CosmeticsDesign spoke with Dana Malcolm, senior brand director of North America Shave Care at Gillette Venus, about the campaign and how it fits into the shave category overall.
This interview was conducted via email.
Tell me a bit about this campaign and what inspired it.
Nearly half of US women agree that it feels more accurate to use anatomical terms, like pubic, to describe their bodies, but only 18% of women are actually using these types of terms. So, Venus set out on a mission to get rid of outdated, censored, and sometimes downright silly terms like “bikini” or “down there” for the pubic area.
In May 2021, Venus encouraged people to #SayPubic with the launch of the Venus for Pubic Hair & Skin Collection, an array of hair removal and skincare products that care for the pubic area whether hair is there, gone or growing. To further help de-stigmatize the term, the brand launched the viral animated video dubbed, “The Pube Song.”
Now, we continue our #SayPubic campaign with an encore featuring special guest and female rapper Princess Nokia. The song “It’s Time to Care (For Your Pubic Hair) – featuring Princess Nokia” debuts on all Venus social media channels today. Venus also recently added a Gentle Trimmer and Hair & Skin Softening Oil to its popular Venus for Pubic Hair & Skin Collection, providing even more options to care for their hair and skin in the pubic area.
What market research or consumer trends has informed Venus that this campaign will engage consumers?
When we took a deeper look into pubic grooming habits, we found that 84% of US women groom their pubic area and this is even a higher 92% with US women 18-34 years old. However, 87% of women experience some sort of negative effect after this process.
When we look at women’s grooming products, most are designed for the general job of removing body hair and not for the different needs of pubic grooming. This told us that there was a huge need for a better solution for women and inspired us to develop this product line.
As we set out to design a marketing campaign to share the news, we ran into some bumps along the way because pubic grooming is such a taboo subject – even the word pubic, which is the anatomically correct term for this area, is avoided. Society uses words like “vajayjay”, “down there”, and “lady parts”.
But as shared, nearly half of US women agree that it feels more accurate to use anatomical terms, like pubic, to describe their bodies, but only 18% of women are actually using these types of terms. So we wanted to take this opportunity to de-stigmatize this topic and area of the body.
Since launch, we’ve seen an increase in the use of the word “pubic” online and by other brands in the beauty and grooming space. We’ve also started many meaningful conversations with women through a large group of influencers and content creators that have been received very positively.
What was the value of partnering with Princess Nokia?
To help with the goal of getting even more women comfortable saying ‘pubic,’ we enlisted rapper, songwriter and female empowerment champion, Princess Nokia, to collaborate on the brand’s second rendition of The Pube Song.
It’s impossible to shift a societal norm that has been in place for centuries overnight! It’s why we were so excited to partner with Princess Nokia to launch the next chapter of this important campaign. It was a natural partnership having her help get people comfortable with saying pubic and show up in the world as their truest self, loving their skin their way.
How does this campaign fit into the larger trend of focus on sexual health?
If you take a walk through history, pubic grooming has been around in some form for a very long time. Currently, almost all women groom their pubic area in some way, but due to the stigma of the subject, there haven’t been many solutions to the discomfort and negative effects of this process.
With this collection, we want to offer women a new and better regimen of products for their routine, whether their hair is there, growing, or gone.
Aside from sales, how will Gillette Venus measure success with this campaign?
We are hopeful that the #saypubic campaign has meaningful and lasting impact on the destigmatization of the pubic area, pubic grooming, and how these things are spoken of by society.
Since launch, we’ve seen an increase in the use of the word “pubic” online and by other brands in the beauty and grooming space. We’ve also started many meaningful conversations with women through a large group of influencers and content creators that have been received very positively.
What is the next step?
We just launched our partnership with Princess Nokia, so amplifying this partnership and tapping into her as a powerful ally to spread the message is our focus at the moment.
However, we are continuing our conversations with women about the products and the campaign to explore how to better serve them through product innovation and with our campaigns.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Body hair and skin are very different than pubic hair and skin and shaving pubic hair with the wrong tools can mean bumps, redness & irritation, dry skin, uncomfortable or itchy during growing back, and ingrown hairs. It’s helpful to understand the difference between how pubic hair area and skin are different – for example, it’s coarser, has thicker hair and softer skin than your leg or arm area.
The Venus for Pubic Hair & Skin Collection is designed specifically for women’s needs and gives your pubic hair and skin the level of care it deserves.
- The Venus for Pubic Hair & Skin collection is a complete regimen for women’s pubic region, which includes products to help prep, protect, shave, and maintain their pubic area, whether their hair is there, gone or growing.
- The full collection is dermatologist and gynecologist tested, pH balanced, and made without parabens, dyes, fragrance, and silicones.
- The products in the Venus for Pubic Hair & Skin Collection were created with the goal of quelling the dissatisfaction women feel when grooming their pubic area.