Creativity is the last remaining unfair advantage in business
Micheal Dubin was a young man frustrated by the high cost of replacing his shaver’s razor blades.
The market was dominated by Gillette and this allowed them to create a kind of monopoly on pricing.
Dubin decided he wasn’t going to let this continue so he founded a subscription service called Dollar Shave Club in 2011.
It’s promise was clear: to offer high-quality replaceable blades at an affordable price.
Finding someone to make his new product was the easy bit. His biggest challenge lay in getting enough people to know he even existed.
Unlike Gillette, he did not have an enormous marketing budget. To get cut through, he would have to make a statement.
The Dollar Shave Club launch ad from 2012 did exactly that.
It’s brave, funny and breaks all the category norms. As a result, it has now been viewed more than 26 million times on YouTube.
It didn’t take long for Mike’s company to start building up a big customer base.
They grew so fast, that they were they were bought in 2016 (by Unilever, the owners of Gillette somewhat ironically) for $1 billion.
Not bad for five years of work wouldn’t you agree?
The brand and it’s brilliant ad above is a masterclass in the power of creativity to out muscle your competition, regardless of their size.
As the famous advertising man Bill Bernbach once said, “Creativity is the last unfair advantage we're legally allowed to take over our competitors".
Creativity is a vital skill for any company. The ability to solve problems and spot new opportunities is what separates those that survive and prosper from those that fail.
If you’re interested in how creativity can transform your business then pre-register for our upcoming course ‘Creativity for Business’ for more info.
