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The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2022–2024

eos grew from a lip balm to 53% of women's shave cream by talking honestly.

eos ditched the dainty shaving cliches, talked about body hair plainly, and turned a lip-balm brand into the leading women's shave cream.

eos · Mischief @ No Fixed Address

the move

Before eos, the women's shaving category was dainty and formulaic, with ads that were polite and indistinguishable. That left the real conversation about bodies and hair entirely off the table.

eos and Mischief moved the brand from a cult lip balm into shave cream by talking about hair, bodies and bathroom routine with frankness and humour. Social listening showed what women actually discussed, and the brand was brave enough to say it publicly.

The bold, weird, unignorable work quickly became the brand's signature, eventually reaching 53% of the women's shave category in 2022 and the number one position among Gen Z women, all while being outspent roughly 3:1.

The approach earned the Iridium Effie at the 2024 Global Best of the Best awards for the world's most effective campaign, and other brands followed the more honest register.

why it works

  • Honest talk differentiates instantly in a category where everyone is polite
  • Social listening gave the brand lines its audience already wanted to hear
  • Fast reaction turned a viral moment into a sell-out instead of a wasted spike
  • It stretched the brand beyond lip balm into a whole new category
the payoffSpeak the unspeakable honestly and own the conversationinspired

what transfers

In a category frozen by convention, the fastest way to share is to say the thing everyone thinks and no competitor will say.

what came after

eos reached 53% of the women's shave cream category and number one among Gen Z women, doubled its shave cream business, and grew household penetration 37% in 2022. It then launched a men's line with the same unignorable tone, and won the Iridium Effie for the most effective campaign in the world.

references

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