Could this be the brand’s "besterest" ad ever?
How exactly does a world-famous cricketing hero, Pat Cummins, and a Hollywood movie star, Julian Dennison, wind up appearing in the same shaving commercial?
The story behind the new Gillette spot can be traced back to April 2021, when the brand reached out to Havas Sports & Entertainment (HSE) to craft a TVC for their two new razors.
The Gillette ProGlide razor offers an even closer shave due to its flex-ball technology which follows the contours of the face, while the Gillette SkinGuard razor has been designed to reduce skin irritation and flare-ups.
“The rationale was that with two different razors, we needed two equally different stars.” says Mat Robinson, Brand Director, Gillette ANZ.
“It was, in many ways, a tough brief for HSE. We had a cricketer and a comedian, each representing two different Gillette products, and we needed it to work across a 30-second and two 15-second spots. Pat was to be the face of the Gillette ProGlide razor, while Julian was to represent Gillette SkinGuard. Importantly, we had to dial up each razor’s differing product benefits while still utilising humour and connecting to the brand’s target audience.”
Shot across different countries at different times, the new Gillette spots imagine Dennison as Gillette’s self-proclaimed ‘new supermodel’ who is incessantly bugging Cummins via an ill-timed Facetime call.
Francis Coady, CMO and executive producer at Havas Media/HSE: “Our ECD & team decided to riff on a common comedic trope.
“Namely, the over-eager student versus the reluctant mentor; and while it’s all very ‘meta’, all three TVCs came out very funny in the end.”
The Gillette spots will feature across the commercial television networks and online throughout Australia and New Zealand from March.
CREDITS
CLIENT: Gillette
GILLETTE APAC & CATEGORY HEAD: Karthik Srivatsan
GILLETTE BRAND DIRECTOR: Mathew Robinson
GILLETTE & VENUS SENIOR BRAND MANAGER: Rachel Morota Chu
GILLETTE PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Syamin Arif
AGENCY: Havas Sports & Entertainment (a division of Havas Media Group)
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Francis Coady
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, SCRIPTWRITER: Nick Snelling
HEAD OF CONTENT: Belinda Miller
SENIOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR & PRODUCER: Patrick Millington Buck
DIRECTOR: Zak Kaczmarek
PRODUCTION (AUSTRALIA): Chisel
LINE PRODUCTION (NEW ZEALAND): Reel Factory
