotypes and ‘Children learning from what they see’ reflected in these stories. Even the music of the video that was based on repurposing a traditional folk song was applauded.

We delivered more than 500 stories - with 105 print clips and 105 online clips, 4 electronic coverages and a radio channel engagement. The tonality of all the stories captured the message of the film, the girls’ story and the scholarship provided by Gillette for their growth under its Safalta Apni Mutthi Mein (Success in Your Hands) scholarship initiative.

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.

Target Audience Outcomes:

The campaign impacted a lot of consumers, from different strata talking about the campaign and commending the girls on the incredible work they’ve done that has inspired the next generation of men.