Welcome to the Business Abundance Podcast, providing
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www .businessabundance .online. Hello and welcome
back to the Business Abundance Podcast. I'm Zee
and I've got Ron with me. Hello. And today is
a bit more of an inspiration podcast rather than
a lesson. We just want to tell you a bit about
the Dollar Shave Club and about how that's transformed
or dominated, disrupted? Disrupted is a good
word. The industry. If you haven't heard of the
Dollar Shave Club, I think probably the best
way to introduce it is by playing their ad. Do
you want to take it away? Hi, I'm Mike, founder
of DollarShaveClub .com. What is DollarShaveClub
.com? Well, for a dollar a month, we send high
quality razors right to your door. Yeah, a dollar.
Are the blades any good? No. Our blades are f***ing
great. Each razor has stainless steel blades,
an aloe vera lubricating strip, and a pivot head.
It's so gentle a toddler could use it. And do
you like spending $20 a month on brand name razors?
19 go to Roger Federer. I'm good at tennis. And
do you think your razor needs a vibrating handle,
a flashlight, a back scratcher, and 10 blades?
Your handsome ass grandfather had one blade and
polio. Looking good, pop up! Stop paying for
shaved tech you don't need. And stop forgetting
to buy your blades every month. Alejandro and
I are going to ship them right to you. We're
not just selling razors. We're also making new
jobs. Alejandro, what were you doing last month?
Not working. What are you doing now? Working.
I'm no Vanderbilt, but this train makes hay.
So stop forgetting to buy your blades every month
and start deciding where you're going to stack
all those dollar bills I'm saving you. We are
DollarShaveClub .com and the party is on. Oh,
gosh. I don't know if you heard my little I can't
believe you just let a laugh out like sees here
with two hands over her mouth trying to shut
her face. So what can we learn from the app?
Why are we actually talking about it? Bit of
inspiration. Obviously they have been very successful
now with hindsight. They have gone into an industry.
Most people need blades. Most people shave. Dominated
by a few key players. Name a few pretty easily.
So you think it's pretty stagnant margins will
be pretty low pretty competitive established
players Figured out how to make Consistent income
with the subscription base. Yeah, so they've
broadened a different thing, but this ad basically
got them 12 ,000 new subscribers in two days
and I would also like to point out there only
cost four and a half grand to make so Advertising
does not need to be expensive. Yeah, and it took
one day to shoot it. So Uh, no big names. Yeah.
It just, it's just one guy in a very casual suit
and um, no PPE. Yeah. Yeah. It's dangerous. Um,
yeah. So they've basically massively disrupted
a industry where 70 % of the sales is dominated
by one player. Um, coming from the side with
minimal investment, bring something new into
it. and been very successful. So there's a couple
of points. One is the model of the business and
how that works and how that appeals to people.
The second one is the ad itself has a few key
points to it. And I think it's the type of ad
we call is like the everything ad. It's got a
lot, it's got the testimonials, it's got the
endorsements, it's got the examples, it's got
the nice bits on the side. There's lots of different
types of ads that put into one nice video there.
Yeah, and they're super relatable. That's the
most consistent part is they're not pretending
to be, not people. The bottle in the shower with
the shaving cream on. Yeah. Which is the traditional,
you know, little shave. Yeah. Close shave. And
they're shaving already shaved legs. That's a
classic. Yeah. So that's the industry standard.
Yeah. And then they're going, okay, well, what
have our potential customers, how do they view
shaving? So this is a pretty interesting thing.
Like, I don't know what their research was or
whatnot, but if I'm looking at the ad, people
don't really care about the shaver. Like, so
it's a bit of a joke. We're paying $30 for a
shaver, like with blades, it's gonna last about
a week before they start rusting or whatever.
Go blunt. And then we pay another 30 bucks for
a five pack. And that's just expensive. It's
annoying. We've got to go to the supermarket
and get it. There's always a new model. So you
try that, but it's fundamentally just, you know,
another blade or a bit more of your pivot to
another degree or it's got a new color. Who knows?
That's the change in the industry. So what are
the customers saying? we don't even really care
we have to shave we don't like shaving we want
to shave yeah we like the outcome yeah but we've
got to keep buying new blades wonder if you ask
people how many people shave with blades that
should have been replaced oh so much and then
you end up with like the um Shave as ration those
sort of things because you're not looking because
you can't be bothered going down to the supermarket
and the supermarket ones are so Expensive and
you just feel like it's a big cost when your
grocery bill goes up by like $50 for four raises.
It's not an extension It's not you see it as
something that changes your life or you know,
so it's when you're looking at the money It doesn't
really make sense. Yeah, but um go for people.
Yeah, you need to change your bias because you
better shave but in the same respect when and
do people want to know. So I don't know what
the research or what the problems are, like how
they came across the information, but they're
looking and the ad sort of alludes to, you don't
really care about it. You know, these are the
features we've got, but no one cares. They want
a good shave. And how can we do that for you
in the best way possible? And they talked about
that in the ad as well. Very simple. So what's
the actual offer? We haven't talked about what
their business model is. Well, I think it starts
with the owner who's Michael Tubin, I think.
What he was looking to fix was he was tired of
paying too much for razors, and then also the
inconvenience of having to go to the store to
pick them up. And so that's why the model is
send people razors at a low monthly fee. Yep.
So translation is he probably wasn't looking
for those two things, but he identified they
were two things. And then when you start... turn
that into your business. I was sick of this,
so it's relatable. So two key problems there.
And then how would they turn that into a value
proposition? Well, it's just about making people's
lives easier. Cheaper and easier. So basically
the model is you pay 10 bucks a month, or at
the time there was a few different options. I
think it might have been six, eight and 10. Back
there, 10 had the five blade razor. Which they
called the crew. So they don't just call it their
products, they call it the crew. Yeah. Or the
gang, I think it is. We talked about this in
another episode though, like half my office,
half the guys in the office at the time signed
up like on the spot. Yeah. We just done, you
know, ended up with a lot of extra shaver heads
because I didn't need them all. Yeah. It was
a dollar per month subscription. The next day
when it was back up, they had 12 ,000 new subscribers
for their one dollar per month subscription razor.
So I'm not sure that's still the case, but that's
what happened after they released the video.
Yeah, went viral and it established a brand and
then yeah, 12 ,000 new subscribers. Within a
few days, 3 million people had watched it. It
racked up about 4 .75 million views in the first
three months and has over 27 million views to
this day. Plus one we just did. Yeah, plus one
and probably four now, me watching it this afternoon.
So good. So it's interesting because subscription
models obviously don't work for every business.
But if you have a product, like we talked about
in a couple of episodes ago, who gives a crap?
Subscription based toilet paper. Oh, we talked
about. Blockbuster in the last episode Netflix
subscription based. Yep. So subscription base
is really good But also I probably want to stress
when it comes to brand voice be human Yeah, I
think we there's so many businesses out there
that want to they come across very neutral. Yeah
professional Yeah, yeah Yeah, well, I guess you
could argue that this isn't professional in any
sense. No, it's not but it is It's professionally
done It is professionally done, great quality,
but it doesn't alienate themselves from the people
they're trying to talk to. And I mean, razors
are not a particularly exciting product, but
by - They're not trying to appeal to everyone
here. But they are actually appealing to a massive
part of the market. Huge. Yeah, because they're
kind of addressing the really awkward situations
that happen with these sort of situations. And
no one talks about it, but they're like, we know
it happens. So let us show you. And in that,
it means like I have an ad in front of me at
the moment where some lady's trying to shave
her toes basically for summer. And so it's just
the fact that it's. Just odd and yeah, it's talking
about it's like yes clean of what it is. Like
we shave these beats Hmm, but we just making
it as easy and as cheap for you as possible to
have great quality result Yeah, no fuss. Yeah,
so they're looking what's your problem? What's
your relationship with it? And we're just trying
to make that process easier for you. It's such
a simple Yeah, simple setup even their website.
It only has a couple of pages like it's not extravagant
You need it don't need to have a thousand pages
in order to be great be successful. Yeah the
The part about the subscription, you said, you
know, subscription can be a good business model.
Um, I think it's all important to talk about
that they've gone to an existing established
industry where that's not a thing. They've brought
something that's outside of it. One thing that's
outside of it into it has become hugely successful
because of it. So we often talk to people like,
Oh, you know, are you a specialist in our industry?"
It's like, well, it doesn't really matter. Oh,
it does because we need to make sure that we're
doing the best things we can in our industry.
It's like, no, because the best gains are going
to be questions that you haven't thought about
already that your competitors aren't doing. So
yes, you need to know about your industry. That's
your job. But if you can bring something that's
successful elsewhere and make it work where you
are, you're going to have this huge competitive
advantage over everyone else. And that's fundamentally
what they did. It was pretty straightforward.
Don't want to buy razors. Don't want to pay too
much. do want to shave, and want it to be easy.
Here you go, we'll send it to your door. They
haven't invented anything new there. They've
just applied an existing concept that's successful
to a new industry. But the ad itself's kind of,
good, I might just go back to that for a second,
because just thinking about it isn't everything
ad, so there's a few parts to it. I'll see if
I can get it going again with my limited IT skills.
Founder of DollarShaveClub .com. What is DollarShaveClub
.com? Well, For a dollar a month, we send high
-quality razors right to your door. That's the
first thing that they mention is actually what
they do. Who they are and what they do. Yeah.
So it was a dollar a month. Yeah. But yeah, so
he's a person. He's looking into the camera.
This is my name. This is who we're from. And
this is our offer. So sometimes the other theory
is we go through all the value and all this other
stuff and then we say our price. He's saying,
this is what we do straight up front. Just building
some trust credibility. This is what I'm here
about Yeah, a dollar are the blades any good?
No Our blades are fucking great So they're like
talking about the quality the quality. Yep. Yep.
So same but great but we're also narrowing down
our target market right now because Yeah, we've
using some bad naughty words. It's true. Yeah.
Yeah a bit of humor. Yeah, so what is the competition,
existing competition doing professional ads,
tone bodies. Yeah, I feel like it's speaking.
I think that their audience is predominantly
male. Yep. And so they're 100 % for this one.
Sort of speaking to that. But yeah, the people
that don't relate to the current marketing. So
they've purposely gone straight away from what
you're expecting from a shaving ad. Yep. Each
razor has stainless steel blades and aloe vera
lubricating strip and a pivot head. It's so gentle.
The toddler could use it and do. It's just quick
features ability. Yeah. Um, benefit. It's gentle.
So what does that mean? Like spending $20 a month
on brand name razors. 19 go to Roger Federer.
I'm good at tennis. And do you think. So that's
just a, you know, it's a little bit of a swipe,
but it's a point like, yeah, you're paying for
this brand. So it's not saying it's wrong, but
it's. establishing some differentiation from
the competitors of, yeah, you're paying this
premium, but it's not for the better razor. You're
paying for these things. And I think people can
quickly relate to that. Your razor needs a vibrating
handle, a flashlight, a backscratcher and 10
blades. Your handsome ass grandfather had one
blade and polio. Just talking about it. I did
get all the other products saying like, it's
just not necessary. You don't need to pay for
it because that's not what gets the job done.
Yeah. pretty much like, no, of course they're
lying because there's not so many shavers with
a flashlight. All black scratches, but they're
setting a point. Yeah, so let's call a spade
a spade. But also, again, we're narrowing this
market down. Like if you can relate to this ad,
you'll get that's ridiculous. And you're sick
of paying that much because of all this stuff,
you know. Looking good, pop up. Stop paying for
shave tech you don't need and stop forgetting
to buy your blades every month. Alejandra and
I are going to ship them right to you. Yeah,
here we go. Everyone is shaves. Yeah, we don't
even need blades more often. Yeah, it shipped
to you every month. We're not just selling razors.
We're also making new jobs. Alejandra, what were
you doing last month? Not working. What are you
doing now? Working. I'm no Vanderbilt, but this
train makes hay. So trying to appeal to social
impact. Yeah, social impact. So stop forgetting
to buy your blades every month and start deciding
where you're going to stack all those dollar
bills I'm saving you. We are DollarShaveClub
.com and the party is on. No, but it's like,
it's just an example of you don't have to have
that giant ad, just hit some few key points.
And as long as they're relatable, when they're
toned in perfectly to what your customer's looking
for and relates to, successful. Yeah. Yeah. And
I giggled the whole way through. So I think it's
great. Yeah, if there's one thing to learn from
it, I think it's just encourage you to be human
and really look at how you're communicating.
You don't need to come up with a thousand different
benefits that people won't get. And I know there's
industry talk and you understand the points from
your point of view and you're like, oh, well,
this is, you know, this much better because there's,
it's this specific and all those sorts of things.
But if the customer's not going to get it, it's
not really worth communicating or try and communicate
it in a way that they do understand it. Because
then that way you're, they're really being able
to understand what it is that you do, who you
are, how you do it. That's an ad. And so I guess
I just encourage everyone to use that across
all their marketing, especially when it comes
to websites and those sort of things. I said
this just before, but you don't need 1 ,000 pages
in order to make a good website. They have maybe
three pages and it clearly shows what they do,
how they do it. and how the customer can get
it. Yeah, I think it's a just common recurring
theme. I really understand what that core is,
but if you're going to do an ad, it doesn't have
to be mega. But you do need to know what you're
communicating. So you've got the text, you've
got the sound, you've got the visuals. As long
as you nail that, then you're going to do pretty
well. Yeah. I'd encourage you all to check out
the video. It's very entertaining and yeah, we'll
leave it there and see you next time. See ya.
Bye.