The Art of Shaving: Removing the Unnecessary Noise in Branding

Shaving your head every day becomes more than a morning ritual. It’s part of your personal culture. People who perform this cosmetic artwork pay attention to changes in the artist’s tools and products. A change in packaging got me thinking about shaving away the unneeded noise in branding.

I shave the head and face every day except Saturday and change the blade in my Harry’s razor every Sunday. The pattern chosen for swiping the razor across my head is methodical. I hold the razor in my left hand, start on the back of my head, and move the blade smoothly around my left ear and down my face.

But the second stroke isn’t from the back of the head as if I were mowing the yard and cutting the next row of grass. I finish the face, return to the head and complete the mural. You’re getting the detail because everyone has a pattern of hygiene, whether they have a head like Dwayne Johnson or hair like Cher.

Cremo is my preferred brand of shaving cream. The preferences have changed through the years, but the Cremo brand won my allegiance because of the formula. I like the spicy feel. They call it refreshing mint. There’s a nostalgic factor because it reminds me of Gillette Foamy Menthol when my dad was teaching me to shave during my pubescent years.

So when there’s a change in something as simple and routine as the packaging on a tube of shaving cream, we notice. That’s what happened to me recently. I was buying another 90-day supply. (That’s what the packaging says. I’ve never tracked it to see if I get 86 or 93 days.) It caught my eye immediately. “Oh, no. They’ve discontinued the mint formula,” was my first thought. On closer inspection, I noticed the Refreshing Mint font right away. Take a breath. It’s just a repacking job.

When I got home, I compared the new packaging to the previous container. The obvious difference is the change in color from white to tan. Wanting to know more, I placed the containers next to one another (photo above) and started analyzing the changes.

Let’s go from top to bottom. The old packaging is on the left. The crown is red on the former container and a smaller gold version on the new package. Cremo is a different font on the newer tan model, and the trademarked words, Astonishingly Superior, are missing from the new container. Cooling Formula trades places with Shave Cream. There’s more space between the logo and Refreshing Mint on the new package. Removing Astonishingly Superior and Concentrated from the updated packaging allows the eye to focus on Shave Cream. I wonder what their research revealed. Was the basis of the product, shave cream, getting lost in the noise of secondary slogans and benefits?

Why did Concentrated go away? The size of the container is the same, although the new packaging removed the words 90 Day Supply. Here’s my theory: without the benefit of a concentrated formula and the length of use of the product, I’m likely to place more in my hand when applying the shaving cream. Therefore, I’ll go through a tube in 75 days and Cremo will sell more products. I told you this was more than just a morning ritual.

The bottom third of the package is the most noticeable to my critical eye. It goes from 23 words in the previous packaging to nine words in the new packaging. Barber Grade is removed. Something happened to the barber grade benefit in the research. They removed the circular Barber Grade branding, too. Could it be that most men in the 21st Century who shave their heads don’t go to a barber?

The other words removed from the new packaging include Gives you a close, comfortable shave, and Leaves skin astonishingly soft and smooth. Both are positive benefits, but maybe it’s too much for someone in Walmart grabbing a container and making a quick purchase judgment. The 90 Day Supply is replaced with Meticulously Designed & Refined and the established date of 2005 in Roman numerals.

Fresh, updated packaging is required for most brands. The packaging wasn’t going to make this product more attractive to me. I wanted to know if the ingredients inside the tube were the same. Would I still get that spicy feel? However, a marketing team decided these products would be more attractive to the eye of the consumer with less noise on the packaging. We’ll find out a year from now if they were right when the branding is either the same or has retracted to the previous packaging.

What needs to be removed from your brand’s noise to accentuate the more marketable attributes and selling points? Outdated concepts like Barber Grade? Slogans that have been there from the beginning but get in the way, like Astonishingly Superior? I’m guessing about Cremo’s decisions, but the changes are apparent.

Radio and audio brands fight for attention in an increasingly noisy environment and a reduced attention-span culture. We’re good at adding attributes but forget the strategy of replacing and reducing messaging so that Shave Cream and Refreshing Mint get more attention.

As I searched for the reasons behind Cremo’s changes, I found the above image on their website. They acknowledge the changes. Along with photos of the different products, they go deeper into the ingredients, benefits and reviews. They include instructions and videos on how to shave.

When is the last time a radio brand changed a logo, a slogan, or a strategic initiative and compared the previous with the new on a website or social media for the benefit of the consumer? If transparency is wanted today, include the audience and tell them about the changes. It’s more powerful in writing than the casual on-air announcement. The Cremo picture of Previous vs. New made me think their decision didn’t happen without planning and research.

The shaving experience is a reminder of the need to understand the balance of product utilization and innovation. Aside from switching blades or shaving cream brands, the art of shaving isn’t changing for me unless I move to an electric razor. How can these cosmetic companies improve the experience knowing the way I shave isn’t going to change?

What can we improve in our time-tested products to focus on the brand’s strengths before we get distracted with another distribution and content method?